Apple’s 5th-generation iPad is thinner and lighter than its predecessor, has a faster processor, and gets a new name. Meet the iPad Air.

iPad Air

The new iPad Air weighs 1 pound and measures 7.5mm (about 0.3 inches) thick — making it about 20 percent thinner than a last-gen iPad. The new tablet also has a screen bezel that’s 43 percent thinner than earlier iPads.

At the same time, the company has kept the high-resolution 9.7 inch, 2048 x 1536 pixel display and added the same 64-bit Apple A7 chip found in the iPhone 5S.

Apple has added MIMO WiFi for faster wireless capabilities, and the tablet should get up to 10 hours of battery life even though it has a smaller battery — that’s part of the reason it weighs less.

It’ll be available in silver/white or black/gray and prices start at $499 for a 16GB WiFi-only model. The 4G model starts at $629.

Apple will continue to offer the iPad 2 for $399 for folks who want a full-sized Apple tablet at a lower price.

The iPad Air will be available for order on November 1st.

 

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4 replies on “Apple introduces iPad Air: Thinner and lighter, still $499”

    1. Trade-off, lighter or longer battery time. Apple feels bqttery time is adequate and instead chose to make it lighter. I think they made the right choice, the fourth gen iPad is too heavy.

  2. fuck apple, the kindle fire hdx is probably the best tablet out there right now. once you can install vanilla android on it it will be perfect

  3. If it gets any thinner and lighter it will break in half if the user taps it too hard.

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