Whenever we hear of a launch of a new Apple product, people get excited and rightly so. In the tech community, we will always have high expectations on any new launch, especially if it is by Apple. The pressure is good for Apple and its cult-like following, because the pressure needs to exist for technology to have the ability to be constantly breaking boundaries and improve.
With the rise of second screening being very prevalent at the moment, tablets need to be getting smarter and more adaptable. Read on to find out if the newest offering from Apple does just this.
1. How good is the Internet? Superb, really. Keeping things simple on the Internet front is important. Essentially, the internet comes at the forefront of any tablet usage. The Internet browser on the iPad Air really works well, especially on the larger screen.
2. What does the interface look like? A lot of the features on the iPad Air are running on the iOS we are using on our current iPhones and iPads. Many have slated the iOS 7 software, but it’s important to use this update to continue moving forwards, People get used to the new updates after a while anyway. The new interface looks very much like what we come to expect of Apple devices.
3. How good is the camera/video? Surprisingly, the camera/video is one of the only downfalls of the newest offering. It’s the same 5 megapixel and 1080p video shooter in the iPad 3 and 4. It’s still plenty good enough in my opinion. You may not be seeing any photographer use the iPad Air for professional use, but it doesn’t mean it’s not good enough for the rest of us.
4. Will the battery last? The iPad Air’s battery life boasts an impressive 24 hours worth of usage. Obviously, it will depend on how much rich the media you’re running is, but as a general rule, 24 hours is good and a definite improvement. I think I speak for a large percentage of people when I say battery life is important on a tablet, having a poor battery life and permanently needing to charge takes the whole point away from a tablet.
5. How practical is it? The iPad Air is unbelievably thin and easy to carry around, weighing in at a mere 469g, it’s certainly not going to break your back. This is ideal considering we live so much of our lives on the move nowadays. On a separate note, the new A7 processor chip will really speed things up when using the device. We have become accustomed to expecting high quality performance from our technology and this certainly delivers.
6. What will it cost me? Depending on how you plan on using the iPad Air, it’ll start from £399 up to £739 for the whole kit and caboodle. To delve a little further, this makes the iPad Air a little expensive, as you’re bound to want to get some of the upgrades, making this an expensive purchase if you want to maximise business productivity.
To summarise, the iPad Air is a truly worthwhile buy. The product has scored 9/10 or 10/10 on plenty of peer review sites. In terms of features, the iPad Air offers everything you’d expect, there’s nothing new per-sae, and it’s more of a case of improving all the current features. Apple has almost perfected and pretty much monopolised the market anyway. This new offering generally follows the same rule of thumb, pay a little more for the product, but get a vastly superior product that’ll last. Without question, the iPad Air is superior to the iPad 4 and undoubtedly the best tablet on the market, as long as you’re prepared to front the extra cash.
