Apple Announces New 10.5" iPad Air, 7.9" iPad mini
by Andrei Frumusanu on March 18, 2019 11:30 AM EST
Today in a surprise announcement, Apple has unveiled refreshes to both the iPad Air and iPad mini lineups. The last releases in the lineups were the iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 4 back in 2015. We had thought Apple had abandoned the models, yet today’s release now breathes fresh air into the devices with much needed internal hardware upgrades as well as new functionality.
| Apple iPad Comparison | ||||
| iPad Air 2 | iPad mini 4 | iPad Air (2019) | iPad mini (2019) | |
| SoC | Apple A8X 3 x Typhoon @ 1.5GHz |
Apple A8 2 x Typhoon @ 1.5GHz |
Apple A12 Bionic 2 × Vortex @ 2.5GHz 4 × Tempest @ 1.59GHz |
|
| Display | 9.7" 2048x1536 IPS LCD | 7.9" 2048x1536 IPS LCD | 10.5" 2224x1668 IPS LCD DCI-P3, True Tone |
7.9" 2048x1536 IPS LCD DCI-P3, True Tone |
| Dimensions | 240 x 169.5 x 6.1mm 437g |
203.2 x 134.8 x 6.1mm 298.8g |
250.6 x 174.1 x 6.1mm 456g / 464g |
203.2 x 134.8 x 6.1mm 300g / 308.2g |
| RAM | 2GB LPDDR3 | 2GB LPDDR3 | ? | ? |
| NAND | 16 / 64 / 128GB | 64 / 256GB | ||
| Battery | 27.3Wh | 19.1Wh | 30.2Wh | 19.1Wh |
| Front Camera | 1.2MP, F/2.2 | 7MP, F/2.2 | ||
| Rear Camera | 8MP, F/2.4, 1.1 micron | 8MP, F/2.4 | ||
| Cellular | 2G / 3G / 4G LTE (Category 9) | UE Category 16 LTE (1Gbps) with 4x4 MIMO and LAA | ||
| SIM Size | NanoSIM | NanoSIM + eSIM | ||
| Wireless | 802.11a/b/g/n/ac 2x2 MIMO, BT 4.2 LE, GPS/GLONASS |
802.11a/b/g/n/ac 2x2 MIMO, BT 5.0 LE, GPS/GLONASS |
||
| Connectivity | Apple Lightning 3.5mm headphone |
Apple Lightning 3.5mm headphone |
||
| Launch OS | iOS 9 | iOS 12 | ||
| Launch Price | $499 (16G) $599 (64G) $699 (128G) |
(Wifi / Cellular) $399/$529 (16G) $499/$629 (64G) $599/$729 (128G) |
(Wifi / Cellular) $499/$629 (64G) $649/$779 (256G) |
(Wifi / Cellular) $399/$529 (64G) $549/$679 (256G) |
On the internal hardware side, both the new iPad Air (2019) and the new iPad mini (2019) make use of Apple’s new 7nm A12 chipset, which we’ve already seen in the iPhone XS and XR models. The A12X’s increased performance thus remains exclusive to the iPad Pro models this year.
iPad Mini 2019
The new iPad mini doesn’t change its design from its predecessor, which might not be to everybody’s liking in 2019 as the rather big bezels do feel a bit out of place compared to other newer tablets. While the design hasn’t seen an update, the 7.9” 2048x1536 IPS display will see some significant changes as it now supports Display P3 as well as True Tone.
iPad Air 2019
The new iPad Air on the other hand does see significant design changes with a slight reduction in bezels, offering more screen estate. The new display comes now in a 10.5” diameter and increases the resolution to 2224x1668. Similarly to the new iPad mini, it also now supports P3 wide gamut content as well as True Tone.
The new Air is ever so slightly bigger than its predecessor, being 10mm taller, 4.6mm wider and 19g heavier. The new battery does increase from 27.3Wh to 30.2Wh.
Interestingly both devices still come with the home button and its capacitive fingerprint sensor, as well as 3.5mm headphone jack (not that we're complaining), so this is probably Apple’s purest hardware-only refresh ever.
The one single big new feature about the new iPads is that the devices are now compatible with the Apple Pencil. It’s to be noted we’re talking about the first generation Pencil, and not the second-generation unit we find in 2018’s new iPad Pros.
Overall, it’s interesting to see Apple refresh the iPad line-up, especially the often forgotten iPad mini. Apple’s reluctance to make any major design changes to the products, even 4 years on is quite odd, but then again if it isn’t broken, don’t attempt to fix it.
The new iPad mini and iPad Air come in 64 and 256GB variants, starting at $399 for the iPad mini and $499 for the iPad Air. The extra storage costs you $150, and added cellular connectivity adds another $130.
Related Reading
- The Apple iPhone XR Review: A Different Display Leads To Brilliant Battery Life
- The 2018 Apple iPad Pro (11-Inch) Review: Doubling Down On Performance
- The iPhone XS & XS Max Review: Unveiling the Silicon Secrets
- Hands On With the Apple 9.7 Inch iPad Pro
- The Apple iPad Pro Review
- The Apple iPad Mini 4 Review
- The Apple iPad Air 2 Review
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0iron - Monday, March 18, 2019 - link
iPad refresh cycle is longer, I bet Apple will not update it next year let alone upgrade to OLED.Death666Angel - Monday, March 18, 2019 - link
I'm still hoping for an updated iPad 9.7".digiguy - Monday, March 18, 2019 - link
The same guy who predicted the 10.5 non pro said it's coming later this year and will be 10.2"Death666Angel - Tuesday, March 19, 2019 - link
Interesting, thanks! I'm looking just for a couch device, so 9.7" or 10.2" doesn't seem like a big difference. But 7.9" is too small for me, not enough of a bump from my phones (6"+) and it'll be mostly stationary. I wouldn't mind a similar (low) price to the 2018 model, though. :Dchrysrobyn - Monday, March 18, 2019 - link
It would be good to add the iPad Pro to the comparison. Looks like the specs align better.plewis00 - Tuesday, March 19, 2019 - link
That's exactly what I was thinking too. Especially as many people will be comparing the Air 10.5 to a refurb Pro 10.5 2017 (ProMotion, 4GB RAM, faster GPU and quad speakers) as well. Most tech media sites neglected to even mention the similar chassis...digiguy - Monday, March 18, 2019 - link
I think the very different views expressed here about "speed" are linked to 1. different use cases, 2. different tolerance to slowdowns. I still use my surface 3 daily to watch youtube videos, it's great at that. But web browsing? It's feasible but once you have been spoiled by an ipad pro, it feels slow as molasses... Today I read someone saying their ipad mini 2 was still great and fast. Well, mine is a pain to browse the web... (but perfectly fine for some apps, games and playing music). Even my mini 4 feels slow when you are used to the pro... My 78 year old mother is perfectly fine with her 2013 galaxy note 8, but she is very tolerant to waiting for things to open/load... I want to browse on my tablet as fast as on my desktop... and the A12 does that, at least on ios 12...0iron - Monday, March 18, 2019 - link
Yes, web browsing experience on older device will let you down. I still have an original iPad mini (with A5!). Apps still usable although it's slow, but web browsing is terrible.flgt - Monday, March 18, 2019 - link
I was super excited for the iPad Mini but I'm feeling a bit underwhelmed. Seems lazy and purposely gimped from a physical design standpoint. Couldn't they trim those bezels?? I guess they didn't want it to look sexier than the Pro's.Tams80 - Wednesday, March 20, 2019 - link
I like bezels, but yeah, the mini's are a bit excessive.