First iPad Air 2 Reviews: 'Ridiculously Fast', 'Vibrant Display', Thinner Profile Comes at the Cost of Battery Life

Considering how Apple has been evolving since the last years of Steve, I'm now seriously considering leaving Apple products. For me, the serious decline started with Lion, and was reinforced by the difficulty of using iOS for serious work that requires a file system. The Microsoft-like style of running the AppStore (making it as difficult as possible to find apps for old Apple devices) is also noticeable.

And today, reading there's no lock switch on the new iPads, and that you need to lock orientation from the control center, reminds me that my days with Apple are coming to an end.

I'll probably go to other Unices, still to be decided.

The Doctor11 said:

What the hell did you think it was for

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Rotation lock, which I never used anyway...

cfedu said:

I agree with you, i'm just saying is that ram did not affect the battery life, if there is a substantial difference it will be because of smaller battery.

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Yeah I know what you mean. I just don't understand why everyone thinks it is shorter when it's still quoted at 10 hours.
The smaller battery will be upset by the more efficient a8. I'm sure it was the same from iPad4 to Air. I'm sure the air battery is smaller than the iPad 4 and you still get the same battery life.

bluespark said:

Or they assumed that most people would be using cases.

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The people who are obsessed with thinness don't.

asiga said:

Considering how Apple has been evolving since the last years of Steve, I'm now seriously considering leaving Apple products.

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I hope you don't think that Jobs' retirement and death are the cause of these changes, because ....

For me, the serious decline ... was reinforced by the difficulty of using iOS for serious work that requires a file system.

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This decision has Jobs' fingerprints all over it. That was his vision for iOS.

crashoverride77 said:

Yeah I know what you mean. I just don't understand why everyone thinks it is shorter when it's still quoted at 10 hours.
The smaller battery will be upset by the more efficient a8. I'm sure it was the same from iPad4 to Air. I'm sure the air battery is smaller than the iPad 4 and you still get the same battery life.

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Actually a few reviews indicated that the iPad Air 2 lost about 2 hours of extra battery life for video playback compared to the iPad Air. It's not that it didn't hit it's advertised battery life, it's that the the last gen lasted longer doing the same task, which was actually better than advertised originally.

It still seems to me that Air 1 owners don't need to rush out and upgrade. The extra RAM is always nice and so is the processor speed but for most of us the Air works perfectly and is plenty fast enough. The safari tab reload issue seemed central to certain websites or use case scenarios.

The camera stuff is of dubious value, IMO. The "better" screen is another nice thing but hardly worth clapping about. Same pixel density.

Touch ID is meh.

Barely thinner and barely lighter doesn't sound like a "must have" either.

So, by all means, if you own an older ipad or no ipad then go for the Air 2 unless you want to save money and get an Air. For those with a good working Air, I'd stay with what you have.

Who cares what biased (paid) "pundits" think of a mediocre device "update"?

"Oh - the XYZ press like it - IT MUST BE GOOD"


Thinner. Gold. Faster. Meh. Gimme a break.

Moto G said:

Who cares what biased (paid) "pundits" think of a mediocre device "update"?

"Oh - the XYZ press like it - IT MUST BE GOOD"


Thinner. Gold. Faster. Meh. Gimme a break.

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Yeah well maybe it's because you already own iPad Air or at least 4th gen?

Imagine people with iPad 2 or even the original? This would be a huge jump. I dont like to lose the mute switch and some battery capacity, but it is fast.. So that reason alone is enough to justify the upgrade.

Moto G said:

Who cares what biased (paid) "pundits" think of a mediocre device "update"?

"Oh - the XYZ press like it - IT MUST BE GOOD"


Thinner. Gold. Faster. Meh. Gimme a break.

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I have an iPad 2. Do you realize how big of an update this is for me?

Keirasplace said:

Can you set the resource usage in IOS games?

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There are a few where you can do that. In Asphalt 8 you can't.

iSayuSay said:

Yeah well maybe it's because you already own iPad Air or at least 4th gen?

Imagine people with iPad 2 or even the original? This would be a huge jump. I dont like to lose the mute switch and some battery capacity, but it is fast.. So that reason alone is enough to justify the upgrade.

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It's certainly worthwhile to get the latest if you have something older. If you have an Air or even a 4th gen iPad and don't mind the weight you'd be fine to stay with what you have. The updates are NOT must haves for owners of recent ipad editions. That's what we are saying.

neko girl said:

Sounds like a philosophical question..

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No, just a mediocre attempt at humour I'm afraid. If I was getting philosophical I'd have said something like, if an iPhone rings in the office and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? Or if an email sends from the Mac but receives no reply, was anyone around to read it?

asiga said:

Considering how Apple has been evolving since the last years of Steve, I'm now seriously considering leaving Apple products. For me, the serious decline started with Lion, and was reinforced by the difficulty of using iOS for serious work that requires a file system. The Microsoft-like style of running the AppStore (making it as difficult as possible to find apps for old Apple devices) is also noticeable.

And today, reading there's no lock switch on the new iPads, and that you need to lock orientation from the control center, reminds me that my days with Apple are coming to an end.

I'll probably go to other Unices, still to be decided.

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This post has to be Internet humor.

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s2mikey said:

It's certainly worthwhile to get the latest if you have something older. If you have an Air or even a 4th gen iPad and don't mind the weight you'd be fine to stay with what you have. The updates are NOT must haves for owners of recent ipad editions. That's what we are saying.

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I think you meant "That's what I am saying" unless you have a mouse in your pocket

meh. im keeping my ipad 4.
ill probably keep ios 8 too and not upgrade from it ever.

ill get a new ipad when theres a new screen resolution

Finally got to try the Air 2 in person.

And it's very nice - light, easy to hold, terrific display, and very quick feeling.

For the first time, I think they've introduced an iPad that would be a worthwhile upgrade from the iPad 3 I currently have. Not enough to jump, but if anything happens to mine I'll feel like I'm replacing it with something that seems like an unambiguous improvement.

s2mikey said:

It's certainly worthwhile to get the latest if you have something older. If you have an Air or even a 4th gen iPad and don't mind the weight you'd be fine to stay with what you have. The updates are NOT must haves for owners of recent ipad editions. That's what we are saying.

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For many of us with previous generation iPads, the first Air was not enough to get us to change. For me, a better display (antiglare and the laminated display), TouchID, 2GB of RAM were the type of upgrades I was waiting on.

If someone had given me an Air, I would sell it and update to the Air2. I care about the screen, speed, and TouchID. However, if you don't care about those things, you would probably still be happy with the iPad 2/3...assuming you actually had a reason to own an iPad in the first place.