All about the new Apple iPad Air with 5G

In addition to the third generation of the affordable iPhone SE, Apple pulled a new iPad Air tablet out of its sleeve for the conference, with changes few expected.

Although without any significant visual changes, the new iPad Air has received significant improvements. Instead of the hardware of the iPad Mini and the new generation of iPhone phones, the iPad Air got a powerful M1 processor, which celebrated last year's generation of  Apple laptops, as well as 5G functionality, which is not too important in our country.

With prices ranging from $ 599 for the 64GB Wi-Fi model to $ 749 with the 5G and 256GB versions, the iPad Air remains consistent with its premium tablet policy. All models come in five colors: pink, gray, blue, purple, and "star" (a combination of silver and gold).

M1 processor instead of Bionic series

The biggest surprise is certainly the M1 processor, which is only found in tablets in the iPad Pro model, which is more something between a tablet and a laptop. To remind you, it is a CPU that has 8 cores, which means about 60% better performance compared to the previous generation of this tablet with A14 Bionic processor. On the GPU side, the performance is even better - more precisely twice as good, primarily due to the 8 cores it has and a unified memory system that shares the available memory between the CPU and GPU parts.

The front camera has also been improved with a new 12 MP sensor, as well as a wide-angle lens that enables the famous Center Stage functionality for better video calls. The rear camera remained 12 MP, and it is most likely the same as the previous generation.

The large 10.9-inch IPS screen has a resolution of 2360x1640 pixels DCI-P3 color palette, support for True Tone and 500 nits of brightness. What many expected was ProMotion support, ie variable refresh rate higher than 60 Hz, which was missing this time.

Of the additional elements, the iPad Air can be paired with an Apple Pencil 2 pen and a Magic Keyboard, or Smart Keyboard Folio case to transform this powerful tablet into a sleek laptop. Apple itself pointed out that the performance of the new iPad Air tablet is twice as good as the best Windows laptop in the same class.

It has a built-in 28.6 Wh battery that Apple claims is enough for one day, and the site states up to 10 hours of surfing or watching videos without chasing a charger. Charging is done via a new USB-C connection, which supports the 3.1 standards and allows data transfer speeds of up to 10 Gb / s. In case you haven't, you can watch the entire Apple Peak Performance conference below.

Smaller iPad Pro

Unlike its predecessor, the new iPad Air is much closer to the iPad Pro line this year than the rest of the tablet's offering, both in design and hardware, which has never been more powerful. Add to that the support for Apple Pencil and Magic premieres, and the iPad Air is clearly budget-oriented iPad Pro, with the only real difference being the screen refresh rate and a few other little things.

Apple iPad Air 2022 specifications:

• 10.9-inch Liquid Retina IPS display, 2360x1640 pixels, TrueTone, 500 nits of brightness
• Apple M1 chip, 8-core CPU, 8-core GPU, Neural Engine
• 8 GB RAM, 64 or 256 GB storage
• 12 MP front camera, 12 MP rear camera, 4K video at 60 fps
• Stereo speakers
• Wi-Fi 6 and 5G (optional)
• USB-C 3.1 Gen 2 with DisplyPort pad
• 28.6 Wh battery for up to 10 hours of surfing / video playback
• iPadOS 15
• Dimensions: 247.6 x 178.5 x 6.1 mm
• Weight 461 grams
• Price: $ 599 to $ 749.