Apple just announced the iPad Air 4, the successor to last year’s 3rd generation iPad Air. Surprisingly, the Cupertino-based tech giant deviated a lot from the tried and tested formula of the iPad Air lineup with a radical new design that mimics the iPad Pro models. It also comes with a slew of amazing features such as a next-generation Touch ID sensor, USB-C support, and Apple’s latest A14 chipset.
So without any further ado, let’s check out the best features that the iPad Air 4 comes packed with below.
iPad Air 4: Best Features
1. Radical New Design
The defining feature of the fourth-generation iPad Air (2020) is its all-screen design. With black bezels and a flat-edged chassis, the new iPad Air is just incredible to look at. Yes — it’s strikingly similar to the newer iPad Pros, but that’s a good thing. To make matters even better, the iPad Air 4 comes in five stunning colors — silver, space gray, rose gold, green, and sky blue. Make your pick.
Compared to the 10.5-inch display on the iPad Air 3, you also get a slightly larger Liquid Retina screen at 10.9 inches this time around. Other than that, the display doesn’t do anything special, but the consistent bezels and curved screen edges make it a feast for the eyes.
2. Next-Generation Touch ID
The new all-screen design means that the iPad Air 4 has completely done away with the dated Home button that has been a staple of the iPad Air lineup. However, it doesn’t feature a Face ID camera either.
Instead, you now get a completely new Touch ID sensor right on the Power button itself that will seamlessly authenticate you whenever you press it. Amazing stuff. We haven’t seen anything of this sort from Apple before, and it will be interesting to see if they implement it in an upcoming iPhone as well.
3. Latest A14 Chipset
Apple usually unveils its flagship processors alongside the iPhone. But this year, we get the latest A14 Bionic chip on the fourth-generation iPad Air first. It packs in an astounding 11.8 billion transistors (using a 5-nanometer process) and sports a jaw-dropping 40% performance bump over the iPad Air 3’s A12 chipset. It also sports a new 4-core graphics architecture for a 30% boost in graphics performance. It’s incredibly efficient as well, so expect that to positively affect battery life.
That said, it will be interesting to see how the A14 Bionic will stand against the A12Z chip that’s present on the latest iPad Pro models.
4. USB-C Support
The iPad Air 4 has ditched Lightning in favor of a USB-C port. Sure — this isn’t anything novel by Apple since the iPad Pros have had that for a couple of years. But it should help you throw away your Lightning cable for good once the new iPhone 12 (which will likely come with USB-C support as well) hits the shelves. The USB-C port on the iPad Air 4 also features speeds of up to 5Gbps while transferring data between cameras, external drives, and monitors. So overall, a good thing to have.
5. Includes a USB-C Charger
To make things even better, the fourth-generation iPad Air 4 will also include a 20W USB-C charger. That should help you charge the tablet much faster. Kudos, Apple!
6. Improved Rear Camera
You now have ample reason to use an iPad Air 4 to start shooting photos. The latest entry to the iPad Air lineup comes with an improved 12MP camera that allows you to take photos at higher resolutions. Better yet, you can also use your iPad Air to start shooting videos in 4K.
7. Magic Keyboard Support
The new Magic Keyboard with the cantilever design is just amazing to use, especially with the dedicated cursor support that iPadOS 13.4 introduced earlier this year. However, you don’t have to have an iPad Pro to start using one anymore. The new iPad Air 4 also supports it.
Sure — it will cost you an extra $299, but it’s leaps and bounds better than the Smart Keyboard Folio, which is also rather pricey at $179 but with a weaker keyboard and no trackpad.
8. Supports Apple Pencil 2
Finally, you can use a second-generation Apple Pencil on something other than a 2018 or 2020 iPad Pro. Yes — the differences between the first and the second generation Apple Pencils are pretty much negligible feature-wise. However, Apple Pencil 2 does have a better form factor and is much more convenient to charge. The iPad Air 4, thanks to its new design, comes with magnetic connectors that will latch on and charge your Apple Pencil 2 while you are not using it.
9. Stereo Speakers in Landscape Mode
The speakers on the iPad Air 3 didn’t sound all that good. But with the new iPad Air 4, you get stereo speaker support in landscape mode for better audio quality in general. It should be interesting to see how they will stack against the studio-quality speakers on the iPad Pro models.
10. Uses 100% Recycled Material
Pretty much everything in the fourth-generation iPad Air is made from 100% recycled material. Even the magnets on the speakers use recycled rare earth elements. Keep it up, Apple! We hope that you achieve that goal of going carbon neutral by 2030.
Are You Buying One?
The fourth-generation iPad Air comes with so many amazing features and performance enhancements that will surely make any iPad Pro owner green with envy! The fact that it already features Apple’s most powerful chipset to date — the A14 Bionic — means that you are getting incredible value for money.
So, are you considering buying one? The new iPad Air 4 starts at $599 for the Wi-Fi models and $729 for the Wi-Fi+Cellular models and will be available starting next month. Sound off in the comments section below.
