Apple’s new “iPad” is cheaper, fatter, faster and doesn’t have 16GB storage

New Apple iPad

Apple has been busy giving its product lines a boost lately. Starting from the iPhone SE and iPhone 6 with bigger storage, it also rolled out the iPhone 7 (PRODUCT)RED and iPhone 7 Plus (PRODUCT)RED limited edition phones. And it’s not stopping there. It’s also introducing a new iPad, that’s simply called… “iPad.”

The new iPad replaces the aging iPad Air 2 that has served well for the past two years. The new iPad is the cheapest 9.7-inch iPad you can buy right now.

There are no differences in looks, you’ll find it absolutely familiar – the sleek metal unibody with various colour finishes.

The tablet retains the same 9.7-inch Retina Display that tops 2048×1536 pixel resolution. Something to note is that the screen isn’t laminated to the glass and lacks the anti-reflective treatment found on other iPads. A little compromise here, and unfortunately Apple skimped on this to hit a price point target.

No surprises in the spec department either. It comes with Touch ID built into the home button, but now gets a powerful A9 chip with M9 coprocessor. The same setup that powers the iPhone SE and iPhone 6s. FYI, the iPad Air 2 comes with the older triple-core A8X chip.

Just in case you need to take photos at those concerts you attend (please don’t), the new iPad features an 8MP f/2.4 main shooter. On the front is a 1.2MP Facetime HD camera.

I’m not sure why the new iPad has gone fatter, but it measures 7.5mm thick, a little over 1mm compared to to iPad Air 2 (6.1mm). It’s also heavier at 469g and 478g for the Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi + 4G cellular versions respectively.

Battery life pushes up to 10 hours of web-surfing and video watching over Wi-Fi.

Pricing and availability

  • iPad Wi-Fi 32GB – MYR1,549
  • iPad Wi-Fi 128GB – MYR1,999
  • iPad Wi-Fi + 4G 32GB – MYR2,199
  • IPad Wi-Fi + 4G 128GB – MYR2,649

It comes in Gold, Silver and Dark Grey colour options.

The new iPad will be available at the Malaysian Apple Store Online starting 24 March.

Source: Apple via Soyacincau.com

Vernon
Vernon is the founder and chief editor of Vernonchan.com. A graphic designer by profession, he has a deep love for technology, cars, gadgets, food, and travel. He tweets too much and is also known as a caffeine bacterium ("life's too short for bad coffee"). Bleeds Blue (go Chelsea FC!) and considers BMW, Porsche, Alfa Romeo cars to have in the garage--hallmarks of a true petrolhead.