The iPad Air is Apple's top-of-the-line 9.7-inch tablet. The original iPad Air was announced on October 22, 2013 alongside the iPad Mini 2, and it is the fifth generation of the original iPad. The change in name from simply the "iPad" to the "iPad Air" signifies a change in philosophy at Apple to break the iPad lineup out into different sizes. The iPad Mini is the 7.9-inch version of the iPad, and it is rumored that a 12-inch "iPad Pro" may be released in the future.

One commonality between versions of the iPad Air is the screen, which measure 9.7 inches diagonally and has a resolution of 2,056 x 1,536, which gives the "Retina Display" a pixels-per-inch of 264.

The Original iPad Air

The iPad Air was the first tablet powered by a 64-bit chip. While the jump from 32-bit to 64-bit was original dismissed as being more a novelty than a technological leap, the improvement turned out to be a nice boost in power for the iPad. The iPad Air is roughly twice as fast as the iPad 4 that preceded it. The Air also includes the M7 motion co-processor, which is dedicated to processing signals from the various motion-detecting sensors in the iPad.

Key Features: 1.4 Ghz dual-core 64-bit A7 chipset with quad-core graphics processor, 1 GB RAM, M7 motion co-processor, Retina Display, 5 MP back-facing iSight camera. Read about all of the basic features you get with an iPad.

The iPad Air is still on sale for a discounted price of $399, which makes it the cheapest 9.7-inch iPad currently in production at Apple.

Compare Prices on the iPad Air.

Read our Review of the iPad Air

The iPad Air 2

If the name change from the "iPad" to the "iPad Air 2" represented a philosophical change at Apple in regards to the iPad lineup, the iPad Air 2 realized that change. Typically, the iPad has mimicked the basic design and features of the same-generation iPhone, with a slightly faster processor and without the phone capabilities.

However, the iPad Air 2 had two major differences when compared with the iPhone 6, which was released the same year. First, the iPad Air 2 had a tri-core processor rather than a dual-core, which makes it both faster and better at multitasking. Second, the iPad Air 2 included 2 GB of RAM as opposed to the 1 GB available to the iPhone 6, again, making the iPad Air 2 better at multitasking.

Key Features: 64-bit Tri-Core 1.5 Ghz A8X chipset with quad-core graphics processor, 2 GB of RAM, M8 motion co-processor, Retina Display, 8 MP back-facing iSight camera.

The entry-level 16 GB Wi-Fi only model of the iPad Air 2 costs $499.  Compare Prices on the iPad Air 2.

Read our Review of the iPad Air 2

The iPad Air vs the iPad Mini

The most noticeable difference between the iPad Air and the iPad Mini is the screen size. While the 9.7-inch display of the iPad Air doesn't sound much larger than the 7.9-inch display of the Mini, it actually grants about 50% more screen space. This makes the iPad air much better at productivity, with uses like moving text around the screen and manipulating images becoming much easier with more display real estate. On the flipside, the iPad Mini is much easier to carry and operate with a single hand, making it the more mobile of the two.

In comparing the top-of-the-line models in both categories, the iPad Mini 3 is powered by the same processor as the iPad Air, which means the iPad Air 2 is about 40% faster. It also has more RAM for applications, which makes it more capable at multi-tasking without the iPad slowing down under the strain.

Read More About the Differences Between an iPad Air 2 and the iPad Mini 3

iPad Air 2 Pricing:

	16 GB	64 GB	128 GB
Wi-Fi	$499	$599	$699
Wi-Fi + 4G LTE	$629	$729	$829

 

Read More:How to Buy an iPad

Learn More About the iPad