Ipad Mini 3 Ou Air 2

The iPad Air and iPad mini 2 are a tough act to follow, but Apple is back nonetheless with two new tablets for 2014. Let'due south break down the iPad Air ii and iPad mini three, to see how their features and specs compare.

Size

The iPad Air is a ridiculously thin tablet. At 6.1 mm (0.24-in), it's nineteen percent thinner than the iPad mini 3.

Otherwise the two size up exactly as they did terminal yr. That ways the iPad Air two is twenty percent taller and 26 percent wider.

Weight

The new iPad Air too shaved some grams/ounces off of its weight. Despite being much bigger, it's only 32 percentage heavier than the iPad mini 3.

Build

No big blueprint changes, as both tablets have very familiar-looking aluminum unibody shells.

Colors

This is the beginning batch of iPads that you tin can buy in gold.

Display (size)

No changes from last year here, as the iPad Air ii still gives you 51 percent more screen than its infant bro does.

Brandish (resolution)

Apple is continuing pat with resolution this year too. Both tablets accept 2,048 x 1,536 Retina Displays.

Anti-reflective display

This could be a big upgrade for the iPad Air 2, equally Apple says that its anti-reflective coating can cut down on glare past 56 pct.

Fingerprint sensor

Apart from the new gilded colour option, the Touch ID sensor appears to be the only difference between the iPad mini three and 2013's iPad mini 2 (formerly known as the "iPad mini with Retina Display").

Storage

Nosotros're looking at the same three storage options on both iPads. They follow the iPhones half-dozen and half-dozen Plus in jumping direct to 64 GB in the second storage tier (that's United states of america$100 cheaper for 64 GB than last yr's iPads gave y'all).

Chip

Apple says that the iPad Air 2's A8X chip is 40 percent faster – with a 250 percent faster GPU – compared to the A7.

Apple didn't announce the clock speed of the iPad mini iii'due south A7 chip, but we think it's a pretty condom assumption that information technology's clocked at the aforementioned 1.iii GHz every bit the iPad mini 2.

RAM

The iPad Air 2 is the first iPad with 2 GB of RAM. At least in theory, this should take backgrounded apps and browser tabs needing to reload less oft when you return to them.

Battery

Apple is estimating the aforementioned 10 hours of web use for both new iPads.

Cameras

With an viii MP sensor, the iPad Air 2'due south rear photographic camera is moving closer to what you'd see in the iPhone (at least on paper).

Pay

Apple Pay support — Apple tree Pay back up

Next week Apple tree volition ringlet out Apple Pay, its Affect ID-based payment service. The new iPads will both play nicely with the online portion of Apple Pay, but not the physical version. This is because a) the iPads don't have the necessary NFC chips and b) few people lug iPads around with them while they're shopping.

Software

Both iPads launch with iOS 8.1, which is ready to gyre out to all recent iOS devices next calendar week. In addition to all the iOS eight updates, eight.1 brings back the Camera Roll, and enables Apple Pay and Continuity (for better synchronization amidst Apple devices).

Release

The new iPads go upwards for pre-social club on Oct 17, and launch next week.

Starting price

The new iPads sit at the same price points that we saw with the pair of iPads that they're replacing: $500 for the Air ii and $400 for the Mini 3.

This is, nonetheless, the first year that I would recommend taking a long, hard look at the discounted models from terminal year. With the iPad Air 1 dropping to $400 and the iPad mini 2 dipping down to $300, that'southward two dandy tablets for $100 cheaper than they were a calendar week agone. The Mini 2 is specially worth a look: autonomously from the lack of Touch ID, information technology's identical to the iPad mini 3.

For more on these 2, yous tin can striking upwards our full reviews of the iPad Air ii and iPad mini 3.