Apple announces the thinnest and most powerful iPad Ever – the iPad Air 2 and new iPad Mini 3
At a special event yesterday, Apple announced upgrades to the iPad Air and iPad Mini 2, called iPad Air 2 and iPad Mini 3. iPad Air 2 is the most powerful iPad ever built. The new iPad Air 2 is ridiculously thin, at just 6.1mm, now features much awaited TouchID fingerprint sensor, better retina display, more colors and better cameras. Users can also make use of built in NFC chip to make payments via Apple Pay. Beginning October 17th, new iPads can be ordered in 29 countries.iPad Air 2 Wi-Fi only models will cost $499/$599/$699 (US) for 16GB/64GB/128GB model respectively. iPad Air 2 with Wi-Fi + Cellular will cost $629/$729/$829 (US) for 16GB/64GB/128GB model respectively. iPad mini 3 Wi-Fi only model will cost $399/$499/$599 (US) for 16GB/64GB/128GB respectively. iPad mini 3 with Wi-Fi + Cellular models will cost $529/$629/$729 (US) for 16GB/64GB/128GB model respectively.
iPad Air 2 is now powered by the new Apple A8X chip and this delivers 40% increase in performance and gives 2.5 times the graphics performance of iPad Air. Battery life is still rated at 10 hours. iPad Air 2 comes with anodized aluminum metal build, has M8 motion processor, like the new iPhone 6/6+.
iPad Mini 3 too features new aluminum build, comes with Touch ID sensor and supports Apple Pay. Sad to see that this one only has Apple A7 chip and a 5mp rear camera. Specifciations are listed below for both the models.
“iPad is a magical piece of glass that runs more than 675,000 apps specifically designed for it, and is thin and light enough that you can comfortably hold it all day; the new iPad Air 2 is packed with amazing new innovations, weighs less than a pound, and at just 6.1 mm is the thinnest tablet in the world,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “iPad Air 2 has a new Retina display with anti-reflective coating, second generation 64-bit A8X chip, all-new iSight and FaceTime HD cameras, faster Wi-Fi and LTE wireless, and includes the revolutionary Touch ID fingerprint identity sensor.”
List of countries included in the first phase of iPad Air 2 launch : US, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, China (Wi-Fi models only), Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Macau (Wi-Fi models only), Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Singapore, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK. Availability in Croatia, Greece, Puerto Rico, Russia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates
Specification of iPad Air 2:
- 9.7-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit 2048-by-1536-pixel resolution (264 ppi) display with anti reflective and oleophobic coating
- A8X chip with 64-bit architecture, M8 motion coprocessor
- 8mp rear iSight camera with f/2.4 aperture, 1080p video recording, slo-mo 120fps recording
- 1.2mp front facing camera
- TouchID fingerprint sensor
- 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac dual channel Wi-Fi, Bluetooth v4, Digital Compasss, iBeacon microlocation
- 27.3 watthour battery
- iOS 8
- Cellular support (Wi-FI + cellular model only)
- UMTS/HSPA/HSPA+/DC‑HSDPA (850, 900, 1700/2100, 1900, 2100 MHz); GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz)
- CDMA EV-DO Rev. A and Rev. B (800, 1900 MHz)
- LTE (Bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 28, 29, 38, 39, 40, 41)
- Silver, Gold and Space Gray color options
- 16/64/128GB memory options
Specification of iPad Mini 3:
- 7.9inch (diagonal) LED-backlit 2048-by-1536-pixel resolution (326ppi) display with anti reflective and oleophobic coating
- A7 chip with 64-bit architecture, M7 motion coprocessor
- 5mp rear iSight camera, 1080p video recording
- 1.2mp front facing camera
- TouchID fingerprint sensor
- 802.11 a/b/g/n dual channel Wi-Fi, Bluetooth v4, Digital Compasss, iBeacon microlocation
- 23.8 watthour battery
- iOS 8
- Cellular support (Wi-FI + cellular model only)
- UMTS/HSPA/HSPA+/DC‑HSDPA (850, 900, 1700/2100, 1900, 2100 MHz); GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz)
- CDMA EV-DO Rev. A and Rev. B (800, 1900 MHz)
- LTE (Bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26)
- Silver, Gold and Space Gray color options
- 16/64/128GB memory options
- 200mm x 134.7mm x 7.5mm (7.87” x 5.3” x 0.29”) ; weight : 331 grams
