Apple announces new iPad Air

Apple announced the iPad Air, an all-new version of the company’s flagship tablet computer which packs a powerful 64-bit chip, a lighter design, and 10-hour battery life.

Weighing just one pound (0.45 kg), iPad Air is 20 percent thinner and 28 percent lighter than the previous-generation iPad.

The tablet has a narrower bezel making its borders thinner. The same 9.7-inch Retina display is used, while the new A7 chip allows the battery to be even smaller, helping reduce the heft by 24 percent (from the previous-generation model), while doubling performance and maintaining Apple’s advertised 10-hour battery life.

The A7 chip offers 64-bit computing, advanced graphics, and improved image signal processing, while two antennas now support Multiple-In-Multiple-Out (MIMO) technology, 300 Mbps wireless.

The cellular model comes with expanded LTE coverage to support more networks worldwide. The tablet also supports other fast cellular technologies around the world, such as DC-HSDPA and HSPA+.

iPad Air offers a new-generation FaceTime HD camera with improved backside illumination sensors featuring larger pixels, and an iSight camera with a 5MP sensor and advanced optics.

Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing, said, “iPad created an entirely new mobile computing experience, and the new iPad Air is another big leap ahead.”

“It is so thin, light and powerful, once you hold one in your hand you will understand what a tremendous advancement this is,” said Schiller.

“iPad Air with its 9.7-inch Retina display weighs just one pound and packs the incredible performance of iOS 7 running on a 64-bit desktop-class Apple A7 chip, and delivers all-day battery life in the lightest full-sized tablet in the world,” the Apple SVP added.