“With this, the fifth generation of the iPad line, Apple has delivered a proper exterior redesign, crafting a substantially thinner and lighter tablet that finally eliminates the chunky bezels handed down since the first generation — at least on the left and right,” Tim Stevens writes for CNET. “But, despite this significant exterior reduction, the iPad Air maintains the battery life of its predecessor and offers significantly better performance.”
“Strong competition from within Apple’s own ranks with the upcoming iPad Mini with Retina Display means the iPad Air has to be better than ever. Thankfully, it is,” Stevens writes. “You could think of the iPad Air as a 20 percent scaled-up version of the Mini, as the two tablets feature near-identical styling details, the bigger one differing only by having more speaker holes on the bottom (80 vs. 56 on the Mini). Impressively, though, the iPad Air isn’t 20 percent thicker than the Mini. In fact, at 7.5mm, it’s only 0.3mm deeper — a massive 1.9mm thinner than the previous full-size iPad. Despite that, the tablet feels just as sturdy and rigid as before, not flexing a bit even under rather aggressive attempts at twisting.”
“It’s light, too, weighing just 1 pound in Wi-Fi-only guise. That’s 0.4 pound lighter than the previous generation and 0.3 pound heavier than the Mini. In other words, the iPad Air’s weight is actually closer to the Mini than to its fourth-gen predecessor. Indeed, pick up an Air and you’ll be reminded of the first time you held a Mini. It’s a ‘wow’ moment,” Stevens writes. “If you found yourself tuning out the last few generations of iPad thanks to their extreme familiarity, it’s time to get yourself dialed back in. The iPad Air is worth getting excited about… The iPad Air is thinner than any tablet this size deserves to be, and lighter, too. The old iPad always felt surprisingly hefty. This one, compellingly lithe… If you’re looking for a full-size tablet and don’t mind paying a premium to get the best, this is it.”
Read more in the full review here.
Related articles:
AnandTech reviews Apple’s 64-bit iPad Air: In a completely different league – October 30, 2013
USA Today’s Baig reviews Apple’s 64-bit iPad Air: Best of breed, superior to each and every rival – October 30, 2013
Mossberg reviews Apple’s 64-bit iPad Air: ‘The best tablet I’ve ever reviewed’ – October 29, 2013
Fox News reviews Apple’s 64-bit iPad Air: Best in class – October 29, 2013
The Independent reviews Apple’s 64-bit iPad Air: Super-light and most powerful – October 29, 2013
Talking like there are other options to the iPad Air or iPad mini. Pay more and get the best.
iPads are cheaper in the long run.
Actually has resale value. 🙂
And the Fandroids are out in full force, calling C-NET yet another Apple sheep… Conveniently overlooking the fact that their favourite OS was given the “Editor’s Choice” nod for their smartphone (over iPhone, mind you…!!??).
There was a time when Mac users seem truly rabid zealots, and reasonable discussion was practically impossible.
Fandroids are infinitely worse today. Their numbers aren’t much greater than those of Mac zealots of years ago, but with the power of all these interactive web forums, the cacophony of noise they make is simply unbearable!
I love how the moronic commenters on CNET conveniently forget that CNET posts a whole hell of a lot of anti-Apple content. As soon as an article that is even remotely pro-Apple pops up, they come out in full force calling the site a shill for Apple and all other such misguided nonsense.
Then again, we kinda do the same things here on MDN. But this is a purely pro-Apple site, so it’s not like that sort of bias is unexpected (frankly, I enjoy it, especially since most people I know in-real-life are anti-Apple for various misinformed reasons). But CNET is one of the more impartial sources of information, so the ignorance of the Fandroids on there really gives me a headache.
Hilarious! Fandroids are going berserk there! LOL
If CNET were true Apple shills, they wouldn’t be wrapping up adware with Mac apps at Download.com! Grrr.
No way I’m giving them any traffic.
Must kill CNet to report anything positive about Apple.
Only an idiot would tune himself out.