Apple’s presentation moved fast yesterday, and since the event concluded, more details have emerged about everything announced. We’ve been combing Apple’s product pages, social media, and other sources to learn more about everything announced, which we’ve collected below:
Chance Miller of 9to5Mac, reporting based on a memo sent to Apple Store employees that Apple will no longer include stickers in the boxes with the iPads introduced yesterday. Instead, retail stores will have a small number of stickers on hand for customers who ask for them.
One of the first things I noticed in yesterday’s video presentation was that Tim Cook’s shoes were different somehow. The detail wasn’t enough to identify them from the streamed video, but it turns out that they were Nike Air Max 1 ‘86’s that were ‘Made on iPad,’ which was embroidered on the tongue of the shoes. Apple has published a Reel on Instagram showing the shoes sketched on an iPad.
MacRumors reports that the new iPad Pros support lower refresh rates but not the iPhone Pro’s always-on feature. Nonetheless, the lower refresh rate support should help the iPad Pros extend battery life depending on how the iPad is used.
As I first learned from MKBHD’s iPad Pro first impressions video, the new Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro includes a 60W USB-C charging port, which is a significant increase from the previous model.
As Dan Moren explained on Six Colors, Apple appears to be binning the M4 chips in the new iPad Pro models with the 1TB and 2TB storage tiers sporting an additional performance core.
The Verge reported that the new iPads have eliminated physical SIM cards in favor of eSIMs, which is likely a space-saving measure.
Today’s Let Loose online Apple event was packed with facts, figures, and statistics throughout the presentation and elsewhere. We’ve pulled together the highlights.
iPad Pro
Source: Apple.
The new iPad Pro’s GPU is 10x faster than the original model and 4x faster than the M2 iPad Pro
The M4 chip is 50% faster than the M2
The M4’s 16-core Neural Engine is 60x faster than the original Neural Engine
The M4 uses a 2nd generation 3nm process
The M4 features 28 billion transistors
Source: Apple.
Apple has improved the thermal performance of the iPad Pro by 20% compared to the previous model
The Neural Engine can handle 38 trillion operations per second
The unified memory bandwidth is 120GB/s
The iPad Pro display supports 1000 nits of brightness for SDR and HDR content and 1600 nits peak brightness for HDR
Storage capacities range from 256GB to 2TB
The Wi-Fi version of the 11” iPad Pro is .98 pound (444 grams), and the 13” model is 1.28 pounds (579 grams). Adding cellular adds 2 grams to the 11” model and 3 grams to the 13” version.
Source: Apple.
The 256 and 512GB models have 8GB of RAM, while the 1TB and 2TB models have 16GB of RAM
The new models support Bluetooth 5.3
The 11” iPad Pro is 5.3mm thick, and the 13” model is 5.1mm thick
It’s possible to spend $3,077 on a fully-spec’d 13” iPad Pro with Apple Pencil Pro and Magic Keyboard for iPad
iPad Air
Source: Apple.
There’s a new 13” model
The M2 chip in the new Air is 50% faster than the M1 and 3x faster than the iPad Air with the A12 Bionic chip
The iPad Air can be configured with up to 1TB of storage
The front and back cameras both have 12MP sensors
There are 4 colors available, 2 of which are new
The 11” Air is 1.02 pounds, and the 13” model is 1.36 pounds, both of which are heavier than their iPad Pro counterparts
Both models are 6.1mm thick
The 11” iPad Air maxes out at 500 nits of brightness and the 13” model at 600 nits for a 100-nit difference
Accessories and Other
Look at that beautiful row of function keys.
The Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro has a 14-key function row
The price of the existing 10th generation iPad was reduced to $349
The big news for the new iPad Air is that it comes in two sizes now: 11” and a new 13” model. The Air has also upgraded from the M1 to the M2 chip and moved the front-facing camera to the landscape side of the tablet, and it has higher storage configurations, works with the new Apple Pencil Pro, and comes in new colors.
A new blue and purple join starlight and space gray.
