Apple’s 4th Gen iPad Air: Here’s everything you need to know

Apple has today launched the 4th Gen iPad Air, alongside the 8th Gen vanilla iPad. With its new offering, Apple is giving the iPad Air line-up a redesign and giving it some serious firepower that puts it in the same league as the iPad Pro portfolio. Notably, Apple is offering the new iPad Air in a pair of new colors yet to be seen in the company’s portfolio – green and sky blue. Apple is targeting the device at creative professionals with heavy demands, something that will be handled by the new 5nm-based A14 Bionic processor which is claimed to offer a 40% performance boost and allows on-device 4K editing as well, which is pretty impressive for a tablet. Here’s everything you need to know about Apple’s 4th Gen iPad Air:

A gorgeous display

The new iPad Air comes equipped with a 10.9-inch Liquid Retina display with the company’s True Tone technology. It covers the entire DCI-P3 color gamut and has a resolution of 2360×1640 pixels, which translates to a pixel density of 264PPI. The panel offers a peak brightness of 500 nits and also has a layer of oleophobic coating on top. It supports stylus input via the Apple Pencil and supports its full suite of pressure sensitivity and tilt detection tools. Just like the iPad Pro, the new iPad Air also rocks uniform bezels along all four edges. And for a more immersive multimedia experience, it packs stereo speakers on both sides.

More firepower

Apple has equipped the iPad Air’s 4th iteration with the new A14 Bionic processor based on the 5nm process. The hexa-core Apple SoC is touted to offer a 40% bump in raw processing power compared to the A12 Bionic. Plus, it also brings a 30% improvement in the graphics department. Additionally, the 4-core Neural Engine is claimed to be twice as fast at machine learning-based tasks and comes with 10x higher computational prowess. The battery fitted inside the iPad Air is rated at 28.6WHr and supports 20W fast charging. It is said to last up to 10 hours of video watching or web surfing. Plus, it also gets a boost in the connectivity department by offering support for the Wi-Fi 6 standard.

Improved aesthetics

Notably, Apple has moved the Touch ID fingerprint sensor away from the home button and has integrated it inside the power button positioned on the side. Apple says the device has an enclosure made from 100% recycled aluminum and also employs 100% recycled rare earth elements in the speakers. It is also compatible with the Magic Keyboard that comes with a trackpad built-in. And just like the 2020 iPad Pro, the 4th Gen iPad Air also ditches the Lightning port and opts for a USB Type-C port instead.

Upgraded cameras

Apple has also given a camera upgrade to its new iPad Air series offering. At the back, you’ll find a single 12MP camera with an f/1.8 aperture. It supports features such as Live Photos with stabilization, Live Photos, Smart HDR for photos, and Burst mode among others. It can also record 4K videos at up to 60fps and full-HD slo-mo videos at up to 240fps frame rate. On the front, the 4th Gen iPad Air offers a 7MP FaceTime HD camera with an f/2.0 aperture. The front snapper is capable of recording FHD videos at 60fps and supports Smart HDR as well.

Price and availability

The 4th Gen iPad Air can now be ordered from the Apple Store and will start shipping this Friday. You can pick it up in a choice of five colors – Space Gray, Silver, Rose Gold, Green and Sky Blue. Here’s how much you need to fork for Apple’s latest tablet: