iPad Air Differences and the iPad Mini

My blog is mainly about personal development, nutrition and fitness but I have another love that I felt like writing about: tech

For those that know me personally, I’m a big computer nerd.  I love tech and especially love apple mobile devices.  I’m still a PC windows guy, but apple has really good echo system that is robust and stable.  Their video editing on iOS is also second to none.  Most of my earlier videos on my You Tube Channel were done with my iPhone.

I actually own a nexus 7 (2nd gen) and one of the reasons why I bought over the iPad mini was because of its pixel density.  It has a 323 ppi.  What’s this mean? It means that text comes up crisp and is much easier to read.  This is especially true for smaller text.

The iPad 1, iPad Mini and iPad 2 second gen had a pixel density of 132 pixels per inch.  This low resolution can easily cause eye strain/fatigue after long periods of reading.  The iPad 2 with Retina display had a pixel density of 264ppi.

As you can tell, the Nexus 7 was a better value of $229 for a much richer display.  Especially my main use for a tablet was reading.  I use it every night to read to Ender (my son) the Magic Tree house.

Now, should you get The New iPad Air? or the iPad Mini with Retina display?

I’ll write a longer opinion piece if people request it, but for now I just wanted to give you a run down of what’s different.  What new bells and whistles are you paying for?

The new iPad Air Major differences to the iPad with Retina display (aka ipad 4)

43% thinner bezel
This means that the edge is almost half the thickness.  This is NOT the actual thickness of the device.

7.5mm (iPad Air) 9.4mm (iPad with Retina)
The actual thickness is 20% thinner, which I’m sure will be easy to tell once you get to hold it.

iPad Air is lighter
1lbs for the iPad Air vs the 1.4lbs of the previous gen.  This makes the iPad Air the thinnest full sized tablet on the market.

A7 Chip (much faster)
Has the same chip as the iPhone 5S.  They say it’s 8x faster. It will noticeably faster with video editing and high graphics gaming.

Faster Wifi
It will have MIMO which allows for speeds of 300mbps.  In reality this means nothing unless your router at home or place of use has the same upgrade.

Improved Backside illumication
Honestly, not sure what this means. I’m guessing it means it a brighter/nicer display.

Camera Improvement
They say it’s a “new facetime hd camera.”  So it sounds like its just an improvement to the front camera.

10 Hour battery life (same) and price starts at $499.  The previous generation drops to $399.  $100 bucks off and not a bad deal in my opinion for the previous gen.

The iPad Mini with Retina Display
Same resolution as the iPad Air with the A7 Chip

Some closing notes

I might pick up a previous gen iPad Mini for my son.  He has his own Nexus 7, but the games on the iOS are much better.  We have an old 1st Gen iPad and I’ve been noticing that he uses that more to play Minecraft games.

People who say that Android tables are better than iPad are right in some respects, but the support for Apple is very wide. Video editing and recording is better on iOS in my experience.

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