Before today’s announcement, the iPad Air was close enough in specs to an 11” iPad Pro that the two felt like fraternal twins. With today’s update, though, the iPad Air is more versatile and better differentiated from the iPad Pro models despite the fact that both models now come in identical sizes.
There’s now a more substantial difference between the chips used in Air and Pro models. The M2 in the Air is a healthy step forward that Apple says makes it 50% faster than the M1 model. Like the iPad Pros, anyone who has used an iPad for video conferences will appreciate that the Air’s front-facing camera is on the landscape edge of the device. The Air also works with the Apple Pencil Pro.
The new iPad Air works with the existing model of Magic Keyboard.
However, the new iPad Air is not compatible with the new Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro. Instead, it works with the existing Magic Keyboard. The iPad Air’s storage configurations aren’t as expansive as the iPad Pro, either, topping out at 1TB, although that configuration and the 512GB version are new to the Air. Meanwhile, the base configuration has been doubled to 128 GB. Apple also introduced new blue and purple Airs that join the starlight and space gray models.
Source: Apple
I like what Apple has done with the Air a lot. The updates address the most glaring shortcomings of the tablet while clarifying how it differs from the iPad Pro, which should reduce customer confusion. Personally, I’m more interested in the iPad Pro, but the Air has grown into an impressive laptop alternative of its own, filling a MacBook Air-like role in comparison to the iPad Pro, which has MacBook Pro vibes now.
The 11” iPad Air starts at $599, with the 13” version starting at $799. Both models can be ordered today with deliveries starting May 15th.
The last time I wrote about the iPad Air in October 2020, I explained how its fourth-generation model intrigued me again. A year and a half later, here I am, once again fascinated by the iPad Air, captivated by its hybrid nature caught between a base model iPad and the aspirations of an iPad Pro.
Here’s why: while the new iPad Air, which goes on sale this Friday starting at $599, doesn’t break any ground for the Air line, I believe it has reached its most balanced state yet.
The new iPad Air catches up with the iPad Pro and iPad mini in supporting 5G networking; it’s the final iPad in the lineup to get Center Stage; like the iPad Pro, it now comes with an M1 chip and the same 8 GB of RAM. The 2022 iPad Air refines what Apple started with the relaunch of this model in 2020 and achieves a balance of features, size, and price that makes it the ideal iPad for most people.
The iPad Air and the features it adds compared to its previous-gen model are, at this point, known quantities. The design, 10.9” display, and implementation of Touch ID are unchanged from the 2020 version; I covered Center Stage (we even built a custom app for it), the M1, and 5G in my 2021 iPad Pro review; the Magic Keyboard, Apple Pencil, and Smart Folio covers are the same ones we’ve been using for years.
The same is true regarding how I see Apple’s pitch for the iPad Air as a product: it’s a distillation of the most essential traits of the Pro line, made accessible to more customers at a lower price point. I wrote this in 2020, and it still applies to the new iPad Air:
While the 10.9” Air won’t replace the 12.9” iPad Pro as my primary machine, I’ve been impressed by this iPad for a different reason: the iPad Air democratizes the notion of “pro iPad”, bringing key features of iPad Pro to more customers, while at the same time looking ahead toward the future of iPad with hardware not seen on the current iPad Pro lineup. The iPad Air sits at the intersection of old iPad Pro features trickling down to the rest of the iPad line and new ones appearing on this model first.
If the “new” features of the iPad Air aren’t new at all and if the strategy behind this product hasn’t changed since 2020, I could reasonably wrap up this story here, right?
Well, not quite. Something happened recently that allowed me to evaluate the new iPad Air from a fresh perspective: Silvia started using my iPad mini and fell in love with it. So when I received a review unit of the new iPad Air from Apple last week, I asked myself: could I use the iPad Air as my secondary iPad, replacing the iPad mini for reading, chatting on Twitter and Discord, and watching YouTube videos, plus doing the occasional note-taking and having a small extra monitor for Universal Control?
