The iPad Air proved that you can build a very thin tablet that can also have high-end hardware, a great display, and an excellent battery. The third generation of the iPad Air was released in 2019 and is still being sold today. Even if the iPad Air specs unveil hardware from a couple of years ago, the tablet remains popular as it does not feel dated in any way. Also, Apple shows no sign of releasing a new version anytime soon.
Table of Contents
#1. Platform and CPU
Despite being thinner than the iPad Mini, the iPad Air uses the same platform. It comes with the Apple A12 Bionic system-on-chip and a hexacore CPU. The same platform is being shared with the iPad Mini, standard iPad, iPhone X, iPhone XS, and iPhone XR. What sets them apart is the underlying operating system which is no longer iOS but iPadOS. The GPU is also shared with the previously named iPads and iPhones. It is the Apple GP11P GPU, an Apple-designed graphics chip that is capable of handling any modern GPU intensive app.
#2. RAM and Storage
The Apple iPad Air is available in two configurations. One is the 64 GB and 3 GB of RAM while the more expensive variant is the 256 GB of storage and 3 GB of RAM. As it is well optimized, iPadOS runs very well with just 3 GB of RAM. For storage, the options are limited and there is no memory card expansion slot as Apple does not make any device with a MicroSD card slot.
#3. Display
For the iPad Air, Apple used a lower-tier display with a ppi of just 265 which is considerably lower than in the iPad Mini. Regardless, the display is still sharp and the 10.5-inch screen size with a resolution of 1668 by 2224 pixels places it well above other tablets running on Android. For endurance, the display has a scratch-resistant glass layer on top and an oleophobic coating.
#4. Battery
The iPad Air specs are nothing short of impressive when it comes to the battery. It uses an 8134 mAh battery which provides at least 10 hours of continuous intense usage. On standby, the tablet will last for up to a week without being charged. The battery is not removable.
#5. Cameras
The iPad Air comes with a main camera on the back and a selfie camera. The selfie camera is a 7 MP sensor with an f/2.2 aperture, the same as on other iPad models. On the back, Apple used an 8 MP f/2.4 aperture camera with HDR and full HD video recording at 30 fps.
#6. Connectivity
The iPad Air still comes with a headphone jack. While modern tablets and smartphones now use USB-C for both charging and audio, with the iPad Air you can still use your classic headphones.
As with any other iPad model, the iPad Air is available in a Wi-Fi + Cellular config and a Wi-Fi-only version. According to the iPad Air specs sheet, neither of them has NFC. Both have Bluetooth 5.0 but only the LTE model has a GPS module.
