New Delhi: Cupertino-based Apple has launched the fifth generation iPad with a brand new design.
The new iPad comes with the same 9.7-inch display as all of its predecessors, but with an updated shape following the design language of the iPad mini.
The new iPad has a number of small internal improvements which were seen in the recently launched iPhone 5S.
The new iPad Air is 20 per cent thinner, 28 per cent lighter and has 43 per cent smaller bezels than last year's iPad 4, which has curiously been stopped by Apple. It is 7.5mm thick and weighs 1 pound. Apple claimed it is the thinnest full-sized tablet in the world. The 9.7 inch iPad Air with Retina display resembles iPad mini a lot.
On the inside, Apple has updated the new iPad's processor to the A7, the same you have in the iPhone 5s. That means it is eight times faster than the first generation and graphics are 72 times faster than then the first generation iPad.
The iPad Air uses the same 64-bit A7 chip and the M7 motion co-processor that was introduced recently with the iPhone 5S. It can open files and render graphics twice as fast as the iPad 4, while still promising the same 10-hour battery life.
The new A7 processor runs on a 64-bit architecture, like all the new Apple products, with more than 1 billion transistors. Apple also tossed in MIMO technology to help with reliable Wifi, and all that with 10 hours of battery life, according to Apple.
The new model, however, only has a 5MP rear iSight camera, but has a 1.2MP front-facing HD camera for FaceTime with improved backside illumination sensors featuring larger pixels for better low-light performance. It is powered by iOS 7, which is the latest version of the software and brings features like revamped search, notifications, control centre and the iCloud Keychain password manager.
The iPad (fifth generation) will be available in black, white, silver, and space gray (no gold, for some reason), and will replace the current generation (fourth) iPad at a $499 starting price. Wifi + Cellular starts at $629.
Meanwhile, the iPad 2 will remain in the line up for $399.
New iPads will be available on November 1, just in time for the holidays.
