Review: Apple's fifth-generation iPad Air

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  • Reply 81 of 169
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    apple ][ wrote: »
    And the iPad 7 is going to be better than the iPad 6, but so what?

    The iPad 3 was the best product I've ever owned. In any category. I literally loved it. Each year the best product I've ever owned is the iPad that replaces it. I don't own an iPad Air, but that's for financial reasons. But if I did it would be the best product I've ever owned.

    Having said that, no product is perfect. I can think of a number if areas of improvement even with Apple products. Now, where I see the iPad going next with iPad 6 I see it heading much closer to my current ideals for perfection in a tablet. My main gripe with iPad 3 was weight. Now we've got a significant weight reduction and that rocks!

    Here are the areas I expect iPad 6 to improve upon iPad 5:

    Improved display
    8MP camera
    802.11ac
    Touch ID
    A8

    The iPad Air is a great product, but the next version of it next year will be it reaching a sort of point of no return where it begins to come closer to the 'perfect' product. If Apple can manage to make the A8 more efficient than the A7 we could see the iPad 6 shed even more weight! That would be amazing.

    After that one more area where the iPad needs improvement is improved speakers. I know eventually iPad Air will reach my current ideal of perfect with regards tablet computers, but it's not there just yet. For example, I think the MacBook Air is closer to being the perfect laptop computer than iPad Air is the perfect tablet. We're getting there though.

    There's your answer.
  • Reply 82 of 169
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    apple ][ wrote: »
    And the iPad 7 is going to be better than the iPad 6, but so what?

    We live in the here and now, and the iPad Air is killer. What good does an iPad 6 do anybody today? Nothing, that's what.

    I prefer to enjoy the present, and I'll enjoy the future too, when that time comes. 

    Meanwhile, the procrastinating dude who's always waiting around for the next version might get hit by a bus tomorrow, and they'll never get to enjoy their hypothetical iPad 6, which might be available in 12 months from now. 

    If money was no issue for me I'd own an iPad Air. Sadly, it's because I do live in the here and now that I must live with that reality.
  • Reply 83 of 169
    mjtomlinmjtomlin Posts: 2,673member
    drew0020 wrote: »
    I mean come on. Having 2 programs side by side makes sense the same as true multitasking that Apple recently implemented. .

    Why do you need programs to run side by side? It's much more efficient to utilize the entire screen for whatever task you're working on. Even on my 27" iMac I use full screen mode whenever I'm in Pages, Pixelmator, or Xcode. I mean,come on, what's the point of having a large screen if you're not going to use it? It's a simple swipe to move from one application to another.
  • Reply 84 of 169
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    rogifan wrote: »
    I'm loving my Air except Safari does crash from time to time. I don't have issues with any other browsers or apps so maybe it's a Safari issue, not hardware.

    Yeah it's a software bug memory leak. iOS 7 has quite a number of remaining bugs at this point. Even Safari on Mav is quite buggy.
  • Reply 85 of 169
    drblankdrblank Posts: 3,385member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Ireland View Post





    This is usually down to bad typing. You should reset the keyboard dictionary in Settings and start typing more slowly and deliberately.

    Actually , you can turn off that feature if you wish.



    I don't like it because sometimes I type in the word correctly but it puts in another correctly typed word unless i can press that little tiny 'x', so I would prefer it done a little differently.

     

    www.apple.com/feedback

     

    That way they hear the same thing from other people. I've submitted that complaint/suggestion but I guess they are either still working on a better solution OR they haven't heard enough complaints.  So as far as I'm concerned, that's probably the biggest complaints I have that hasn't been changed.

  • Reply 86 of 169
    drblankdrblank Posts: 3,385member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Ireland View Post





    Yeah it's a software bug memory leak. iOS 7 has quite a number of remaining bugs at this point. Even Safari on Mav is quite buggy.

    I think part of it a Java related bug. I turned off Java in Safari.  That seems to have worked at least so far.

  • Reply 87 of 169
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    akqies wrote:
    These are certainly things I will want to see but how exactly do you expect the display to be improved. Surely you aren't saying they will double the resolution again.

    Contrast and colour. They tend to improve quite a bit over the years on iOS devices, because every year the technology evolves somehow, even if just in the efficiency department.
  • Reply 88 of 169
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    brangi920 wrote: »
    I just got my ipad air tonight and I have to say what a difference, this thing is a whole new experience, it's not heavy in the hand nod it feels awesome!!!!its very snappy too what an improvement!!!:D
    It's been a long wait for an ipad update but the wait was well worth it!

    You upgraded from?
  • Reply 89 of 169
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    reinthal wrote: »
    3) Battery life. Quite a bit better but not to the extent I'd like. I'd rather an iPad that was twice as heavy if it had twice the battery life!! (I feel like I'm a voice in the wilderness on this one. Does no one feel likewise?)

    Absolutely no one I'd say. The lighter the better. 10 hours is good battery life. Sure, 15 hours would be better, but if that means adding weight then no one would chose that option. Twice as heavy? You're crazy.
  • Reply 90 of 169
    @Ireland, The lighter the better? Even at the expense of battery life? Because, make no mistake, that is exactly what you're suggesting we compromise on.

    If I got 10 hours out of it, then maybe I'd be happy with the battery on the Air. As it is — and I admit it's only been three days of usage— I'm getting a few hours less than that. No, I reckon I often need around 15 *claimed* hours & for that I'd be happy to lug around a 50% heavier iPad.
  • Reply 91 of 169
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Ireland View Post





    ... The iPad Air is a great product, but the next version of it next year will be it reaching a sort of point of no return where it begins to come closer to the 'perfect' product.

