Apple Unveils iPad Air 5 With M1 Chip, 5G, and Vibrant Colors December 14, 2024

At Apple’s official Peek Performance event on Tuesday, the company unveiled its current fifth-generation iPad Air. Apple’s M1 chipset is at the heart of the new iPad Air, which supports 5G connectivity and comes in a variety of colours. A USB-C port is also included, as well as a 12MP ultrawide front camera for video calls.

While the new iPad Air and the previously released iPad Pro have identical designs, the latter has a faster M1 CPU, which was previously only found in Apple’s MacBooks. It also supports 5G, with the USB-C connector capable of data transmission speeds of up to 10Gbps.

Design & Display

The screen is still a 10.9-inch Liquid Retina display with 500 nits of brightness and a resolution of 2360 x 1640 pixels, TrueTone and HDR capabilities, and an anti-reflective coating. The smartphone also boasts landscape stereo speakers and a Touch ID biometric sensor embedded right into the power button.

The iPad Air 5 has a 60Hz refresh rate against the iPad Pro’s smoother 120Hz.

This latest tablet features a 100% recycled aluminium shell, 100% recycled tin in the main logic board’s solder, and 100% recycled rare earth components in the enclosure and audio magnets.

Storage & Hardware

The new iPad Air is powered by Apple’s own M1 chipset, which allows it to compete with the iPad Pro in terms of performance.

The Apple Pencil, which magnetically attaches to the side of the new iPad Air, as well as the Magic Keyboard, are both compatible with the new iPad Air. It is also compatible with the Smart Folio and Smart Keyboard Folio covers.

In terms of software, the iPad Air 5 comes with iPadOS 15.4 preloaded. Because of the Universal Control feature, the user will be able to work with a single mouse and keyboard across many Macs and iPads without having to do any additional setup.

Cameras

The iPad Air comes with a 12MP ultrawide front camera with Apple’s Center Stage function, which keeps you in the frame during video conversations and senses when others join in, smoothly zooming out to include them as well. This functionality is now available on all iPads.

A 12MP camera sits on the back, similar to the one seen on the previous-generation iPad Air.

Availability

The new iPad Air is available in a variety of colours, including Space Gray, Starlight, pink, purple, and a striking new blue. It will cost $599 for 64GB of storage, but a 256GB model will also be available. Starting this Friday, the new iPad Air will be available for pre-order in 29 countries, with an official release date of March 18th. The Wi-Fi+5G version costs $749.