Apple has introduced a new iPad Air in a 10.5-inch design with Apple Pencil support and the A12 Bionic chip with Apple’s Neural Engine. With the chip, Apple says the iPad Air delivers a 70% boost in performance and twice the graphics capability. Plus, its Retina display with True Tone technology is nearly 20% larger than the previous version with over half a million more pixels.
Apple today also introduced the new 7.9-inch iPad mini. With the A12 Bionic chip, it purportedly delivers three times the performance and nine times faster graphics. The advanced Retina display with True Tone technology and wide color support is 25% brighter and has the highest pixel density of any iPad. It also gets Apple Pencil support.
With advanced front- and back-facing cameras, iPad mini and iPad Air take gorgeous photos and capture clear and stable 1080p HD videos, according to Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. The upgraded cameras with exceptional low-light performance and HD video recording are great for document scanning and connecting with friends and family on Group FaceTime calls, and with advanced sensors, help enable immersive AR experiences, he adds.
“iPad continues to provide magical new experiences for a growing range of uses where it is the absolute best device, from playing games in augmented reality to note-taking and drawing with Apple Pencil, from streaming HD movies and editing 4K films to learning to develop apps with Swift Playgrounds,” says Schiller. “Today the iPad family takes two big leaps forward with an all-new 10.5-inch iPad Air that brings high-end size, features and performance at a breakthrough price, and a major upgrade to the 7.9-inch iPad mini, which also brings Apple Pencil, Retina display and the A12 Bionic chip to the many customers that love its compact size.”
The new iPad mini and iPad Air can be ordered today and will be available next week. They come in silver, space gray and gold finishes in 64GB and 256GB configurations. The new iPad mini starts at $399 for the Wi-Fi model and $529 for the Wi-Fi + Cellular model and the 10.5-inch iPad Air starts at $499 for the Wi-Fi model and $629 for the Wi-Fi + Cellular model from apple.com, in the Apple Store app and Apple Stores, and is also available through Apple Authorized Resellers and select carriers (prices may vary).
Sold separately, the Apple Pencil costs $99. Smart Keyboards and Smart Covers are also available.