First iPad Air Reviews: 'Ridiculously Small and Light', Apple's Most 'Tempting Tablet Yet'

[Vtwo]

When the first iPad came out, people marveled at how Apple could pack so much into something so thin and light, and yet the iPod Touch at the time had the exact same technology guts and was significantly smaller and thinner then the iPad, which continued right up to the current generation of the iPod Touch. All the iPad had was a lot of extra room for more battery.

Today, iPhone 5s must be a distant memory because it has the same technology AND includes the touch ID, and even the new iPad Mini has the exact same technology as the Air, its the same thickness and is much lighter.

I.e. the iPad Air was trivial to engineer because its just a larger case to hold the iPhone 5s guts.

I'm amazed at how people gush over something new and shiny from Apple without realizing that there is nothing really impressive about it.

Are you serious about the iPod touch and iPad comparison? Dont you think it would take more power to power up a 10" screen? And won't the bezel and back plate for a device with a bigger screen also be bigger and heavier. Not to mention the structural integrity would require slightly thicker material. The CPU or guts are actually not really significant in terms of the dimensions of the tablet. The retina mini also had to get thicker and heavier due to the retina display.

Or do you think a minivan should weight the same as a compact couple because they have the same engine?

 

[cdmoore74]

Agreed. Having 2 apps on the screen would be nice. But it is also true that the Note 2 still had issues with lag (more so then the iPhone5) with 2GB of RAM.

Definitely agree about the lag with the Note 2 and multi-view because I had the Note 2. But they did something about it by adding 1 more gig of ram in the Note 3. And I can bet money that the Note 4 will have 4gig, a 64bit processor and OS in 2014.
Just look at Anand’s Air review. There is a memory penalty for running 64bit apps and he was surprised that iPad Air/retina mini did not receive a ram upgrade. I can let the iPhone 5s pass with 1gig but not the iPad’s were those apps are going to be more intensive.

 

[fitgirl]

I'm honestly not that excited about this one.

Same here.

 

[thebeans]

What?

Heh, as usual the sock puppets give glowing reviews...

I mean, what's really that drastically different other than being lighter and thinner?

What would you expect to ever be drastically different? It is a tablet computer. There are only so many ways it can look and function and this happens to be a very good example.

 

[Jimmy James]

Heh, as usual the sock puppets give glowing reviews...

I mean, what's really that drastically different other than being lighter and thinner?

Other than being completely revamped inside and out? And running iOS7?

 

[Mr Staunton]

To wait or not to wait

I would love to upgrade my iPad 3 for this new awesome looking version. However, my reservations are that if I did, and they released the 2nd version of Air in 6 months, I would be none too happy with Apple.

If this did happen I would have to begin a quest to tarnish their money grabbing nature, and no doubt I will be vilified on here for doing so, therefore making my visits to MR unpleasant. This would possibly lead me down the path of jumping ship and trying out another smartphone supplier.

After I've sold the iPad Air at a loss, dumped my iPhone 4S and shoved the MBPro under the bed, I will slowly begin to realize that the brand new Android tablet is rubbish, my new Windows smartphone is stupid and my Windows laptop looks like my phone OS which just doesn't seem to work.

So I now begin to read up on the newly released iPad Air 2 and the Gold 5S look freaking awesome and I decide to dust off the MBPro, buy the new pad and phone and I've got a huge smile on my face. I return to MR and rave about the newly acquired pad and phone and swear my allegiance to the Apple eco system and am welcomed back by you lot.

That is, until 6 months later the fantastic iPhone 6 is released, the iPad Air 2S is released with the iWatch that will only work with the latest hardware, and so begins the above process.

How do they do it.

 

[Marc-SP]

Thats a great point about Siri and what real improvements can or should be. I do like the direction that thr Air is going though. Its about time they've shrunk the dimensions and weight down from the relatively hefty iPad 3 & 4.

