“Apple last week surprised us with a brand new iPad in the iPad Air family and a new iPad mini 5, both of which are outfitted with Apple’s latest chip technology,” Juli Clover writes for MacRumors.
“Priced at $399 for the iPad mini and $499 for the iPad Air, Apple’s refreshed iPads are not as expensive as the iPad Pro (starts at $799) nor as affordable as the 6th-generation 2018 iPad (starts at $329), and the hardware and design match up with a middle-of-the-road tablet,” Clover writes. “The iPad Air is using the same design as the 10.5-inch iPad Pro, while the iPad mini 5 uses the same design as the previous-generation iPad mini 4. Both tablets feature thick top and bottom bezels, with the bottom bezel housing a Touch ID Home button for biometric authentication purposes.”
“Functionally, both the iPad Air 3 and the iPad mini 5 are the same tablet with the same specs, with the only difference between the two being screen size and Smart Keyboard compatibility,” Clover writes. “The iPad Air has a Smart Connector that can be used with a Smart Keyboard, which costs $159. There’s no Smart Keyboard for iPad mini because it lacks a Smart Connector.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: That 10.5-inch iPad Air, in particular, is going to be an iPad that many people will own and love for many, many years.
We still have multiple iPad Air 2 units kicking around, which we got in October 2014, doing daily work and play today!
Yes finally a new iPad that tempts me to upgrade my old third gen model.
I’m getting a new mini. We use them on the ambulance (in an Otter Box case). Can’t beat the portability of the small size coupled with the ability to store all the medical info, protocols, etc. Thank you Apple
What’s an air?
NOT IMPRESSED AT ALL.
if the price was 149 for the mini, and 249 for the iPad, then at least I would buy one. Pricing is still to high. Plus their are way too many iPads. Two are enough.