iPad Air review up!

[MrX8503]

Anand' review is up and it's a good read. As it turns out, the A7 is faster than previously thought.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7460/apple-ipad-air-review

"With Cyclone Apple is in a completely different league. As far as I can tell, peak issue width of Cyclone is 6 instructions. That’s at least 2x the width of Swift and Krait, and at best more than 3x the width depending on instruction mix. Limitations on co-issuing FP and integer math have also been lifted as you can run up to four integer adds and two FP adds in parallel. You can also perform up to two loads or stores per clock.

I don’t yet have a good understanding of the number of execution ports and how they’re mapped, but Cyclone appears to be the widest ARM architecture we’ve ever seen at this point. I’m talking wider than Qualcomm’s Krait 400 and even ARM’s Cortex A15. -Anand"

 

[jalaram]

Ars even referred to the same review with this great comment:

Early reviews of the iPad Air were posted last night, and as usual Anand Shimpi of AnandTech had the most detailed information to share about the tablet's innards.

 

[Joe1987]

Damn it, I know I'll end up buying an Air and a retina mini.

I think that's Apple's plan.

 

[ControlD]

Damn it, I know I'll end up buying an Air and a retina mini.

I think that's Apple's plan.

I'm tempted by the Air as well, but I think I will wait for the next version. I bought one memory gimped iPad already, not sure I really want to make that mistake a second time.

 

[deathBOB]

Super impressive. I wonder how they got the drop in screen power usage.

 

[joshhedge]

Super impressive. I wonder how they got the drop in screen power usage.

IGZO perhaps?

 

[jaydee]

I must be doing something wrong, I'm still happy with my 3rd gen iPad...

 

[Oyeve]

Again, another tablet with stereo speakers in portrait mode. WTF? Stupid

 

[MrX8503]

Damn it, I know I'll end up buying an Air and a retina mini.

I think that's Apple's plan.

I pondered the idea of getting a mini lte and an air wifi. But I think I'm gonna stick to one, just having a tough time deciding.

 

[jiffylube1024]

Well written review, as always. The ipad air looks very tempting.

My only concern is the limited 1gb of ram - it's definitely planned obsolescence. I don't like how my ipad 4 (also 1gb) purges apps and internet windows from ram very quickly. Now, with the 64-bit A7, app ram usage is up to 30% higher. Would it have killed Apple to put 2gb in there - I mean the $229 Nexus 7 has 2gb of ram in it!

 

[Kaido]

Damn it, I know I'll end up buying an Air and a retina mini.

I think that's Apple's plan.

Hah, right? I've been reviewing the options and I think I'm going to go with an HP Chromebook. Their new ones have an 11.6" 1366x768 IPS screen, Micro-USB charging port, no fans, and basically a one-piece construction. My old iPad 1 is MIA and it's time to upgrade anyway, and what I've found is that I vastly prefer using a keyboard to surf the net (i.e. typing searches, forum posts, etc.) but I don't necessary need a full-blown computer just to do so.

I'm thinking the Chromebook for the house lounger and an iPad Mini Retina for everything else. $279 vs. $400 right off the bat though, probably going to go with the HP first haha.

 

[Eug]

IGZO perhaps?

IGZO is not here yet in Apple products. It's an IPS screen in the Air.

P.S. I suspect if the Air does get IGZO, it will have longer battery life and be lighter.

 

[mavere]

Sold my iPad 3 a week ago, and I'm already feeling that void in my daily routine. I was originally going to wait for the Mini's release to make a decision, but I think I'll just buy the Air first and hope that reviews for the Mini come out before my return period ends.

 

[joshhedge]

IGZO is not here yet in Apple products. It's an IPS screen in the Air.

P.S. I suspect if the Air does get IGZO, it will have longer battery life and be lighter.

Cheers for the clarification Eug.

 

[Kaido]

Hahahahaha OH MY GOSH! The iPad Air is SO LIGHT!

I thought it was cool they shaved half a pound off the full-sized iPad, but really, no biggie. NOPE. I was wrong. It's a gamechanger! Everything since the iPad 2 has felt like a brick in my hands - the iPad Air feels, literally, as light as the iPad Mini. It's incredible! I was planning on getting an iPad Mini Retina, not anymore! It feels lighter than my 4S because of the size distribution! A+, awesome release. I'm sold!

 

[Eug]

Yep. The iPad 2 is OK (but not great) in terms of weight, but the iPad 3 and iPad 4 just seem hefty.

I really want the Air, but will hold out for now, since the iPad 2 still runs the latest and greatest, and I'm guessing next year's model will have 2 GB RAM and 32 GB base.

BTW, here are some file sizes of Apple iPad apps on the iPad 2 according to iTunes:

GarageBand: 722.6 MB
iPhoto: 315.3 MB
iMovie: 664.5 MB

Pages: 371.1 MB
Keynote: 534.1 MB
Numbers: 367.6 MB

Just these 6 apps alone take up 3 GB.

 

[MrX8503]

iPad 2 is probably the best value tablet. Users are getting much longer uses out of it than normal. Personally my preference is retina, so I'll be getting the Air or mini. Wish I could buy both.

 

[Lyfer]

1gb of ram and 16gb is lame for the base at $500. The $100 premium for 32gb should have bumped ram as well another GB. My iPad 2 is so sluggish with iOS 7 and a hand full of apps open. Glad I got the nexus 2013 which is silky smooth and cheap.

 

[Little n00b]

I can't believe Apple are still tricking people til' this day.

They're selling the iPad 2 for £329 when iOS 7 or 8 (doubt very much) will probably be the last iOS.

In a second-hand shop they're selling the first iPad for £159 with iOS 5, yes iOS 5 - and that has 512MB RAM, A4 1GHz ARM Cortex Single Core CPU and not front facing camera.

The price of iPad air is the equivalent to a Low End gaming PC build which is probably 2x faster.

Also Apple's marketing plan is very sneaky. The make the iPad air really thin so you can buy a case which is about £39. 1 Pound is just ridiculous weight for a 9.7'' tablet.

Nexus 7 2013 is £199 and you get a 300+ ppi display, Android 4.3, Snapdragon Quad Core CPU clocked at 1.3ghz or 1.5ghz. (I'm not sure)

I don't just pay for durability I pay for performance and reliability.



If you have nothing to add to the review of the iPad air thread, stay out of it.

You can't come in and post a threadcrap as you just did.


esquared
Anandtech Forum Director

"

 

[Eug]

iPad 2 is probably the best value tablet. Users are getting much longer uses out of it than normal. Personally my preference is retina, so I'll be getting the Air or mini. Wish I could buy both.

Only if you bought the iPad 2 in 2011. I think it is a poor "value" if you buy it today.

 

[Joe1987]

Hah, right? I've been reviewing the options and I think I'm going to go with an HP Chromebook. Their new ones have an 11.6" 1366x768 IPS screen, Micro-USB charging port, no fans, and basically a one-piece construction. My old iPad 1 is MIA and it's time to upgrade anyway, and what I've found is that I vastly prefer using a keyboard to surf the net (i.e. typing searches, forum posts, etc.) but I don't necessary need a full-blown computer just to do so.

I'm thinking the Chromebook for the house lounger and an iPad Mini Retina for everything else. $279 vs. $400 right off the bat though, probably going to go with the HP first haha.

I picked up one of the Samsung Chromebooks form Amazon for $170 or so, hated it, and gifted it. I wanted to like it, but there were so many little things wrong with it, I couldn't stand it.

 

[MrX8503]

1 Pound is just ridiculous weight for a 9.7'' tablet.

How so?