Yes, lighter, thinner, faster, smaller bezels... all good things for sure, but for many people, unless you really have money to spare, it is not easy to justify (geeky technology lust aside, hehe ) buying an iPad Air if you have even an iPad... 2.

If you are not a heavy gamer, if you just check email, facebook, some IM, Skype, angry birds, and the other 10 most usual apps (like many people do), do you need to spend again 500$ +tax to do the same slightly faster? (I never had any frustration doing that things in an iPad mini 1)? I know some older people that are still happy with iPad 1!

----------

Steve Ballmer (and many others) before the original iPhone keynote:

What would you expect to ever be drastically different? It is a PHONE. There are only so many ways it can look and function...

 

[SactoGuy18]

If you are not a heavy gamer, if you just check email, facebook, some IM, Skype, angry birds, and the other 10 most usual apps (like many people do), do you need to spend again 500$ +tax to do the same slightly faster? (I never had any frustration doing that things in an iPad mini 1)? I know some older people that are still happy with iPad 1!

However, the faster A7 system on a chip (SoC) of the iPad Air versus the old A5 SoC on my iPad 2 makes a difference if you're streaming videos, since the new SoC will decode video streams faster.

 

[Marc-SP]

However, the faster A7 system on a chip (SoC) of the iPad Air versus the old A5 SoC on my iPad 2 makes a difference if you're streaming videos, since the new SoC will decode video streams faster.

I never had any frame dropped viewing HD 720p videos on the iPad mini or iPad 2. Both SoC have hardware h264 decoders. I don't understand what "faster" means in this context.

Maybe you mean the wifi conexion is faster or more reliable in you situation? iPad Air has MIMO and other wifi related improvements. Still, unless your wifi signal strenght or quality is quite bad, there should be no practical difference while streaming h264 720p video.

 

[o0smoothies0o]

Indeed. There have only been two "X" chips. The A5X was created for the iPad3 because it needed the extra graphical grunt to drive the retina display. Even so, it could barely cope as it only had twice the GPU power yet was driving four times as many pixels as the A5 in the iPad2.

The A6X was introduced a scant seven months later in the iPad4, primarily to solve this problem. The A6 chip used in the iPhone 5 had roughly equivalent GPU power to the A5X so they needed an A6X derivative to once again double the GPU power for the iPad.

The A7 has been designed from the ground up to have enough horsepower to drive all the various screen resolutions across all iOS devices, so Apple can consolidate all devices onto a single chip design. I don't foresee any further "X" derivatives from here on.

Anyone who thinks there will be future X chips should read this. Good job

 

[ElectronGuru]

hopefully the long charge times of the ipad 3 and 4 are gone. do any of the reviews talk about this?

It's capacity (watt hours) divided by watts. We've got the battery specs, we just need the plug (transformer) rate for both devices. 12 watts, for example.

I can get educational discount on Air but not on Mini on Apple website.(makes no sense!) this makes the price difference between the Air and Retina Mini small..making the decision even harder.

Assuming no errors, it probably means that the mini doesn't have as much margin.

Funny thing is, the note 3 actually needs the 3 Gigs to run smoothly while the iPads (haven't tried the Air) runs just as fast with 1 Gig.

Yeah, bit like complaining the gas tank is half the size on a hybrid car. Sloppy programming does need more room, but it's hard to measure so we don't see it as a cost.

 

[Vtwo]

Yes, lighter, thinner, faster, smaller bezels... all good things for sure, but for many people, unless you really have money to spare, it is not easy to justify (geeky technology lust aside, hehe ) buying an iPad Air if you have even an iPad... 2.

If you are not a heavy gamer, if you just check email, facebook, some IM, Skype, angry birds, and the other 10 most usual apps (like many people do), do you need to spend again 500$ +tax to do the same slightly faster? (I never had any frustration doing that things in an iPad mini 1)? I know some older people that are still happy with iPad 1!

