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Apple officially announces 18% thinner ‘iPad Air 2’ w/ Touch ID & gold color option

Screen Shot 2014-10-16 at 1.43.57 PM

Live on stage during its iPad/Mac press event today in Cupertino, Apple has officially introduced the new iPad Air dubbed “iPad Air 2”.

As previously rumored, the new full-sized iPad features a slimmer profile compared to the previous generation but largely retains the same physical design of the first gen iPad Air. It does, however, come in the gold color option that Apple previously only offered on iPhones.

Apple says the new iPad Air is 18% thinner than the previous generation thanks to improvements to the display manufacturing process. The display also introduces an anti-reflective coating that Apple says makes iPad Air 2’s display 56% less reflective.

The iPad Air 2 includes an A8X chip that Apple says includes 2nd-gen 64-bit architecture and 3 billion transistors for 40% faster CPU and 2.5x faster GPU performance.  The new device also includes the M8 motion tracking chip and barometer previously available on iPhone. In addition, iPad Air 2 gets an updated 8 megapixel iSight camera with 1.12u pixels, f/2.4 aperture, and 1080p video recording capabilities. Other specs include up to 2.8x faster WiFi performance with 802.11ac with MIMO and increased support for up to 20 LTE bands.

iPad Air 2 keeps the same 10-hour battery life estimate from the previous generation iPad Air.

Details regarding Apple’s second generation iPad Air were leaked on several occasions prior to today’s official unveiling. Yesterday we discovered references to the new iPad Air and an iPad mini 3 confirming a TouchID fingerprint sensor and Burst camera mode that Apple showed off today on stage. It also showed off other camera modes including a time-lapse and slo-mo features.

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Comments

  1. Lee (@leemahi) - 9 years ago

    Amazing to see know how thin this is! Omg my prayers of a lighter iPad Air were answered within 1 year. My nose is sore the ipad falling on it. I hope it doesn’t bend when I accidently roll over it.

    • Still no upgraded RAM?

      • Wes Hilliard (@zagarz) - 9 years ago

        before i answer this, i have to ask. do you know what ram is or why you want more of it? is it just a number to you that says, oh this has 16 gigs of ram, so it must be the best. the CPU and graphics performance increases alone are awesome. when you talk about ram, you think pc uses. multitasking and performance of pc games and apps. on a tablet like the iPad, ram is irrelevant, because what an iPad is trying to accomplish is different from a pc. so no, no more ram, but just for comparisons sake, look at the performance of android phones with 8 and 16 gigs of ram, compared to the 1 gig of ram on iOS devices. iOS wins out every time.

      • Tony Price - 9 years ago

        @Wes Hilliard — How many phones or tablets on any platform have you seen with 8 or 16 GB of RAM? Some high end Android devices are just now breaking 3GB. You’re confusing RAM with flash storage.

      • rettun1 - 9 years ago

        Actually I believe it does have upgraded ram, to 2 gb. Though I’m not sure Apple ever officially says what memory is in their tablets, leaks of the motherboard confirmed 2gb. But I guess it’s possible I’m mistaken

      • Jurgis Ŝalna - 9 years ago

        @Wes Hilliard, I really hope 9to5 allows you to delete your preposterous comment. I wouldn’t like such idiocy attached to my name forever on the internet. Clearly you have no clue about computer architecture.
        If we would follow your logic, iPad should be only able to connect to BBSes over 32kbps connection and return few lines of textual information per request. Because ‘what Apple is trying to achieve is portability’. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
        Not being able to keep browser tab state is extremely frustrating, especially on portable device with limited internet connectivity. Writing important email and checking details on another tab? Yep, your email is gone. Trying to copy paste something from another page? Forget about it.
        Also let’s not forget that switching to 64-bit architecture doubled the RAM use immediately.
        As for comparing Androids to Apples – they are entirely different platforms with different inefficiencies – Android has massive RAM overhead.

  2. Mosha - 9 years ago

    Touch ID and a slimmer body are enough reasons for me to upgrade. The iPads are so much more functional when they are thinner or lighter. They make you want to take them everywhere and not simply use them in bed. Can’t wait to see it for myself.

  3. webzpinner - 9 years ago

    No NFC, no purchase by me. Sorry, but I’ll stick with my apple air 1. I don’t care about thinner, I care about features, and other than the Mac mini update, none of the new products seem a genuine step up… More of just air 1.5 and mini 2.5…. Very unfortunate.

    • They probably “forgot” NFC on purpose to justify the iPhone payment more. I think you are more likely to pay with a Phone than a Tablet. If NFC brings other features, then I’m not aware of them…

      I am very sad they didn’t upgrade RAM .. It seemed obvious until today.

  4. weakguy - 9 years ago

    It looks amazing. However, the mute switch seems to be, um, dead.

    • taoprophet420 - 9 years ago

      Funny people said it was alive yesterday after the leaked user guide image that didn’t show the back side of the iPad Air 2.

      Is it not just as easy to use co tell de tee to lock the orientation?also the way the software is you don’t have to hold the volume down long before it mutes.

      Using an Apple Smart Case it’s hard to as hell to use the mute switch for me.

  5. David Allen Wizardgold - 9 years ago

    I can’t wait to get my hands on the new iPad air 2 and I’m pleased to see this time I will be able to order from tomorrow here in Spain also. It isn’t like the iPhone where it was delayed by a week. I would kind of like to go into an Apple store to buy one direct and I still might do that rather than ordering online. Just for the fun of going into an Apple Store which I don’t normally do. I will head out to either one of the two Barcelona stores as soon as they become available.

    They said that they would be available to order from October 17 and would start to ship from next week and I wonder is that the beginning of the week or the end of the week.?

    I think I can see a silver 128 GB model with cellular with my name written on it.

  6. Ilko Sarafski - 9 years ago

    My iPad 2 (with its case) weights 962 grams. :) Can you imagine what a relief I would feel when I upgrade it next year? :) This year around I’ll hold it, simply because the 2 is simply doing its job. And yet, how much does it weight? Did they say? Air was ~450 grams, -18% (I know that the difference though :) ) it should be at least somewhere around 350, 400 grams? Amazing!

    • It’s gone down from 469 to 437g …

    • timcrook - 9 years ago

      There hasn’t really been an improvement to the weight, the new Air is only 30 grams less then the original air.

      • Ilko Sarafski - 9 years ago

        Yeah, just checked. 0,96 pounds / 435 grams. Ok, next year they’ll go for 399 grams. :)

      • timcrook - 9 years ago

        But yea when you upgrade to the Air 2 the “feel” difference will be night and day. I played with the Air 1 and I think they should have just kept the same thickness and slapped a bigger battery in there for the Air 2, but Apple loves their thinness race :D.

Author

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Jordan Kahn

Jordan writes about all things Apple as Senior Editor of 9to5Mac, & contributes to 9to5Google, 9to5Toys, & Electrek.co. He also co-authors 9to5Mac’s Logic Pros series.