Apple announces iPad Air 2, world’s thinnest tablet

[vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1413496139342{margin: 0px !important;border-width: 0px !important;padding: 0px !important;}” bg_type=”no_bg” bg_grad=”background: -webkit-gradient(linear, left top, left bottom, color-stop(0%, #FBFBFB), color-stop(50%, #E3E3E3), color-stop(100%, #C2C2C2));background: -moz-linear-gradient(top,#FBFBFB 0%,#E3E3E3 50%,#C2C2C2 100%);background: -webkit-linear-gradient(top,#FBFBFB 0%,#E3E3E3 50%,#C2C2C2 100%);background: -o-linear-gradient(top,#FBFBFB 0%,#E3E3E3 50%,#C2C2C2 100%);background: -ms-linear-gradient(top,#FBFBFB 0%,#E3E3E3 50%,#C2C2C2 100%);background: linear-gradient(top,#FBFBFB 0%,#E3E3E3 50%,#C2C2C2 100%);” parallax_style=”vcpb-default” bg_image_repeat=”no-repeat” bg_image_size=”cover” bg_img_attach=”fixed” parallax_sense=”30″ animation_direction=”left-animation” animation_repeat=”repeat” bg_override=”0″ parallax_content_sense=”30″ fadeout_start_effect=”30″ overlay_pattern_opacity=”0.8″ seperator_type=”none_seperator” seperator_position=”top_seperator” seperator_shape_size=”40″ seperator_svg_height=”60″ seperator_shape_background=”#ffffff” seperator_shape_border=”none” seperator_shape_border_width=”1″ icon_type=”no_icon” icon_size=”32″ icon_style=”none” icon_color_border=”#333333″ icon_border_size=”1″ icon_border_radius=”500″ icon_border_spacing=”50″ img_width=”48″][vc_column css=”.vc_custom_1413495714021{margin-top: 0px !important;margin-bottom: 0px !important;}” width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]Apple have officially announced a new version of the iPad Air that is also available in gold.

As expected, Apple’s ‘It’s been way too long’ event focused on the new iPad. The iPad Air 2 is just 6.1mm (0.24”) thick, allowing Apple to claim the ‘world’s thinnest tablet’ title. That’s 18% less than the already thin 7.5mm on last year’s iPad Air. Apple was achieved this by eliminating gaps between the LCD, glass, and touch sensor, laminating them to form a single component. The display also now has an anti-reflective coating, which Apple’s Phil Schiller says reduces reflections on the display by more than 50%.

The brains of the new iPad Air 2 is an Apple-branded A8X chip with Apple’s M8 motion coprocessor. This is based on Apple’s second generation 64-bit architecture and features 3 billion transistors and is CPU performance is up to 12X faster than the original iPad and graphics performance is 180X the performance possible with the first gen iPad. The new iPad Air 2 also features a Touch ID fingerprint sensor with support for Apple Pay.

The iPad Air’s camera is also getting an upgrade. The iSight camera now has an 8MP iSight camera with f/2.4 aperture and 1080p HD video as well as slo-mo video, burst shots, single-shot HDR, and HDR videos.

As rumoured, the iPad Air 2 also comes with integrated support for Touch ID, which means you can unlock your device with just your fingerprint and pay with Apple Pay. Touch ID is something that has been available on the iPhone for some time and was noticeably absent from Apple’s tablet line.

As far as connectivity is concerned, the iPad Air 2 boasts faster WiFi 802.11ac MIMO. The new iPad Air 2 gets a twice as fast Wi-Fi 802.11ac connection with MIMO support, and can now reach download speeds of up to 866Mbps.

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″ css=”.vc_custom_1413496216909{margin: 0px !important;border-width: 0px !important;padding: 0px !important;}”][vc_gallery type=”flexslider_slide” interval=”5″ images=”10623,10622,10621,10620,10619,10618,10617,10616″ onclick=”link_image” custom_links_target=”_self” img_size=”full”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″ css=”.vc_custom_1413495820909{margin-top: 0px !important;margin-bottom: 0px !important;border-top-width: 0px !important;border-bottom-width: 0px !important;padding-top: 0px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;}”][vc_column_text]The cellular modem of the tablet, on the other hand, supports a whopping 20 4G LTE bands with speeds reaching as much as 150Mbps on the downlink. Interestingly, a brand new Apple SIM card comes pre-installed, allowing you to easily pick between different carriers, so that you can easily get a short-term plan that works best for you at that moment. Neatly, you can also use this to grab a local data card when roaming and use local tariffs rather than paying hefty fees.

The iPad Air 2 has retained its excellent, 10-hour battery life. The 10-hour longevity is a battery standard that Apple has adhered to ever since it launched the first iPad, and it’s impressive that the company manages to pack a large enough battery in the very slim iPad Air 2 body.

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