To create the iPad Air 2, Apple took its already super light iPad Air and made it even thinner, in part by taking three layers of display technology and fusing them into a single sheet. In addition, Apple inserted a new Apple-designed A8X chip, which delivers an astounding 40 percent improvement in CPU performance and 2.5 times the graphic performance of the iPad Air, all in a package that weighs just less than a pound.
Better still, the svelte new iPad Air 2 still delivers up to 10 hours of battery life.
Combined with Metal, which is the graphics tech in iOS 8, the A8X chip delivers astounding graphics performance for games. The iPad Air 2 also includes the M8 motion coprocessor, which gathers motion data from the accelerometer, gyroscope, compass, in addition to an all-new barometer that senses air pressure to provide relative elevation — not that many people will be counting stairs climbed with their iPad Air 2 like they might with an iPhone 6 or 6 Plus.
If you have an older generation of iPad that’s starting to feel a little slow and heavy, the iPad Air 2 is the upgrade for you.
The iPad Air 2 Glares Less
One of the coolest new additions is a new anti-reflective coating on the display which cuts glare by 56 percent and makes it the least reflective tablet on the market. If you like sunshine and light, you’ll appreciate this coating.
Because the iPad Air is so light, more people have begun using it to shoot video, and with that in mind, Apple has upgraded the iSight camera with an 8MP sensor and better optics. The iPad Air 2 can shoot slo-mo like the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, as well as 1080p HD video. The front-facing FaceTime HD camera now captures more than 80 percent more light than the iPad Air’s camera, which will make FaceTiming with family in poorly lit living rooms and hotel rooms a lot clearer.
The WiFi is 2.8 times faster in the Air 2 than in the Air, and the WiFi + Cellular models are more versatile with LTE bands and connections.
As widely expected, the new iPad Air 2 includes Apple fingerprint recognition Touch ID home button. One thing I appreciate greatly about Touch ID on my iPhone 6, by the way, is how easy it is to approve an App Store purchase — instead of tapping out my long and painful password, Touch ID makes the approval fast.
Pricing for the iPad Air 2 starts at $499 for 16GB of storage. And oh yes, for fans of gold, it now comes in Gold, Silver, or Space Gray.
Apple Updates iPad mini, too.
The iPad mini line now includes the iPad mini 3 with Touch ID, as well as the older iPad mini with Retina display, which Apple just renamed to the iPad mini 2.
The iPad mini versions have the older iPad A7 chip instead of the new A8X chip in the iPad Air 2. The iPad mini 3 starts at $399, the iPad mini 2 at $299, and the original iPad mini now hits the lowest-ever price of $249.
