Apple announces 10.5″ iPad Air and updates iPad mini with A12 socs

Apple announces new versions of the iPad Air and iPad mini. The iPad Air of 2019 has a 10.5 “screen. Apple now supplies the iPad mini with the A12 Bionic-soc and the tablet supports the Pencil. Both come in versions with 64GB and 256GB.

iPad Air 2019

The new iPad Air has a 10.5″ screen where the first and second generations of the iPad Air tablets and the 2018 iPad had 9.7″ screens. The resolution is now 2224×1668 pixels compared to 2048×1536 pixels for the iPad Air 2. The new Air therefore has a screen with the same size and resolution as the iPad Pro 10.5 from 2017.

The housing of the new iPad Air also matches that of the iPad Pro 10.5. That also means that the new model still uses a Lightning connection instead of USB-C and the 3.5mm headphone jack and Touch ID sensor are also still present. The tablet has Apple’s current processor: the A12 Bionic, which is also in the latest generation of iPhones. The iPad Air 2019 is compatible with the first-generation Apple Pencil and Apple’s Smart Keyboard. The Pencil still has to be charged via the Lightning port, the Pencil of the second generation supports wireless charging.

There is an eight-megapixel camera on the back and the front camera is a Facetime HD model, but it now has a seven-megapixel resolution. Apple charges 569 euros for the cheapest iPad Air with 64GB and 739 euros for the 256GB variant. For the 4G versions, those prices are successively 709 euros for the 64GB model and 879 euros for the 256GB version.

The iPad mini has also been updated. This compact 7.9″ tablet now also features the A12 Bionic-soc and it can also handle the first-generation Apple Pencil. This means that all current iPads now have Pencil support. On the back is an eight-megapixel camera and a seven-megapixel model on the front. The connections are the same as those of the new iPad Air. The screen retains the resolution of 2048×1536 pixels, but the maximum brightness is now 500cd/m² and the True Tone technique for adjusting the white balance to the ambient light has been added, as has the screen of the new iPad Air.

It is striking that Apple has chosen not to release a 128GB model for the successor to the mini from 2015. The choice is for a 64GB iPad mini for 459 euros or a 256GB variant for 629 euros. In combination with 4g, these amounts are respectively 599 euros and 769 euros.