Apple's new iPad Air 4 was announced a month ago at the September 'Time Flies' event, but with no firm word on when the new tablet could be pre-ordered. That's changed with Apple having now opened up the option to order the new iPad Air. Here's a reminder of what makes the iPad Air 4 so special.
Apple entered the tablet era with a single iPad, but the lineup has grown over the years. Currently, Apple sells five sizes of iPad models and four of those have been updated this year. The least expensive model is the 10.2-inch iPad 8, which uses an older A12 processor. The smallest, iPad mini 5, has the same CPU and an 8-inch screen. The two top models, the 12.9-inch and 11-inch iPad Pro, have a variation of this chip also, called the A12Z. The newest tablet is the iPad Air 4, which has a mid-range price but offers a large 10.9-inch screen. In many ways, it’s very similar to the iPad Pro models.
Apple is now accepting pre-orders for the iPad Air 4 and, being a unique tablet, it may sell quickly, causing shipping delays in the future. The base price is $599 for 64-gigabytes of storage. Another $150 increases that to 256-gigabytes. To enable cellular internet instead of only Wi-Fi adds another $130. Note that an iPhone can instantly share its cellular connection with a Wi-Fi only iPad, so cellular won't be needed by many Apple iPhone users. To place a pre-order head to Apple's website which notes that shipping is free and where provide delivery date estimates can be found.
Why iPad Air 4 Is So Special
The $599 starting price places this tablet exactly in the middle between the iPad mini at $399 and the 11-inch iPad Pro, which costs $799. The powerful new iPad Air 4 has a screen that's nearly as large as an 11-inch iPad Pro. It's rumored to exceed the iPad Pro's performance in single-core execution and it's the first non-Pro mid-range tablet that's compatible with the newest Pro accessories, such as the Apple Pencil 2 and Magic Keyboard.
The 2020 iPad Pro models have LiDAR and add an ultra-wide to the standard wide-angle rear camera, but how useful these features are for most users is questionable. They also start with 128-gigabytes of storage and have a few other features that avid power users will want. It's not that the 11-inch iPad Pro doesn't have another $200 in value, but what makes Apple's iPad Air 4 special is that it gets so close to matching the iPad Pro line while saving shoppers $200.
Source: Apple