iPad 2020

The new iPad Air

By Adina Rogoz on Nov 3, 2020 in Technology

Apple’s newest iPad Air features a 10.9-inch liquid retina display and five finishes including silver, space gray, rose gold, green and sky blue. The device includes 3.8 million pixels, full lamination, P3 wide color support with a resolution of 2360×1640 at 246 pixels per inch, True Tone and an anti-reflective coating.

Given the fact that many users now have a mask on their face much of the time, making Face ID complicated, the new iPad Air includes the throwback Touch ID sensor. The sensor is integrated into the top button and allows you to unlock iPad Air, log in to apps or use Apple Pay. iPad Air shares the same magic keyboard as the iPad Pro, as the difference between them is very small—11 inches for the iPad Pro.

Apple’s most advanced chip

iPad Air includes Apple’s most advanced chip, A14 Bionic packed with 11.8 billion transistors for a better performance and power efficiency. The A15 Bionic handles even the most demanding apps such as editing 4K videos, play immersive games, create works of art and so on. Using five-nanometer process technology, the latest A-series chip includes a six-core design for 40 percent boost in CPU performance and a new four-core graphics architecture for a 30 percent improvement in graphics.

Environmentally Friendly

Part of Apple’s plan to become carbon neutral by 2030, the new iPad Air uses a 100 percent recycled aluminum enclosure and 100 percent recycled tin for the solder on its main logic board. Additionally, the new speakers in the device use magnets with 100 percent recycled rare earth elements so the device remains free of harmful substances, is highly energy efficient and uses wood fiber packaging that is recycled.

New bits and pieces

The Air moves to USB-C like the iPad Pro for up to 5Gbps data transfer, unlocking lots of possible accessories and supports the Apple Pencil 2 via a side-charging magnet. Camera wise, the rear 12-megapixel camera with 4K 60fps and 240fps slow motion looks similar to the iPhone SE camera and the front seven-megapixel camera has Smart HDR and can record 1080p at 60fps.

The new Air adds support for the Magic Keyboard and that is a big plus. The Magic Keyboard is a great addition and a big favorite in iPad keyboards, but it’s on the expensive side at $299. It is also compatible with the Smart Keyboard Folio and Smart Folio covers.

Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0

The 2020 Air features superfast Wi-Fi 6, also known as 802.11ax. The updated standard offers faster speeds, better power efficiency, lower latency and upgraded connectivity when there are multiple devices connected to Wi-Fi in the same area. Wi-Fi 6 devices also support WPA3, which is a security protocol that offers improved cryptographic strength. The new iPad Air also supports Bluetooth 5.0.

Apple sells the 2020 iPad Air in two configurations: 64GB and 256GB with the 64GB at $599 and the 256GB model priced at $729. That’s just a $100 premium more than the 2019 iPad Air. There’s no doubt iPad Air will offer a lot of bang for your buck and for now packs Apple’s fastest processor in a mobile device.