One of the most anticipated product lines from Apple’s Peek performance event, the iPad Air 5, has finally been officially revealed. This year’s iPad Air model has the same design as its predecessor, but the hardware has been upgraded more strongly thanks to the Apple M1 chip similar to the iPad Pro.
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As mentioned, the new iPad Air has the same design, users will have a unibody aluminum design, many color options including purple, blue, pink, gray and starlight.
On the front, iPad Air keeps the same 10.9-inch Liquid Retina screen, of course, there will be no ProMotion 120Hz technology. This screen has 500 nits brightness, HDR support. The screen border is still thicker than the iPad Pro, without Face ID, but only a 12MP Ultrawide camera with Center Stage feature.
Performance is an extremely powerful upgrade on this year’s iPad Air when Apple does not equip the A15 chip like the iPad mini 6, but instead has the powerful M1 chip that appears on the iPad Pro 2021. According to Apple, the M1 chip for 60% more CPU performance and 2x faster GPU than A14 on iPad Air 4. Besides, Apple also claims the new iPad Air “faster than the fastest competitor tablet, 2x faster than a Windows laptop in the same price range”. This year’s iPad Air will also support 5G networks (sub-6).
Regarding the USB-C port, although Apple claims the USB-C connection on the iPad Air 5 is 2 times faster than its predecessor, this is still just a regular USB-C standard, not upgraded to Thunderbolt. The new iPad Air still supports Touch ID at the power button, supports Apple Pencil 2, and Magic Keyboard 2 or Smart Keyboard Folio.
So now, the gap between iPad Air 5 and iPad Pro 2021 has been shortened when Apple equips the M1 processor for the Air line. The main difference will only come from the ProMotion screen, Face ID and LiDAR camera system on the back (the new iPad Air is still only equipped with a 12MP camera like its predecessor).
In terms of price, the iPad Air 5 starts at $599 for the standard 64GB storage, and $749 for the 256GB version. The Wi-Fi + 5G option costs $150 more.