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First iPad Air 2 Reviews: 'Ridiculously Fast', 'Vibrant Display', Thinner Profile Comes at the Cost of Battery Life
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It depends on the object. For phones, a small drop test might be required. For tablets, not as much. It is like a reviewer dropping a TV and saying they were testing how sturdy it is. Yeah, 10 inch glass screens can break when you drop it on concrete.
Again apple, WTF!! we don't want or need thinner or lighter, we NEED battery life though !!
I now use a windows 8.1 atom based tablet that is about 75% heavier than my ipad air was, and its a million times more useful, runs the full office suit, and other windows applications, and the battery still lasts me a full day
sure its not all pretty and aliminum, but its a damn sight more useable than the ipad, oh, and the ability to add extra storage space in the form of an internal microSD or an external USB drive, priceless.
and total cost of this wee device, about 1/3rd that of the ipad air at the moment
I now use a windows 8.1 atom based tablet that is about 75% heavier than my ipad air was, and its a million times more useful, runs the full office suit, and other windows applications, and the battery still lasts me a full day
sure its not all pretty and aliminum, but its a damn sight more useable than the ipad, oh, and the ability to add extra storage space in the form of an internal microSD or an external USB drive, priceless.
and total cost of this wee device, about 1/3rd that of the ipad air at the moment
Get out of here. You never get 8 hours with 50% left. You telling me you get 15-16 hours of battery. Please call apple and tell them your secret.
Apple said you will get 10 hour of battery and that's confirmed by all reviewers - just like every other Ipad.
Reducing size and weight is important for a product you are supposed to hold in your hands for many hours.
All tablets have slumped, so what's your point? It is not like someone was replacing the Ipad with some Galaxy tablet. They're buying less tablets, even the cheap horrible ones you keep in the drawer...
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So, what is your point. You got a brick that's useful to you (BTW, 11h is under constant use like watching a video, if you just look at text the tablet beats on your crap). Well bravo for telling us that right here in this forum. Want a candy?
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"Ridiculously"so battery life not as good then...
well....u gotta compromise somewhere.
Its as good as Ipad 1, 2, 3, 4 and slightly less than Air while being massively aster than Air 2. That's it. Unless you were watching videos 12h a day on your tablet, it won't make a difference.
You still get your quoted 10 hours, maybe 11. I have had iPad for years and they normally exactly get 10 hours. Don't know why you guys think the new iPad has less battery life. The a8x is a lot more efficient than a7.
I don't know what some of these reviewes are doing when they are claiming to get 13 hours of battery. Some guy in this thread said he had 8 hours usage and still had 50% left on his iPad 4, that's BS.
On normal usage with brightness at 60% or higher, with third party apps downloaded and running in the background I get 10 hours, so do all my family members or friends that own an iPad. The new ipad air 2 will be the same, exactly as quoted by Apple.
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That's true..
The iPad Air is already thin enough...
how light do you want a tablet ? TO the point you can't even feel it.?
I would trade more heavy for battery life any day. Which is why i've still got my 4th gen. iPad.
I wonder if it would depend on the frame rate too. The Air 2 can go way higher in frame rate, though with Metal you gain efficiency. The Shield has a very high performance but it kills the battery if you run it full tilt.
Can you set the resource usage in IOS games?
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THIS ONE LASTS AS LONG AS THE IPAD 4. Good grief. Seriously!!!
Weight comes at the expense thickness for more battery life. Everything is a tradeoff, but what good is more battery life if the thing is heavy and uncomfortable to hold for that long? The iPad has incredible battery life as is. Get a second charger if needed.
Or they assumed that most people would be using cases. I admit they have not designed previous iPhones around that assumption, but they clearly did so this time. And where that assumption applies, a protruding camera makes more sense than one that does not (because it has an opening into which it can protrude; this approach is like shaving off off some of the thickness of the case).
That said, it would be nice if Apple offered an official battery case that would allow users who prefer battery life over thinness (and there obviously are many such users) to have what they want.
Not sure why people complain about battery life
The ipad has 10 hour battery life if it goes to 8.5 hours of battery life its not that bad. I charge my ipad like once every 3 days.
In this case, you lose a little to gain a lot. The lighter the iPad the better because its meant to be held and passed around.
The silly that had to go was the mute button. Now what is the explanation for that?
The ipad has 10 hour battery life if it goes to 8.5 hours of battery life its not that bad. I charge my ipad like once every 3 days.
In this case, you lose a little to gain a lot. The lighter the iPad the better because its meant to be held and passed around.
The silly that had to go was the mute button. Now what is the explanation for that?
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.
Is this why apple is conservative with their estimates?
The iPad Air was quoted at 10 hours but Apple could have easily claimed 11 hours.
Now, the iPad Air 2 is quoted at 10 hours...but it seems like we won't get much more extra than that.
Did they downplay the original Air's capacity just so they had wiggle room to make it look like both are equal?
The iPad Air was quoted at 10 hours but Apple could have easily claimed 11 hours.
Now, the iPad Air 2 is quoted at 10 hours...but it seems like we won't get much more extra than that.
Did they downplay the original Air's capacity just so they had wiggle room to make it look like both are equal?