----------

Steve Ballmer (and many others) before the original iPhone keynote:

Agreed. But this is true for almost all products (especially tech products). No one absolutely NEEDS it (since it wasn't even available a year ago). In terms of justifying a purchase, that is different for everyone. People don't NEED that new t-shirt they are buying or that new hat.

Also, if you have iPad 2/3, you won't be spending an extra $500+ on the Air since you can sell your iPad 2/3 at a pretty good price to help you cover some of the cost of the Air. Here in Hong Kong, the resell value of iPad is $100+ USD more then a similar generation Andriod tablets. So although iPads are more expensive, if you resell your old one, the total cost of ownership is actually similar to Andriod tablets. I am not sure if this is true for US or other countries.

 

[Marc-SP]

Agreed. But this is true for almost all products (especially tech products). No one absolutely NEEDS it (since it wasn't even available a year ago). In terms of justifying a purchase, that is different for everyone. People don't NEED that new t-shirt they are buying or that new hat.

Also, if you have iPad 2/3, you won't be spending an extra $500+ on the Air since you can sell your iPad 2/3 at a pretty good price to help you cover some of the cost of the Air. Here in Hong Kong, the resell value of iPad is $100+ USD more then a similar generation Andriod tablets. So although iPads are more expensive, if you resell your old one, the total cost of ownership is actually similar to Andriod tablets. I am not sure if this is true for US or other countries.

I know people only really NEED food, water and shelter, hehe . What I mean is that in many cases people will do exactly the same things in an iPad 2 or a newer iPad, because they already have enough with the services and performance provided by iPad 2, and the newer iPads don't really bring new habilities (not improved habilities, but new things impossible before. Like the iPad 2 provided cameras that iPad 1 simply had not).

Of course, it is not everybody like that, especially in a tech forum like this, hehe.


I agree that the reselling value is good for Apple products, but that's a totally different discussion. The price is the price. I could argue that you can sell an old iPad2 for 100$ and then get a Nexus 7 (2013) for 130$. A great tablet with full HD screen, the same stroage and twice the RAM of Air for 130$!!! :-D (Just an example. I know Nexus 7 is not exactly comparable to Air, but it is still a good product with a killer price)

 

[dol4n]

What I posted is true. Anand is highly respected in the industry for his unbiased reviews.

I will believe you when you can give me a source.

 

[Marc-SP]

hopefully the long charge times of the ipad 3 and 4 are gone. do any of the reviews talk about this?

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7460/apple-ipad-air-review/8

Better than before, but still... :-/

BTW, it is quite funny that not even Anandtech itself mentioned in the Surface 2 review the clear advantage the MS tablet has in charging time over all direct alternatives.


.

 

[AppleScruff1]

I will believe you when you can give me a source.

It really doesn't matter if you believe me or not. Believe whatever you want.

 

[Ubele]

i think the people focusing on the missing touchID are seriously just a bunch of whiners, like little kids not getting exactly what they want at Christmas :/

It's really a glass half full/glass half empty kind of thing. What about all the things that the Air does right? Especially eliminating that hand cramping when you actually hold the device. That lightness is worthy enough of an upgrade

Some are whiners, but not all. I don't upgrade my iPhone or iPad every generation. I have an iPad 4 that I love, and I had no intention of upgrading until the iPad 6 or iPad mini 3. The improvements in the iPad Air over the 4 are very tempting, though, and I'm curious to see it and the iPad mini 2 in person. If they had touch ID, I'd be tempted to upgrade this generation, but since they don't, I'll be sensible and wait another year. If I had an iPad 2 or 3, I'd definitely upgrade this generation. That's different from people who claim they were going to buy this year, but won't because of the lack of touch ID. Those people will just find something else to complain about next year.

 

[MoreAwesomeDanU]

When the first iPad came out, people marveled at how Apple could pack so much into something so thin and light, and yet the iPod Touch at the time had the exact same technology guts and was significantly smaller and thinner then the iPad, which continued right up to the current generation of the iPod Touch. All the iPad had was a lot of extra room for more battery.

