80 MACWORLD JUNE 2019
FEATURE REVIEW: iPAD AIR (2019)THE BEST iPAD FOR
MOST PEOPLE
The iPad Pro costs $800 and up (way up),
with the keyboard case and Pencil sold
separately, so it’s even harder to recommend
it to the average iPad buyer. But the
gap between it and the basic iPad
in features, performance, and price
is just too wide.
While I think Apple’s product
lineup is getting too big and
complex, we legitimately need a
solution in the middle, and the iPad
Air fits in nicely. For $499 you get a
huge step up in features,
performance, and storage over the
$329 iPad. You miss out on a
number of benefits of the iPad Pro:
a ProMotion display, quad speakers,
Face ID, a superior
camera, faster A12X
processor, and
support for the
new-and-improved
wireless Apple Pencil.
But you get most of
what the average
iPad buyer wants
most: a fast modern
processor, plenty of
storage space, a wide
color display with
TrueTone, Pencil
support (first-
generation), and yes, a headphone jack.
I should mention that the 10.5-inch iPad
Pro is a better buy if you can find it at a
discount (it’s now discontinued, but
refurbished models (go.macworld.com/rfip)
are available). The A10X processor
is nearly as fast as the A12, the size
and weight are the same, and
battery life is similar, but you get
quad stereo speakers and a
ProMotion display.
Absolutely nothing about this
iPad Air is new. It’s an oddball
collection of regular-iPad and
Pro-iPad features that may not
excite techno-philes looking for
the latest advancements, but
delivers the right iPad at the right
price for most users. ■mmmmh
iPad Air (2019)
PROS- Hundreds less than the
iPad Pro. - A12 chip is blazing fast.
- Fits existing iPad Pro
10.5-inch Smart Keyboard.
CONS - No quad stereo speakers.
- No Face ID.
- No ProMotion display.
PRICE
$479
COMPANY
Apple
If you want Face ID, you’ll have to spend hundreds more for an iPad Pro.