Apple Launches New 10.5-Inch iPad Air With A12 Bionic Chip and Apple Pencil Support, Starts at $499

[nikusak]

Pretty sure next week some YouTube troll drives a tank over this and, can you imagine, it will bend and we are going to have a 1000 comment thread on MR.

Seriously, these look OK to me. Lots of complaining here again, as usual.

Quad speakers are a must nowadays, that’s the biggest omission coming from a 10.5” Pro. Of course no reason to switch to Air for me.

Bit pricey in Europe for the 256GB model though. -100€ and the price would be OK-ish.

 

[sracer]

I think its just a familiar name...

I agree it's stupid. I think this thing should be called 'iPad' and should be the price of the current 'iPad'. (with the current iPad discontinued).

I suggested that they use "Plus" instead of "Air". They didn't respond.

 

[femike]

Not a bad release (haven't checked prices in this country yet), but I hope it has:
- anti-reflective coating on the laminate screen (like the iPad Air 2)
- 4gb RAM (iPad Air 2 has 2gb RAM and its almost 5 years old)
- loud speakers
- and I wish it had the A12X CPU. Probably would of cost Apple $5 more.

(I prefer the bezels and the button and FaceID I don't care.)

 

[nvmls]

Well they lead the industry.

Kids industry?

They don't even improve refresh rate, "lead the industry" lol.

 

[GuruZac]

And a much lower price. Details matter.

Exactly. I paid $850 for my 256GB iPad Pro 10.5. The new Air is $650, $200 less for the same configuration minus 120Hz display and quad speakers, which I seldom take advantage of. I would have absolutely purchased this over my 10.5 had there been the option at the time. I can't imagine Apple sells many more 11" Pro models with this now available. You are paying $950 for the 256GB 11" iPad Pro. $300 goes a long way with accessories and a pencil/case for the 10.5 Air.

 

[joeblow7777]

I'm with you on that! I'm a year in with the 2018 iPad and it is just doing things just as competently as it did on day-1. I think maybe I'll wait a year and replace both my Mini 4 and 2018 iPad with a Mini 5....maybe.

Yeah, the A10 is not a slow processor at all. I'm sure that the 2018 iPad will run iOS 13 just fine, so that's at least another full year.

 

[AppleJuules]

iPad Pro, iPad Air, iPad, iPad Mini.

Not hard to follow...

Not hard to follow, but it's not part of Steve Jobs philosophy. He always wanted a clear product line and Apple is becoming more and more Samsung-ish by applying diversification. Its good for business, but I liked that there was only ONE iPhone in the line-up e.g.

 

[jimmy_uk]

I had to look this up. For anyone else wondering, "Pro Motion" is Apple's branding for 120 frames per second. Throughout most of history, 30 frames per second was considered great and 60 frames per second is perfect for anything less than AR/VR (where your subconscious can notice the difference and induce motion-sickness if it's under 90 FPS). Over 90 frames per second is definitely overkill, where you won't even subconsciously notice a difference with the screen strapped to your face.

Once you see it you cant go back....

 

[dominiongamma]

Is there really a reason to purchase the iPad Pro at this point?

Yup! Going to buy a 11 inch one since it has Face ID, not going back to Touch ID

 

[oldmacs]

I suggested that they use "Plus" instead of "Air". They didn't respond.

Plus makes more sense than Air. But then again, they have resurrected the MacBook Air so who knows.

 

[GuruZac]

Not a bad release (haven't checked prices in this country yet), but I hope it has:
- anti-reflective coating on the laminate screen (like the iPad Air 2)
- 4gb RAM (iPad Air 2 has 2gb RAM and its almost 5 years old)
- loud speakers
- and I wish it had the A12X CPU. Probably would of cost Apple $5 more.

(I prefer the bezels and the button and FaceID I don't care.)

The A12 is overkill already, the A12X is definitely not necessary for the target buyer of the Air. I would agree on the RAM, or at the very least, 3GB. I can't imagine Apple matches the RAM of the Pro models at 4GB. Honestly, Apple should have put 6GB of RAM in the Pro models standard and not just on the 1TB model.

 

[jonnyb098]

Here they go again muddying the waters. Just when the iPad lineup was becoming much more coherent. I love my iPAd pro 11-inch but Apple sure seems to be having trouble figuring out a clear message for the device.

At least all the mini lovers can stop complaining.

 

[Bloodwych]

Is there any particular reason for the 27% Apple tax on this item for buying in the UK?

 

[sracer]

Once you see it you cant go back....

I have and did.

I think the "benefits" of ProMotion are overstated but I'm glad that Apple gives customers a choice to buy an iPad with it or without it.

 

[WannaGoMac]

The $220 iPad 2018 was still a much better deal Black Friday (regularly 250 on sale now). I’ll wait to see if the 10.5 inch black Friday deals are also significant For the air. I’d like a laminated display but not for two times the price

 

[nikusak]

I think its just a familiar name...

I agree it's stupid. I think this thing should be called 'iPad' and should be the price of the current 'iPad'. (with the current iPad discontinued).

No, it should be $199 and have all the features of the 2018 Pro.

Apple should do this and that. However, they have a business to run with responsibilities to shareholders i.e. make money.

The new Air is OK. Once again, I don’t know what people were expecting.

 

[longhorn2004]

Who is buying a mini at $399? So much for the mini being the ISD product, guess the kids will be using 9.7 Ipads.

We knew Apple was not going to let the 10.5 tooling go to waste. Surprised the Apple didn't make the regular Ipad a 10.5. But it does fill a hole in their Ipad pricing.

 

[blairh]

Four speakers will now cost you at least $800. What an absolute joke.

So glad I got my 10.5" Pro refurbished from Apple for $550.

 

[oldmacs]

I am interested though - will this be referred to as the iPad Air (3rd Generation) like how the iPad 9.7 is referred to as the iPad (6th Generation)?

 

[sracer]

Who is buying a mini at $399? So much for the mini being the ISD product, guess the kids will be using 9.7 Ipads.

We knew Apple was not going to let the 10.5 tooling go to waste. Surprised the Apple didn't make the regular Ipad a 10.5. But it does fill a hole in their Ipad pricing.

I don't know that a majority of Minis were being sold to parents for their kids. I DO know that many Minis were sold to "vertical" markets (like warehouse workers, Point-of-Sales, nurses/doctors, pilots, etc.)

 

[Sasparilla]

This is nice - finally have an iPad to replace the Air 2 with a good price and headphones.

 

[Dave245]

Also new cases for the iPad Air, iPad mini and a new pink colour for the iPad Pro 12.9" smart folio case, have been added.

 

[G5isAlive]

Kids industry?

They don't even improve refresh rate, "lead the industry" lol.

So who else leads the industry then in tablets? A tablet that a majority of people actual use?

 

[pmau]

<Irony>
Without looking ... list all iPad Models ... 3 ... 2 ... 1 .... go
</Irony>

PS: I think it's bad to introduce an iPad at every $100 price point.

 

[Loge]

So at least no new aspect ratios or screen sizes (so much for the 10.2" rumours) , but it does leave the 11" pro as a bit of an oddity, which wouldn't matter except for the slow app updates.

 

[G5isAlive]

Four speakers will now cost you at least $800. What an absolute joke.

So glad I got my 10.5" Pro refurbished from Apple for $550.

Sounds like 4 speakers now cost $550. But in any event, if your criteria for a tablet is speakers I think you are missing the point. Doesn't anyone care about quality sound any more? You are never going to get that from a tablet. Use Airplay 2 to some real speakers. its just a matter of physics.