New iPad Air and iPad mini models include support for Apple Pencil and LTE Band 71

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Apple today rolled out new iPad models, including a refresh for the iPad mini which was last updated three and a half years ago.

First up is the larger of the two new iPads. The new iPad Air features a 10.5-inch 2224×1668 display, up from the 9.7-inch screen found on the last iPad Air model. This updated iPad Air’s fully laminated display also boasts wide color support and True Tone technology. With True Tone enabled, your iPad will adjust its screen’s color and intensity to match the ambient light, which Apple says will help to make images on the display look more natural.

Another update to this iPad Air is its A12 Bionic processor. While that’s not quite the brand new A12X chip found in Apple’s new iPad Pro models, it is a fairly new processor as its the same one being used in Apple’s iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max. The updated iPad Air also includes Apple Pencil support, though it does only work with the first generation Apple Pencil, not the newer model that supports the iPad Pro. Apple will also sell a Smart Keyboard accessory for the new iPad Air.

Other specs of the updated iPad Air include 8MP rear and 7MP front camreas, stereo speakers, a Touch ID fingerprint reader, a Lightning port for charging and syncing, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Apple says the iPad Air’s battery will get you up to 10 hours of usage on Wi-Fi or up to nine hours of use on cellular.

The new iPad Air is available with 64GB or 256GB of built-in storage. The 64GB model costs $499 for the Wi-Fi only model or $629 for the Wi-Fi + Cellular version, while the 256GB iPad Air starts at $649 for the Wi-Fi version or $779 for the Wi-Fi + Cellular model.

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And then there’s the iPad mini. The last time that the iPad mini got an update was in late 2015. The good news is that while the new iPad mini looks a lot like the old iPad mini, the new version has gotten some upgraded specs.

Included with the fifth generation iPad mini is an A12 Bionic processor that Apple says offers three times the performance and nine times faster graphics than the A8 processor found in the previous iPad mini. The new iPad mini also includes support for the first gen Apple Pencil.

The display on the iPad mini is a 7.9-inch 2048×1536 panel, which is the same as the previous model, but Apple says the screen on its new iPad mini is 25 percent brighter than the old model. Like the new iPad Air, this new iPad mini also gets a fully laminated screen with wide color support and True Tone technology.

Also on the iPad mini’s spec list are 8MP rear and 7MP front cameras, stereo speakers, Touch ID, a Lightning port, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. The battery is rated to last up to 10 hours of use on Wi-Fi or up to nine hours on cellular.

The new iPad mini is available with 64GB or 256GB of storage and Wi-Fi-only or Wi-Fi + Cellular variants. Pricing for the 64GB model starts at $399 for the Wi-Fi model and goes up to $529 for the Wi-Fi + Cellular version, while the 256GB variant starts at $549 for the Wi-Fi model and is $679 for the Wi-Fi + Cellular model.

T-Mobile hasn’t announced whether or not it’ll sell these new iPad models. I’ve reached out for confirmation and will update this post when I hear back. T-Mo has sold several iPads in the past and currently offers five iPads, including the previous generation iPad mini, so it’s entirely possible that Apple’s new iPad Air and iPad mini will be sold by T-Mobile as well.

When it comes to cellular connectivity, Apple says that both of its new iPad models include support for the LTE Bands used by T-Mobile, which are 2, 4, 5, 12, 66, and 71. This is especially notable for the iPad mini, as the previous gen model was missing support for LTE Bands 12, 66, and 71. The full list of LTE bands supported by these new iPads looks like this: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 11, 12, 13, 14, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 25, 26, 29, 30, 34, 38, 39, 40, 41, 46, 66, 71.

 

UPDATE: T-Mobile CEO John Legere has confirmed that T-Mo will carry both the new iPad Air and the new iPad mini. No pricing details are available quite yet, but I’ll update you with more info as it becomes available.

Source: Apple

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