Usually I keep an iPad about five years before upgrading. But this time around I chose to try upgrading sooner—I traded in my iPad Air 5 64gb for a new iPad Air 6 13in. 128gb.
Why? I was perfectly satisfied with my Air 5. With the M1 processor it was snappy and did everything I asked of it. If I had a complaint it’s I felt the battery life was disappointing. The battery life of the M series chips seen in MacBooks doesn’t seem to have translated to the iPads. At least thats been my experience. Anyway when I bought the Air 5 I had also been considering the iPad Pro, but I couldn’t justify the added expense for what I used an iPad for. Of course, a 12.9 iPad Pro was particularly out of the question—I loved the idea of the bigger display, but not at that price for what I needed from an iPad.
Then the iPad Air 13 was announced and that piqued my interest. A big screen iPad without the big screen Pro price. So after a lot of thought I decided to go for it. I ordered a blue iPad Air 128gb 13in and traded in my 1-1/2 year old iPad Air 5. I did this through work where I got $308 CAD for trade-in on top of 15 percent off promotion for staff purchase. It was a good deal.
I’ve had the new Air 13 for only a few hours, but I do have initial impressions already compared to my previous Air 5.
For it’s size this 13in. (12.9in. actually) feels rather light. Then again I haven’t put it in a case yet which I find adds noticeable weight to handling any iPad. The larger display is indeed nice, and somehow I feel I’m seeing more detail, more contrast and richer colour than before. It’s not radically different, but it feels noticeably different. Yet I wonder if it’s mostly a false perception because I don’t have the two iPads, old and new, side-by-side. Of course, it’s not impossible a larger screen will just naturally allow you to see more given the new 12.9 screen is about 1.4 times greater in display area than the 10.9 screen of the Air 5. The text on websites is also noticeably larger which is welcome news for my aging eyes. The bigger display also allows for even more of a desktop view of websites which I appreciate as I generally dislike the mobile versions of websites you get with a smartphone.
In terms of overall performance this M2 iPad Air seems a touch snappier than the M1 Air, but it’s not much different. I cannot yet comment on battery life.
But the one thing I find very noticeable is the quality of the audio. The audio on my iPad 13 is noticeably richer and deeper. I hear and feel more. I had no real complaint with my previous iPad, but the sound on the new one is unquestionably better—video audio and music are definitely fuller.
At any rate those are my initial impressions.
Why? I was perfectly satisfied with my Air 5. With the M1 processor it was snappy and did everything I asked of it. If I had a complaint it’s I felt the battery life was disappointing. The battery life of the M series chips seen in MacBooks doesn’t seem to have translated to the iPads. At least thats been my experience. Anyway when I bought the Air 5 I had also been considering the iPad Pro, but I couldn’t justify the added expense for what I used an iPad for. Of course, a 12.9 iPad Pro was particularly out of the question—I loved the idea of the bigger display, but not at that price for what I needed from an iPad.
Then the iPad Air 13 was announced and that piqued my interest. A big screen iPad without the big screen Pro price. So after a lot of thought I decided to go for it. I ordered a blue iPad Air 128gb 13in and traded in my 1-1/2 year old iPad Air 5. I did this through work where I got $308 CAD for trade-in on top of 15 percent off promotion for staff purchase. It was a good deal.
I’ve had the new Air 13 for only a few hours, but I do have initial impressions already compared to my previous Air 5.
For it’s size this 13in. (12.9in. actually) feels rather light. Then again I haven’t put it in a case yet which I find adds noticeable weight to handling any iPad. The larger display is indeed nice, and somehow I feel I’m seeing more detail, more contrast and richer colour than before. It’s not radically different, but it feels noticeably different. Yet I wonder if it’s mostly a false perception because I don’t have the two iPads, old and new, side-by-side. Of course, it’s not impossible a larger screen will just naturally allow you to see more given the new 12.9 screen is about 1.4 times greater in display area than the 10.9 screen of the Air 5. The text on websites is also noticeably larger which is welcome news for my aging eyes. The bigger display also allows for even more of a desktop view of websites which I appreciate as I generally dislike the mobile versions of websites you get with a smartphone.
In terms of overall performance this M2 iPad Air seems a touch snappier than the M1 Air, but it’s not much different. I cannot yet comment on battery life.
But the one thing I find very noticeable is the quality of the audio. The audio on my iPad 13 is noticeably richer and deeper. I hear and feel more. I had no real complaint with my previous iPad, but the sound on the new one is unquestionably better—video audio and music are definitely fuller.
At any rate those are my initial impressions.
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