A very, very similar Air phoenix rising from the ashes of the dead iPad Pro.
Apple’s getting rather good at recycling and re-issuing its top products, isn’t it? The new iPad Air has launched, with the tagline ‘Power isn’t just for the pros’.
Another line could be ‘Power ripped from the Pros’… as the new iPad Air is almost identical to the iPad Pro 10.5, the device launched in 2017, but updated with a couple of internal tweaks and an all-new name – while removing nearly all reference to the iPad Pro 10.5 from its site.
Crucially, it’s been given a huge price drop as well – meaning Apple has essentially just slashed the price of one of its Pro models and found a way to make it a ‘headline’ iPad sale for the next couple of years at least.
It’s an interesting move, and shows the shift in how Apple is approaching the creation of new products.
Let’s take a quick look at what’s actually the same here though. The chassis, screen and Smart Connector are all identical. The Touch ID sensor is there, the Pencil support is for the older model (not the wirelessly charging one), the Lightning connector remains and the stereo speakers are the same.
There are a few differences though: the camera on the older iPad Pro 10.5 is 12MP with an f/1.8 aperture, where the new Air is just 8MP with f/2.4, as the ‘non-pro’ users wouldn’t need it as much presumably.
The weight is a touch lighter on the iPad Air (we’re talking a few grams), the screen possibly doesn’t support 120Hz refresh on the newer model, and battery capacity is slightly lower.
That latter spec won’t be noticeable though, as Apple has packed in the far more powerful and efficient A12 chipset, over the A10X Fusion seen in the iPad Pro 10.
