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iFixit Tears Down iPad Air 2, Confirms Smaller Battery, A8X Chip, and 2GB RAM

Keirasplace said:
It is beating the crap out of the competition in every way possible that's what!


You seem to have no clue what kind of engineering it takes to design the chips they are creating. Apple is also way ahead in systems integration and that's what's creating the most value for it.
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I am very aware of the enormous amount of work it takes to make a device even .1 of a mm thinner. But, your average consumer couldn't care less. They want products. NEW products. None of these products are new. None of them (Apart from the watch) are in a new product category. They are all an evolution of previous products.
 
0xyMoron said:
Apple should reconsider their thinner product obsession.. If customers were asked to set their priorities they'd ask for longer battery life than thinner iDevice.
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Really? We use our iPads mostly at home, i.e., never far from an outlet. 10 hours of battery life (+/-2) is fine in this scenario. And if you need more (say you're on a flight to the antipodes, going in coach, or you're on an 18 hour hike), get yourself a battery pack. Ppeh!
 
I think 2GB RAM isn't enough. Apple disappointed us all again. We want 20GB RAM so we can say we have a high number of random hardware that we have no idea how does it work..
 
My Two Cents On This Thread

1. Regarding Battery: People here are reacting to (a) the smaller battery, and (b) the reported less battery life on the part of the reviews for the iPad Air 2. Things to consider: these reviewers were supposed to run tests that were the same between the iPad Air and the iPad Air 2; they are largely not real-world use case scenarios. That being said, yes, it appears as though the battery life is diminished a bit. Is it enough to notice or be inconvenienced. Judging from the reviews I've read (pretty much every one that MacRumors linked to earlier today), I'm inclined to say no.

2. Regarding those who are pissed off about the battery life being lesser, it is a valid complaint, but it seems to be more a matter of principle than a practical concern, given that reviewers didn't seem to indicate that the battery life was so much worse that it'd be inconvenient or otherwise noticeable. That said, no one would complain if, internals, camera, and laminated display all aside, Apple left the form factor and the battery alone. .04mm isn't so much of a difference that it's worth that kind of thinness.

3. Regarding those who prefer the thinness, the original iPad Air was a huge improvement in weight over the first, third, and fourth generation iPads, as well as the iPad 2. It made it easier to hold. The thinness lends to that. Making it easier to hold means that people will want to hold it for longer. I get that. However, Apple has long had a habit of stunting performance at the expense of thinness, and when there isn't really a need for it, it's sort of stupid. At this point, with the iPad Air 2 and the iPhone 6 family, the iPad Air and iPhone don't need to get any thinner. The MacBook Air and MacBook Pro both are at that point now as well. The iMac especially doesn't need to be any thinner. At this point, they're all so thin that to make them any thinner reduces comfort, reduces thermal reliability, reduces computing power, or even combinations thereof.

4. As I understand it, "the secure element" is a part of the A7, A8, and A8X SoCs. That is where your fingerprint is stored, and it would make sense to have your cards stored there as well. As for why an NFC chip is present on the new iPad Air 2 but not active, I couldn't say. It does seem like the ideal thing to have as a mobile POS for iPhones that are using ApplePay to pay. While it would be silly to use your iPad Air 2 for ApplePay, I don't think it'd be THAT silly, especially if you carry your iPad Air 2 everywhere. Similarly, and moreso, the size of the iPad mini makes it substantially more convenient to use at a POS for ApplePay (especially given how close it is in size to the Plus-sized iPhones).

5. Apple is not going down, and Steve Jobs would've totally endorsed the iPad Air 2 as the natural successor for the 9.7" iPad line. Saying that this is the sign of the end of times for Apple is just silly.
 
Freida said:
Why do you keep stirring it everywhere? What is the point? Do you really have to nitpick details when we already know for multiple sources that the thing has 2GB? Or you think that we are all delusional and until you have HARD evidence in your hands that tells you that the part number means this or that then you will not leave it alone?
Just move on, please! I've already seen some of your posts elsewhere which had aggressive tone in them (or provoking if you want a milder word) so just leave it please. You had your fun and now its time to move on.
Thank you
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Personally, I find it pretty hilarious.

It's getting to the point where if Apple suddenly decided to write 2GB in the Settings app, on the box, and made Siri to repeat it every 15 seconds, ipadlvr would be waiting for someone to disect and count the transisters in the chip.
 
Charliebird said:
It has a smaller battery. Get over it!
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A8X has a much , much smaller die size at 20nm which accounts for the battery size difference. A7 is 28nm.

This has always been true for Desktop CPU. The smaller the die size, the less power it consumes. Haswell was much more efficient than Ivy Bridge. Some ultrabooks jumped from 6 hours to 12 hours of battery life by just the die size changes (and other optimizations).

Same for improved baseband modules. They all add up.

I am surprised after reading 9 pages no one brought this up.
 
spectrumfox said:
Not when my iPad 2 can last easily for a week of constant use, if not more, on one charge. One full day isn't good enough. It's a step backwards, not forwards.
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That's just nonsense. The difference in battery life will be negligible, an hour or so. You really believe the iPad 2 lasts 6 more days? You are not constantly using it if it lasts that long.
 
