Apple Inc has not reinvented the wheel with the iPad Air, but the thinner device, priced higher than many of its competitors, is a major improvement on a successful product, the reviewers wrote on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Writing for the Wall Street Journal, Walt Mossberg called the iPad Air the best tablet he has ever reviewed.<\/p>\n
“That isn’t just because of its slimmer, lighter design, but because Apple boasts 475,000 apps optimized for tablet use – far more than any other tablet platform,” Mossberg wrote.<\/p>\n
Mossberg said the new iPad weighs just 1 pound, down from 1.4 pounds for the previous top-of-the-line model, the iPad 4, which is being discontinued.<\/p>\n
He also credited the iPad Air’s battery performance, saying the new iPad clocked a battery life of 12 hours and 13 minutes, which exceeded Apple’s claim.<\/p>\n
The new full-sized iPad goes on sale from Friday and will be priced starting $499.<\/p>\n
Damon Darlin of the New York Times said the gadget is a delight to use, with two antennas to pull in Wi-Fi signals faster than the previous versions did.<\/p>\n
Reviewer David Pogue, who recently left the New York Times to start a new consumer-tech website at Yahoo, said the iPad Air is “a fantastic leap into the future if you’re upgrading from an original iPad, or if you’ve never owned a tablet before.”<\/p>\n
Pogue said the iPad Air is powered by the A7 64-bit chip, which, according to Apple, means smoother animation in 3D games.<\/p>\n
“As a nice bonus, all of Apple’s excellent tablet apps – iMovie, iPhoto, GarageBand, Pages, Numbers, Keynote – are free with a new iPad. Since they’re usually $5 or $10 each, that’s a sweet bundle,” Pogue said, before adding “that’s what’s new in the iPad Air.”<\/p>\n
However, all three reviewers highlighted that the iPad Air is pricier than many of its competitors.<\/p>\n
“Do you need to plunk down $500 or more for an Air if you already have an earlier version of the iPad?,” Darlin asked, calling the improvements on the new device “incremental, not revolutionary.”<\/p>\n
Amazon.com Inc’s 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HDX costs $379, Microsoft’s Surface 2 starts from $449, while Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 3 10.1-inch tablet has a suggested retail price of $400.<\/p>\n
Pogue said that given the price, an iPad probably does not need replacing every year or even every other year.<\/p>\n
Mossberg concluded: “Bottom line: If you can afford it, the new iPad Air is the tablet I recommend, hands down.”<\/p>\n
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