I had been feeling like the iPad mini was a bit too small for my hands anyway (hence why I was okay with Silvia taking it); perhaps the new iPad Air could be a good opportunity to reassess its capabilities as a general-purpose tablet for people who want just one iPad in their lives as well as folks who, like me, work on a 12.9” iPad Pro but also want to complement it with a smaller, more focused iPad.
So that’s the experiment I’ve been running for the past six days. Let’s see how it went.
Today’s Peek Performance Apple event included a new iPad Air that replaces the model that was released in the fall of 2020 and features an M1 chip, 5G connectivity, and an Ultra Wide front-facing camera.
The new Air comes in five colors: Space Gray, Starlight, pink, purple, and blue. The chip has been upgraded from the A15 to the M1, bringing it in line with the chip used in the iPad Pro. Apple also upgraded the front-facing Ultra Wide 12MP camera, so it now supports Center Stage, allowing the camera to keep participants in the camera frame during FaceTime and other video calls. The Air adds 5G connectivity and a USB-C port that’s two times faster than before too.
Other than the new colors, the design of the iPad Air remains the same with a Touch ID top button, 10.9” diagonal Liquid Retina display that features 264 pixels per inch and Apple’s True Tone technology, but not ProMotion. The iPad Air comes in 64GB and 256GB storage configurations like the model it replaces too.
With the move to an M1 chip and support for Center Stage, the gap between the iPad Air and the 11” iPad Pro is smaller than ever. Perhaps the narrowing of the gap is temporary and we’ll see it widen again when the iPad Pro is next updated. However, the two iPads are so close in specs now that the new Air is probably the better choice for most users, especially if they can get by with 64GB of storage.
You can follow all of our ‘Peek Performance’ Apple event coverage through our event hub, or subscribe to the dedicated RSS feed.
Ever since its launch in late 2015, the 12.9” iPad Pro has been my primary computer. The combination of a large display – the largest Apple makes for iPads – with software that properly takes advantage of it (see: Split View, multiwindow, multicolumn) makes the 12.9” Pro an ideal blend of laptop-like usability and tablet modularity. If you’re looking for power and flexibility, the 12.9” iPad Pro is the ne plus ultra of the iPad line.
Before the iPad Pro, however, it was the iPad Air 2 that convinced me the iPad could be a suitable replacement for a MacBook. In my review of the iPad Air 2 in early 2015, which I published just a few months before the iPad Pro’s debut, I called the device a “liberating” experience, noting how it struck a balance of high portability and versatility that enabled me to get more work done from more places. In spite of the iPad Pro’s superiority – especially in terms of display size – I’m always going to have a soft spot for the iPad Air as the device where my modern iPad journey began.
For the past few days, I’ve been testing Apple’s latest iPad Air, which comes out this Friday starting at $599 for the 64 GB, Wi-Fi model. While the 10.9” Air won’t replace the 12.9” iPad Pro as my primary machine, I’ve been impressed by this iPad for a different reason: the iPad Air democratizes the notion of “pro iPad”, bringing key features of iPad Pro to more customers, while at the same time looking ahead toward the future of iPad with hardware not seen on the current iPad Pro lineup. The iPad Air sits at the intersection of old iPad Pro features trickling down to the rest of the iPad line and new ones appearing on this model first. This makes the iPad Air a fascinating device to review, as well as a compelling alternative to another iPad of similar dimensions: the 11” iPad Pro.
Five years after the iPad Air 2, I’m intrigued by an iPad Air again. Let me explain why.
Alongside pre-orders for the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro, Apple opened up pre-orders for the new iPad Air today. First introduced by the company at a September 15th event, the iPad Air features the A14 Bionic SoC, a Touch ID power button, support for the second-generation Apple Pencil, USB-C connectivity, Magic Keyboard support, new case colors, and other updates. Availability for the iPad Air will begin next Friday, October 23rd.
For a complete rundown on the features of the new iPad Air, check out the overview we published here.
Today Apple has updated its online store with two major new products now available: an iPad Air with a 10.5” display, and a long-overdue fifth-generation iPad mini that includes Apple Pencil support.