Well I've just come home from the local Apple Shop and there doesn't seem to be much lovin for the new iPad Air and the iPad Mini 2.00001. Lots of people looking at the phones and the 27" Mac but virtually no one looking at the pads.

Lot of Geniuses standing around doing nothing but waiting for the crowds, good luck with that. So I got to talking to one of the Geniuses, I'd better not tell you what he thought of the Major upgrade to the Air.

The Air 2 might be okay for anyone who hasn't got an Air, but for Air people like me, it's not worth the bother. Oh, and the supposed speed difference, negligible, screen, could be a bit worse, weight, negligible.

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xmichaelp said:
That's just nonsense. The difference in battery life will be negligible, an hour or so. You really believe the iPad 2 lasts 6 more days? You are not constantly using it if it lasts that long.
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He's probably constantly using it as a paper weight.
 
RayDonovan said:
Best Product pipeline in 25 years my ass.



Revising existing products is nothing new, the apple watch is a joke and the new 5k iMac is nothing to cheer about.



What the hell is this company doing.
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Why are you here if you don't even like Apple products?


Your criticisms have been heard and nobody cares. Apple will continue to dominate, and you will continue to be a hater with nothing better to do than troll apple forums.
 
The fact is people in general are vapid, fickle, and generally pretty stupid. This holds true in real life just as on MR forums.


What exactly do you need 14hrs of battery life for, or ten for that matter? Do you sit on your tablet for 10 hours a day?

I mean the only other benefit to a huge battery is not having to plug it in AS MUCH, right? Who even cares?


I'm convinced that the people complaining about Ram, and battery life, are most likely people who are not in any position to buy a $700 tablet anyway.
 
ipadlvr said:
Oh man. Help me jesus.

The iPad has no NFC dude. It is just sharing parts with the iPhone. That chip does nothing.
...
NFC is an ANTENNA, like Bluetooth or WiFi. That's how it connects.
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Good point. Adding that antenna would have made the device too thick. :rolleyes:
 
0xyMoron said:
Apple should reconsider their thinner product obsession.. If customers were asked to set their priorities they'd ask for longer battery life than thinner iDevice.
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Meanwhile they'll continue making new sales records year after year...
 
Rogifan said:
Funny I don't remember people complaining about battery life with iPads. Now that a tear down reveals a smaller battery everyone is outraged over battery life. Even though the majority of reviews claim similar battery life to the previous Air (and within Apple's claim of 10 hours). And 99.9% of the complaints come from people who don't have an Air 2 yet and haven't been able to do any real world testing. On The Verge's people are drooling over the new Nexus 9. I didn't see any battery life complaints even though the device is thicker than the Air 2 and battery life is between 9-9.5 hours.
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Hate to be repetitive, but on this forum haters gonna hate, no matter what...
 
rotation said:
The fact is people in general are vapid, fickle, and generally pretty stupid. This holds true in real life just as on MR forums.


What exactly do you need 14hrs of battery life for, or ten for that matter? Do you sit on your tablet for 10 hours a day?

I mean the only other benefit to a huge battery is not having to plug it in AS MUCH, right? Who even cares?


I'm convinced that the people complaining about Ram, and battery life, are most likely people who are not in any position to buy a $700 tablet anyway.
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Mate, if everyone was like you we'd all be still riding around on horseback, yours is the most stupid comment I've read since I've been on here, and that's saying something.

No wonder Apple is making so much money with people like you around.
 
0xyMoron said:
Apple should reconsider their thinner product obsession.. If customers were asked to set their priorities they'd ask for longer battery life than thinner iDevice.
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speak for yourself, ipad air 2 is (for me) product where thinner means better, this is great update, it is beast, best ipad ever and for me instant buy.
 
avanpelt said:
Interesting that it has the same NFC chip that's included in the 6/6+. Is that just because the "Secure Element" is built into the NFC chip?
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Yes. This is absolutely correct. The NFC module was included so that Apple Pay would work for online purchases, because it uses the NFC module's secure element to store and create the tokens used to make the transaction.

There is no antenna because Apple has no intention of ever enabling the iPad for POS terminal use. Interesting, because as mentioned the iPad as a dedicated POS terminal itself should be an interesting proposition for Apple. I wonder if it would only need the NFC antenna and an app or if there is more to it than that, some kind of equipment standard that would need to be met for approval for use as a merchant POS terminal...
 
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MyopicPaideia said:
Yes. This is absolutely correct. The NFC module was included to that Apple Pay would work for online purchases, necause it uses the NFC module's secure element to store and create the tokens used to make the transaction.

There is no antenna because Apple has no intention of ever enabling the iPad for POS terminal use. Interesting, because as mentioned the iPad as a dedicated POS terminal itself should be an interesting proposition for Apple. I wonder if it would only need the NFC antenna and an app or if there is more to it than that, some kind of equipment standard that would need to be met for approval for use as a merchant POS terminal...
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Would be interesting if a NFC antenna could be added via lightening port...
 
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