money Apple launches new iPad Air with M1 chip and 5G connectivity
Apple (AAPL) on Tuesday took the wraps off of its latest iPad Air during a virtual event at its Cupertino, California, headquarters. Apple also launched its new iPhone SE during the show.
The tablet, which starts at $599 and is available March 18, gets a significant refresh on the inside with a new processor, 5G connectivity, and a USB C port.
The iPad Air was last updated in 2020 and was powered by Apple's A13 Bionic processor, the same chip found in the iPhone 12. This time around, Apple has slotted its M1 chip in the Air, giving a performance boost on par with the iPhone 13. Apple says you'll get 60% better performance and graphics and two times better graphics performance than the prior generation iPad Air.
Like its predecessor, the new Air gets a 10.9-inch Liquid Retina display compared to the standard iPad's 10.2-inch Retina display. True to its name, the Air is also incredibly lightweight, weighing less than the iPad despite the fact that it has a larger display.
In addition to the improved processor, the iPad Air gets 5G connectivity, so you'll be able to stream movies at 4K resolutions and stream cloud games through services like Microsoft's (MSFT) Game Pass and Amazon's (AMZN) Luna.
As with the prior iPad Air, Apple's newest slate is compatible with the company's Apple Pencil stylus, and its Magic Keyboard
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