Yeah, I got scoliosis carrying my iPad Air around all year
As was mentioned numerous times, if Apple comes out with an even thinner iPhone or iPad next year, they need to be labeled clinically insane. From here on out, figure out how to improve battery life. And hurry up, for the sake of the Apple watch which will be dead on arrival if it doesn't last more than 24 hours.
We all have our fingers crossed for Tesla, or someone out there, to sort this battery situation out.
I own an iPad 2 and the comparably spec'd iPad mini. Although both devices are "legacy devices" compared to the iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3, I feel no strong incentive to upgrade.
The reason is fairly straightforward. I use my iPads for their original intended purpose: browsing the web, watching movies (iTunes and Netflix), composing e-mails, and looking at pictures. Both the iPad 2 and iPad mini are capable of running iOS 8.1 and accomplish these tasks reasonably well.
In this regard, for me, the new iPads lack a killer feature that would drive me to upgrade my device. Would my content look better on a Retina display? Sure. Would I notice some speed improvements? Probably. Are either of those so essential that I want to shell out $1000 to replace my devices? Not really.
The reason is fairly straightforward. I use my iPads for their original intended purpose: browsing the web, watching movies (iTunes and Netflix), composing e-mails, and looking at pictures. Both the iPad 2 and iPad mini are capable of running iOS 8.1 and accomplish these tasks reasonably well.
In this regard, for me, the new iPads lack a killer feature that would drive me to upgrade my device. Would my content look better on a Retina display? Sure. Would I notice some speed improvements? Probably. Are either of those so essential that I want to shell out $1000 to replace my devices? Not really.
Haha I am. Well that and I was going to buy my wife and I both iPads last year but didn't because of the RAM. So we shared. Now she's getting full custody and a keyboard case to run expense tracking and other stuff for her new daycare and I'll be rolling with TWO GEE BEES haha! I just hope that in a few more years I won't have to explain to everyone again why we need 4GB of RAM. Progress people! Those webpages and apps aren't getting any daintier. Neither is iOS for that matter! We designers and developers always find a way to take advantage of that increased processing power, which usually means throwing more data around, which means you need more RAM to do it smoothly. I'm also hoping that with all this performance, OS X style RAM compression will now be possible in a future iOS update. That would be pretty incredible, essentially giving the iPad Air 2 up to 3GB of usable memory. Fancy.
With that logic, why not make it even thinner, with less battery? And you can't tell the difference, weight-wise between the Air 1 and 2.
Apple set a benchmark of battery life to device thinness. And now they've lowered that bar. Not impressed, AT ALL.
Apple's got a bad case of techo-anorexia. They have now passed the point of TOO thin on nearly every product line.
iPhones, losing battery life, structural reinforcement, and getting protruding camera assemblies. (When "bones are sticking out you gotta a serious issue)
iPads, losing battery life and actually physical quick switches
iMacs, repairabilty and upgradeabilty
MacMini, (surprised it didn't get a shell redesign) following the iMac
MacBook Pro, also with the battery loss and lack of ability to upgrade ram.
MacPro, custom graphics card configuration to make th trash-can design work, so likely limited to no upgrade paths there.
Apple products are starting to look like an emaciated Steve Jobs during his final years.
iPhones, losing battery life, structural reinforcement, and getting protruding camera assemblies. (When "bones are sticking out you gotta a serious issue)
iPads, losing battery life and actually physical quick switches
iMacs, repairabilty and upgradeabilty
MacMini, (surprised it didn't get a shell redesign) following the iMac
MacBook Pro, also with the battery loss and lack of ability to upgrade ram.
MacPro, custom graphics card configuration to make th trash-can design work, so likely limited to no upgrade paths there.
Apple products are starting to look like an emaciated Steve Jobs during his final years.
My 2 cents (as if it matters)
Just received mine (well, an hour ago). I upgraded from a 3rd Generation iPad and I would have to say it's well worth the upgrade from that generation. The weight different is similar to the feeling of picking up the iPhone 5 the first time after using the iPhone 4/4S for 2 years. It feels fake and empty, but as soon as you use it you realize it is full of power!
As far as I can tell, in my very limited testing, Safari Tabs do NOT refresh after switching from one to another. This is not to say it doesn't happen at some point, but it hasn't happened for me. Although, I was never one to complain about it before, but I know people want to know.
All in all, I am happy with my upgrade. I feel as if anyone upgrading from a 3rd generation or less to the iPad Air 2 will be pleasantly surprised and overly happy with their purchase.
Just received mine (well, an hour ago). I upgraded from a 3rd Generation iPad and I would have to say it's well worth the upgrade from that generation. The weight different is similar to the feeling of picking up the iPhone 5 the first time after using the iPhone 4/4S for 2 years. It feels fake and empty, but as soon as you use it you realize it is full of power!
As far as I can tell, in my very limited testing, Safari Tabs do NOT refresh after switching from one to another. This is not to say it doesn't happen at some point, but it hasn't happened for me. Although, I was never one to complain about it before, but I know people want to know.
All in all, I am happy with my upgrade. I feel as if anyone upgrading from a 3rd generation or less to the iPad Air 2 will be pleasantly surprised and overly happy with their purchase.
johnnyturbouk
macrumors 68000
Exactly - really glad apple saw sense and upgraded the RAM, i mean the cost between 1gb to 2gb ram is pretty low tbh...64gb air 2 wifi only in silver for me