     

    Of course, every year every product should get closer to the mythical 'perfect product'. It never will be a perfect product of course because there's no company that will ever let you be content with what you have including Apple. As someone once wrote: "No matter how loudly the business-as-usual bells chime, we cannot silence that quiet voice within that asks how a system dependent on lack of satisfaction could ever lead to satisfaction".

     

    Prepare yourself to always be wanting version xx.

  • Reply 92 of 169
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by MilSF1 View Post



    Another reason there might not be a touch option is the fact that an iPad is more of a family device rather than a single-person device like a phone. Right now you can only store five fingerprints. That would be a real tight limit in a family of four or more. I wouldn't turn it on unless there were at least 15 prints that could be stored. The next step of course would be user profiles so when my son used his finger, it would limit the apps that could be used, etc.

     

    THIS, is genius.  Common sense maybe, but genius nonetheless.  I wonder if this capability exists through the 4-digit password.  My seven year could get one, my 5 year old could get one, and the parents get one.  Apps shown for each.

  • Reply 93 of 169
    I've become real close to boycotting Apple and pulling the Apple logo's off my car. I refuse to buy any Apple iPad or iPhone with a touch ID sensor. Pros: There should not be one. Police state 5.0 Thank you Snowden
  • Reply 94 of 169
    Originally Posted by runbuh View Post

    There are Android smartphones with 802.11ac (HTC One, for example), but who knows how good they are.


     

    Below:

     

    Originally Posted by akqies View Post

    Be careful with those pithy replies. Someone could take you literally to mean 802.11ac chips don't exist at all or for any mobile device. The fact is they simply aren't at a level that are up to par for Apple, just like with Apple and LTE chips which they knocked out of the park with LTE that matched their 3G power usage. AnandTech shows that the iPad Air's MIMO 802.11n is faster than a lot of devices that are using 802.11ac.

     

    Bingo. Knew I should have edited to clarify; this is exactly what I mean.

     

    Originally Posted by G-News View Post

    Fifth generation Air? Last time it checked, this was the first generation Air. Or the fifth generation iPad, if you will.

     

    I just keep being right.

  • Reply 95 of 169
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by drew0020 View Post



    The Air is nice but let's be honest the iOS7 is choppy on this device. The multitasking still sucks and again is choppy, the lack of 2 apps side by side is again a major short coming and 1GB of ram is a huge disservice. I can barely get 5 tabs on Safari without a refresh.



    I realize if this was Microsoft people would be up in arms and rightfully so, but because it's Apple things are acceptable as always. The fact that 16GB is still priced at $499 which is woefully inadequate these days makes

    me laugh even more.



    I'm sure the apologists will bash this post but I don't expect much from Appleijsider these days (I feel like they are paid Apple shills).

     

    Not a paid Apple shill but -- did you get a defective product twice? I've got a first gen iPad and I never noticed sluggishness, and I can have more than 5 tabs --- though I don't like having to refresh so much.

     

    The product specs on this are; "the Air put in a single-core score of 1,483 and multi-core score of 2,690. This compares to the current A5 Gen. 2-powered iPad mini, which managed single- and multi-core scores of 262 and 496"

     

    OK, so the 2nd gen was twice as fast as my first gen and this one is -- 28 times as fast????? So WTF are you talking about? The iOS devices have twice the cock rate devoted to touch response (at 50ms vs 100ms Android) -- and we can presume this device would be slightly better.

     

    I'm not presuming that every critique is bogus, but hrm, I wondering why you have such a bad time, and you got this brand new hotness right out of the gate. Do such users exist who get the "new hotness" and then complain about it immediately?

  • Reply 96 of 169
    I am more excited about this iPad than any since iPad 1. But alas, they have just gotten too expensive for me :( On the plus side, I bought a mint iPad 4 64GB w/LTE last week for $460. I fully expect to live vicariously through you-all until someone has to pay rent in a hurry :P
  • Reply 97 of 169
    Originally Posted by stynkfysh View Post

    I am more excited about this iPad than any since iPad 1. But alas, they have just gotten too expensive for me

     

    They’re the exact same price. EXACT SAME PRICE.

  • Reply 98 of 169
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by kyle172 View Post



    I've become real close to boycotting Apple and pulling the Apple logo's off my car. I refuse to buy any Apple iPad or iPhone with a touch ID sensor. Pros: There should not be one. Police state 5.0 Thank you Snowden



    I'm fairly sure you can TURN OFF the feature. If Apple were sharing data -- they already know basically who owns the phone, so it's not that anonymous with our without the transparent security if using a fingerprint.

     

    Yes we should be concerned, but AFAIK Apple doesn't store this data on the server. They do however store SIRI voice requests but that's to make it better over time at voice recognition.

     

    Can you 100% trust these companies? No. But Apple is not data mining you to pay for services so they are less likely to share Personally Identifiable Information than companies with an advertising / spam model.

  • Reply 99 of 169
    I do have different security set up on my iPad than my iPhone., the iPhone used to request a password after five minutes, the iPad after 15. It's the same password on both. Now that I have Touch ID on the phone, I'd prefer the same experience on the iPad. I really like the TouchID and will upgrade my iPad when it becomes available. The Smart Cover is nice, but not as nice as Touch ID
  • Reply 100 of 169
    drblankdrblank Posts: 3,385member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post

     

    They’re the exact same price. EXACT SAME PRICE.

     

    That reminds me of a joke.

    A man walks into a Pizzaria and asks for a medium pizza. The man behind the counter asks how many slices, 6 or 8? The customer says 6, I don't think I can finish 8.
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