IT looks like the M1 chip is coming to most of Apple's products with the new iPad Air also using it now.
With the M1 chip on board, the new iPad Air, which Apple launched at its Peak performance event today, gets a performance boost to even the most demanding apps and workflows, with better power efficiency and all-day battery life.
It is said that the 8-core CPU delivers up to 60 per cent faster performance, and the 8-core GPU delivers up to 2x faster graphics performance compared to the previous iPad Air.
Combined with the CPU and GPU, a 16-core Neural Engine powers advanced machine learning (ML) functions that enable next-level experiences. From editing multiple streams of 4K video, to playing graphics-intensive games, redesigning a room in 3D, and more realistic augmented reality (AR), the performance of M1 enables users to do more than ever with iPad Air.
Available in a new array of colours, iPad Air also features the new Ultra Wide front camera with Centre Stage for a more natural video conferencing experience, a USB-C port with up to 2x faster transfer speeds, and blazing-fast 5G on cellular models.
"Whether it's a college student taking elaborate notes, a content creator working on their latest project, or a gamer playing graphics-intensive titles, users love iPad Air for its amazing performance and versatility in such a portable design," said Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing, Greg Joswiak.
"With the breakthrough M1 chip, Ultra Wide front camera with Centre Stage, and ultra-fast 5G, iPad Air is now more powerful, more capable, and simply more fun than ever," he said.
The new iPad Air also gets the Ultra Wide 12MP front camera with Centre Stage, which automatically pans to keep users in view as they move around.
When others join in, the camera detects them too, and smoothly zooms out to include them in the conversation. Meanwhile, the 12MP Wide camera on the back of iPad Air lets users capture sharp photos and 4K video, scan documents, and enjoy amazing AR experiences. An end-to-end solution for photo and video capture, editing, and sharing, iPad Air is an incredibly versatile and ultra-portable mobile studio.
Faster connectivity
With 5G, the new iPad Air can reach peak speeds of up to 3.5Gbps in ideal conditions.3 With eSIM and Wi-Fi 6 support, iPad Air offers greater flexibility when users need to get connected — from accessing files, to backing up data, communicating with colleagues, or enjoying a movie with family and friends using SharePlay.
Besides that, the USB-C port is now up to 2x faster than the previous generation, with data transfers up to 10Gbps, so importing large photos and videos is even quicker. The port connects iPad Air to a vast ecosystem of USB-C accessories, including cameras, external storage, and displays with up to 6K resolution.
Display-wise, the new iPad Air comes in a gorgeous array of colours: space grey, starlight, pink, purple, and a stunning new blue. iPad Air features a 10.9-inch Liquid Retina display for an immersive visual experience, with 3.8 million pixels and advanced technologies, including 500 nits of brightness, full lamination, a P3 wide colour gamut, True Tone, and an anti-reflective screen coating.
Combined with the Liquid Retina display, landscape stereo speakers in iPad Air deliver wide stereo sound for a great movie-viewing experience. Touch ID is built into the top button of iPad Air, delivering the same ease of use and secure authentication users know and love to unlock iPad Air, log in to apps, or use Apple Pay.
Accessories
The usage of Apple Pencil (2nd generation) turns iPad Air into a digital journal and sketchbook users can take anywhere. With wireless charging and pairing, Apple Pencil delivers pixel-perfect precision and imperceptible lag, making writing as easy and natural as using pen and paper.
The new iPad Air is also compatible with Magic Keyboard; Smart Keyboard Folio, and Smart Folio covers, which come in beautiful coordinating colours — black, white, electric orange, dark cherry, English lavender, and marine blue.
For better productivity
The new iPad Air comes with iPadOS 15 that delivers an experience that is designed to take advantage of the unique capabilities of iPad.
Multitasking is even more intuitive, making features like Split View and Slide Over easier to discover, easier to use, and more powerful.
Notes goes systemwide with Quick Note, and offers new ways to collaborate and organise, whether typing or writing with Apple Pencil.
SharePlay makes it possible for friends and family to share experiences while on a FaceTime call.
iPad keeps getting smarter with advanced ML capabilities. Live Text uses on-device intelligence to recognise text in a photo and allow users to take action.
With next week's release of iPadOS 15.4 and macOS 12.3, Universal Control will enable users to work with a single mouse and keyboard and move between Mac and iPad for a seamless experience, with no setup required. Users can even drag and drop content back and forth between devices, which is great for sketching with Apple Pencil on iPad and placing it into a Keynote slide on the Mac.5
Pricing and availability
The new iPad Air is available soon from apple.com/my/store and in the Apple Store app. The Wi-Fi models of iPad Air are available from RM2,699 and Wi-Fi + Cellular models start at RM3,349.
Grab additional discounts on tablets by using Shopee Promo Code.
