Apple has retired the iPad 4 and left only the iPad Air on sale. There are many differences between the previous and the new generation of "air" tablets. The iPad Air 2 is thinner, more powerful, its screen is less glare, and it boasts a Touch ID system and two improved cameras.
As for the dimensions of the iPad Air 2, it is 240 mm long, 169.5 mm wide, and its thickness is only 6.1 mm. Compared to the previous generation, it has become thinner by 18%. And, at the moment, it is the thinnest tablet in the world! Depending on the model (Wi-Fi or Wi-Fi + Cellular), the tablet weighs 437 or 444 grams.
As for the tablet screen, it's still the same magnificent Retina display with a diagonal of 9.7 inches and a resolution of 2048 x 1536 pixels. But the Apple engineering team also worked hard on the display, reducing the amount of glare by 56%.
In addition, the iPad Air 2 has a new A8X processor and an M8 coprocessor. Accordingly, its performance has also increased, CPU — by 40%, GPU — by 2.5 times. The new processor has 3 billion transistors. For comparison, there are 2 billion of them in the iPhone 6 processor. Thanks to the built-in barometer, the iPad Air 2, like the new iPhone, will be able to track not only the distance you have traveled, but also the height of the ascent.
It is quite natural that the new tablets have a Touch ID system. As with the iPhone, it will allow you to safely store your fingerprints and use them to unlock the device or pay for a purchase in the App Store.
Finally, the iSight camera has been significantly improved. Now it has 8 megapixels, it allows you to shoot panoramas with a resolution of 43 megapixels, Time lapse and Slo-Mo videos. The front-facing camera has also been slightly improved, which now recognizes faces faster.
Despite the significant reduction in thickness, the iPad Air 2 battery will last for as long as 10 hours with its active use: Wi-Fi enabled, watching videos and listening to music. Wi-Fi, by the way, has also become faster, 2.8 times.
As for the iPad mini 3, it has certainly been improved, but very slightly. This is probably why he received so little attention during the presentation. Like the iPad Air 2, it has got Touch ID and will be released in a new golden color. As for the internal components, everything has remained unchanged here. So we can say that this is the same iPad mini Retina from last year, only with the Touch ID system.
Now the iPad line consists of 5 devices: two 9.7-inch models and three 7.9-inch ones. The price for them starts at $249 and reaches $829. In the Apple Store, the iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3 are presented with 16, 64 and 128 GB on board. You will find the 32-gigabyte version only among the previous generations of tablets. It's strange that Apple has still left the iPad mini in its catalog. With the advent of new tablets, hardly anyone will want to buy the first mini-generation, without a Retina screen, Touch ID, with 16 GB and an A5 processor.
The new iPad Air 2 also comes with new Smart Case cases. They are made of leather and are available in 5 colors, black, red, blue, brown and pink. Each of them will cost you $79.
