Apple has announced an update to its entry-level iPad and introduced an all-new iPad Air in its September virtual event today, while the former is merely a spec bump that now comes with a faster A12 Bionic processor, the redesigned iPad Air is the main highlight that will make most people really excited, as it is the first product to be powered by the A14 Bionic Chip.
8th Gen iPad – the most powerful entry-level tablet
Like its predecessor, the 8th Generation iPad remains unchanged in terms of design, hence you get a 10.2-inch display, support for the first generation Apple Pencil and smart keyboard and sadly, a Lightning connector.
With the A12 Bionic chip, the new iPad is 40% faster than its predecessor and has 2x faster graphics, coupled with the chips neural engine, this will offer a significantly speed bump when running games and AR applications, battery life is still kept at 10-hour mark.
8th Gen iPad 10.2-inch Malaysia Price
The 8th Gen iPad will be available in storage capacities of 32GB and 128GB, local pricing remains the same as before as it starts at RM1449 for the base storage WiFi only model, the 128GB WiFi+Cellular version will set you back at RM2399.
4th Generation iPad Air – More colors and the return of Touch ID
The 4th Generation iPad Air is definitely a huge surprise in today’s launch as not only it takes on the iPad Pro’s hardware design with more colorful options, it is currently the most powerful iPad in the lineup with a new 6-core Apple A14 Bionic chip powering it.
Don’t expect the new iPad Air to be an exact clone of the last generation iPad Pro, that’s because it lacks certain hardware such as the 120Hz ProMotion display, quad speakers and Face ID. However, what you get in return isn’t too shabby, as you get a 10.9-inch Liquid Retina display with P3 wide color space, landscape stereo speakers and a surprise – Touch ID being integrated into the power button.
The new iPad Air features a single 12MP camera system that’s directly sourced from the iPad Pro, which supports 4K video recording. Like its newer pro siblings, the iPad Air will support the floating Magic Keyboard with trackpad, and best of all, Apple is including a 20W charging USB-C charging brick in the box, slightly faster than the 18W brick that comes with the current iPad Pro.
4th Generation iPad Air Malaysia Price
Available in color options of Silver, Space Grey, Rose Gold, Green and Sky Blue, the new iPad Air comes in storage capacities of 64GB and 256GB. Local pricing of the new iPad Air are listed below:
iPad Air WiFi
- 64GB – RM2,599
- 256GB – RM3,249
iPad Air WiFi + Cellular
- 64GB – RM3,149
- 256GB – RM3,799
On a side note, Apple is making iOS 14, iPadOS 14 and tvOS 14 available starting today, so do check for that update coming to your devices.