Today, iPhone 5s must be a distant memory because it has the same technology AND includes the touch ID, and even the new iPad Mini has the exact same technology as the Air, its the same thickness and is much lighter.

I.e. the iPad Air was trivial to engineer because its just a larger case to hold the iPhone 5s guts.

I'm amazed at how people gush over something new and shiny from Apple without realizing that there is nothing really impressive about it.

i lol'd

 

[twoodcc]

glad to hear that everyone likes the new iPad Air. i'm sure many will be sold this holiday season. i would like to have one, but i think i'll settle for a new mac instead

 

[AFDoc]

Same here.

Guess we're weird to think this way. I know there are all these "changes" but it's just not pumping my nads as they say. I prefer the smaller sized iMini so maybe that's why it's not doing much for me.

Let me guess, just bought an iPad and can't afford another?

Yes, you're correct, I can't afford one. Feel better now?

 

[dol4n]

It really doesn't matter if you believe me or not. Believe whatever you want.

I win, you loose.

 

[AppleScruff1]

I win, you loose.

Don't you mean lose?

 

[terraphantm]

Why would they make a 32gb base????? Enterprise customers only need 16gb. POS customers only need 8gb. $50 between teirs would be a horrible busmiess move.

Because flash is dirt cheap nowadays and their competitors are giving more storage for less money. I know Apple won't do it -- they just love their profit margins too much. Bumping from 16 to 32 actually wouldn't hurt that margin much directly, but Apple knows that 32gb is the sweet spot, so it's essentially a free $100 for them.

BTW, when the OS itself takes up a few gigs and every app has 2048x1536 resources, the 16GB runs out very quickly. I run very few apps on my own iPad, have no music of videos, and am still finding myself running out of space. I never used the full capacity on my iPad 2, but with the iPad 3, I ran out of space within days. 32gb is really the minimum to use an iPad to its potential at this point. I could make the argument for 64GB too.

 

[Poisonivy326]

Because flash is dirt cheap nowadays and their competitors are giving more storage for less money. I know Apple won't do it -- they just love their profit margins too much. Bumping from 16 to 32 actually wouldn't hurt that margin much directly, but Apple knows that 32gb is the sweet spot, so it's essentially a free $100 for them.

BTW, when the OS itself takes up a few gigs and every app has 2048x1536 resources, the 16GB runs out very quickly. I run very few apps on my own iPad, have no music of videos, and am still finding myself running out of space. I never used the full capacity on my iPad 2, but with the iPad 3, I ran out of space within days. 32gb is really the minimum to use an iPad to its potential at this point. I could make the argument for 64GB too.

Having a 16 GB model also guarantees a faster planned obsolescence. The size of the apps constantly becomes bigger, the OS always takes up more space, so people with a 16 GB iPad are more likely to buy another in future cycles.

Same reason why they start their Airs and now rmbp with the joke 4GB or RAM.

 

[osofast240sx]

Because flash is dirt cheap nowadays and their competitors are giving more storage for less money. I know Apple won't do it -- they just love their profit margins too much. Bumping from 16 to 32 actually wouldn't hurt that margin much directly, but Apple knows that 32gb is the sweet spot, so it's essentially a free $100 for them.

BTW, when the OS itself takes up a few gigs and every app has 2048x1536 resources, the 16GB runs out very quickly. I run very few apps on my own iPad, have no music of videos, and am still finding myself running out of space. I never used the full capacity on my iPad 2, but with the iPad 3, I ran out of space within days. 32gb is really the minimum to use an iPad to its potential at this point. I could make the argument for 64GB too.

What's competition? Apple has the right to make money and you have the right to buy other products. Apples pricing structure is sound, borderline genius(it works and has been working for them). On premium products, $50 between models is not enough.