Apple iPad Air gets a huge overhaul: Pro Looks, Colourful design and a higher price

Apple wasn’t holding back at their September Apple Event this morning, launching a new Apple Watch and two updated iPads, the iPad Air and 8th Gen iPad. The iPad has been on sale for 10 years and this is a big update to the standard-sized models.

With over 500 million iPads sold over the 10 years you can’t argue with the success of Apple iPad and with the next generation iPad Air we can imagine a big jump in sales.

8th Generation iPad

The latest “Standard” iPad is the 8th generation, now featuring the Apple A12 Bionic chip.

This quad-core CPU is 40% faster than the outgoing model, but critically as Apple like to point out, it’s faster than the best selling laptops, and Android tablets still.

The iPad as it’s known is the simple fella in the lineup. Same design, same screen size, still has a home button, continues to use the Lightning connector, it’s your bog-standard iPad but with new guts.

And it’s cheaper too. Priced from $499.

iPad Air becomes the Hero

There’s little doubt the new iPad Air will be the Hero in the iPad lineup on billboards and in advertising.

Now coming in a fresh new design this is the device that says “I got a new iPad” to all those around you.

You can buy the iPad Air in one of five colours, something we’ve never seen before on the iPad range.

They are Silver, Space gray, Rose gold, Green, and Sky blue.

Plus the design itself has cues from the successful iPad Pro range with a flatter front and back, and squared sides.

Similar to that which is expected from the upcoming iPhone 12.

But under the hood is where your money is going – and it’s more expensive this year too, starting at $899.

The all-new A14 Bionic is designed for performance, including 4K video editing, art work and gaming.

This is what Apple call “breakthrough” 5-nanometer processor technology, with 11.8 billion transistors.

Bottom line, it’s fast, it’s smart, but it looks amazing too.

Greg Joswiak from Apple Says “Today we’re excited to introduce a completely redesigned and far more powerful iPad Air, debuting Apple’s most powerful chip ever made, the A14 Bionic,”

“With its gorgeous new all-screen design, larger 10.9-inch Liquid Retina display, next-generation Touch ID, and a massive boost in performance with A14 Bionic, the new iPad Air brings customers powerful pro features at an even more affordable price. Along with major upgrades to the iPad Pro and eighth-generation iPad this year, and the powerful new features of iPadOS 14, this is our strongest iPad lineup ever, giving our customers even more ways to enrich their daily lives.”

On the bottom (or side depending how you look at it) is a USB-C port. Like that on the iPad Pro and MacBook range, this allows for greater speed on file transfers and new connectivity possibilities.

Perhaps most interesting is the inclusion of TouchID without a home button.

The top button (power button) is also a TouchID sensor. Like many other smartphone makers, Apple has squeezed its fingerprint reading technology into a thin button for all-in-one performance of the Fingerprint reader.

New iPad Air and 8th Gen iPad Pricing for Australia:

• Eighth-generation iPad available from $499
• iPad Air available from $899 and goes up to $1,329

Web: Apple