Announced alongside the new Apple Watch Series 6 is the revamped iPad Air. Now sporting a far sleeker design, a USB-C port, and a faster, more impressive Apple A14 Bionic chip, the new Air is better than its predecessor in every way.
Let’s start with the visual upgrade the iPad Air received. Gone are the huge bezels on the top and bottom of the screen in favour of slimmer bezels, giving the tablet a much more modern-looking design. But given that there’s no more space for the Touch ID home button, the fingerprint sensor has been moved to the power button instead.
This, in turn, makes the new iPad Air the first Apple product to have Touch ID integrated into the power button.
Another neat upgrade the updated iPad Air got is the brand new A14 Bionic chip. Not only does this six-core processor promises up to 40% better performance, it’s also built on an impressive 5nm process. This makes it a very power-efficient chip, which will further improve the battery life of this tablet.
Other noteworthy specifications of the iPad Air include a larger 10.9-inch 2360 x 1640 Liquid Retina display – it’s now a fully laminated panel with True Tone support – a USB-C connection, a 12MP rear camera, a 7MP front-facing shooter, and compatibility with the Cupertino company’s latest Apple Pencil.
Malaysian availability of the new iPad Air has not been revealed yet, but we do have the local pricing of the tablet already. The WiFi only model with 64GB of storage retails at RM2,599, while the 256GB configuration costs RM3,249. If you want cellular support, you’d have to add on RM550.
If this iPad Air doesn’t quite fit your budget, consider the more budget-friendly 8th generation iPad, which has been updated with Apple’s A12 chip. For the Malaysian market, the new iPad retails from only RM1,449.