Apple has traditionally held the upper hand in tablet graphics and the iPad Air ups the ante in both CPU and GPU power with the Apple A7 chip. That looks to be the same chip Apple is using in the iPhone 5s, a somewhat strange decision since we’ve been accustomed to getting an Ax version of Apple’s chips with more graphical oomph in iPads. Not this time probably.
In terms of the performance gain, Apple put it simple and clear: the new iPad Air has up to 8x faster CPU performance and 72x faster graphics performance in comparison to the original. The company is usually pretty spot on with those numbers, so we have no reason to distrust them.
The new iPad Air is also 2x faster opening files and supports Wi-Fi n (not the latest 802.11ac Apple bragged about including in the new Macbook Pros).
Most importantly, at all this Apple manages to keep the 10-hour battery life. However how will this all stack up against the big competitors, the Google Nexus 10 and the Microsoft Surface 2? Take a look at the spec comparison right below.
Apple iPad Air vs Google Nexus 10 vs Microsoft Surface 2
| Design | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| OS | iOS (10.x, 9.x, 8.x, 7.x) | Android (5.1, 5.0, 4.4.4, 4.4.2, 4.4, 4.3, 4.2.2, 4.2.1, 4.2) | Windows (RT 8.1) |
| Dimensions | 9.45 x 6.67 x 0.30 inches (240 x 169.5 x 7.5 mm) | 10.39 x 6.99 x 0.35 inches (263.9 x 177.6 x 8.9 mm) | 10.81 x 6.79 x 0.35 inches (275 x 172 x 9 mm) |
| Weight | 16.86 oz (478 g) the average is 16.9 oz (482 g) | 21.27 oz (603 g) the average is 16.9 oz (482 g) | 23.84 oz (676 g) the average is 16.9 oz (482 g) |
| Materials | Main body: Aluminum |
| Display | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Physical size | 9.7 inches | 10.1 inches | 10.6 inches |
| Resolution | 2048 x 1536 pixels | 2560 x 1600 pixels | 1920 x 1080 pixels |
Pixel density
Pixel density - The pixel density of a display represents the number of pixels over an area of one inch. It’s measured in “pixels per inch”, or ppi. The higher the number, the more detailed and good-looking the display is. | 264 ppi | 300 ppi | 208 ppi |
Technology
Technology - There are two main screen technologies currently used in phones and tablets: LCD and AMOLED. The former usually features a light source and liquid crystals, while the latter is based on organic light-emitting diodes. Newer LCD variations like IPS-LCD and Super-LCD allow for very accurate color reproduction and very wide viewing angles, where no significant image quality loss is observed. Current AMOLED screens differ in such a way that they can exhibit much more saturated colors (sometimes too much) and incredibly high contrast levels, which is due to black color being completely black in AMOLED displays. | IPS LCD | True RGB Real Stripe PLS | IPS LCD |
Screen-to-body ratio
Screen-to-body ratio - Shows what part of the frontal area of a phone its screen occupies. | 71.65 % | 62.50 % | 65.41 % |
| Colors | 16 777 216 | 16 777 216 |
| Camera | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Camera | 5 megapixels | 5 megapixels | 5 megapixels |
| Flash | LED | ||
| Aperture size
Aperture size - The aperture of a camera is the opening through which light travels before it reaches the camera sensor. The smaller the number is, the bigger this opening is, allowing for more light to pass. | F2.4 | ||
| Focal length (35mm equivalent) | 33 mm | ||
| Hardware Features | Autofocus, Back-illuminated sensor (BSI) | Autofocus | Autofocus |
| Software Features | Digital image stabilization, Touch to focus, Face detection, Self-timer, Digital zoom, Geo tagging | Digital zoom, Geo tagging | |
| Camcorder | 1920x1080 (1080p HD) (30 fps) | 1920x1080 (1080p HD) (30 fps) | 1920x1080 (1080p HD) |
| Recording format | H.264, MOV | ||
| Features | Time-lapse video, Digital image stabilization, Video calling | ||
| Front-facing camera | 1.2 megapixels | 1.9 megapixels | 3.5 megapixels |
| Video capture | 1280x720 (720p HD) (30 fps) |
| Hardware | |||
|---|---|---|---|
System chip
System chip - Most modern handsets use an advanced chip that includes many of the device’s hardware modules like the processor, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and sometimes even the wireless radio. This field shows what particular system chip (or System-on-a-Chip) is used in the phone. | Apple A7 | Samsung Exynos 5 | NVIDIA Tegra 4 (T40) |
Processor
Processor - The processor is the main computing component of a phone and is a major factor when it comes to the overall speed of the device. Some more powerful smartphones use dual-core and quad-core processors designed to deliver greater performance. | Dual-core, 1400 MHz, Cyclone, 64-bit | Dual-core, 1700 MHz, ARM Cortex-A15 | Quad-core, 1700 MHz, ARM Cortex-A15 |
Graphics processor
Graphics processor - The graphics processor is important for the smooth operation of the system and especially in games and other applications that may involve complex graphics and animations. | PowerVR G6430 | ARM Mali-T604 | Yes |
System memory
System memory - System memory, or RAM memory is the type of memory that the device uses to temporarily store data from the OS or currently-running apps. The more RAM available to the device, the better the performance will be when multiple or heavier programs are running. | 1 GB RAM / LPDDR3 | 2 GB RAM (Dual-channel) | 2 GB RAM (Dual-channel) / LPDDR3 |
Built-in storage
Built-in storage - Bigger storage capacity allows you to keep more content saved onto your device, such as more applications, photos or video. Games and video content typically take up the biggest amount of storage space. | 128 GB | 32 GB | 32 GB |
Storage expansion
Storage expansion - Some handsets allow you to expand their storage capacity by using a memory expansion card – most often microSD. Expansion memory is mostly suitable for media storage, such as photo, video or music content. | microSD, microSDHC, microSDXC |
| Battery | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Capacity
Capacity - The bigger, the better! However, battery capacity is not the only factor that has an effect on battery life. Those include the chipset in use, the software running on the device, as well as the consumer's unique usage pattern. | 8820 mAh | 9000 mAh | |
| Stand-by time | 20.8 days (500 hours) the average is 25 days (600 h) | 15.0 days (360 hours) the average is 25 days (600 h) | |
| Music playback | 90.00 hours | ||
| Video playback | 9.00 hours | 10.00 hours |
| Multimedia | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Screen mirroring | TV-out | DLNA, TV-out | TV-out |
| Cellular | |||
|---|---|---|---|
CDMA
CDMA - Code Division Multiple Access. A technique of multiplexing, also called spread spectrum, in which analog signals are converted into digital form for transmission. For each communication channel, the signals are encoded in a sequence known to the transmitter and the receiver for that channel. The foremost application is digital cellular phone technology from QUALCOMM that operates in the 800MHz band and 1.9GHz PCS band. CDMA phones are noted for their excellent call quality and long battery life. | 800, 1900 MHz | ||
| GSM | 850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz | ||
| UMTS | 850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz | ||
| LTE (FDD) | Bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26 | ||
| Data | LTE, HSPA, UMTS |
| Shopping information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| MSRP price | $ 929 | $ 499 | $ 449 |
