Apple rolled out the new iPad Air and the iPad Mini with Retina in November 2013 and many of the reporters and analysts complained that there was nothing new or exciting in the new products. They questioned if Apple still had it....
Well, I beg to differ with them!
Here are five technology reasons why the new iPads are really HOT and why you should consider buying them.
- A7 CPU Chip - Specially designed by Apple. It's a new 64-bit processor. Only Mainframe computers and Engineering Workstations used this type of chip before this year. Prior to this 64-bit chip, all major tablets (and smartphones) had 32-bit chips or smaller. Why is this important? Starting in 2013, just about all the developers are writing and rewriting new Applications for this new 64-bit chip... allowing for much more powerful and larger tablet (and smartphone) applications for business and for personal use. In 2014, look for amazing new apps and new solutions that were never thought of before for a tablet.
- M7 Motion Chip - Specially designed by Apple. The M7 does two things: increase battery life (up to 10 hours) and add the ability to monitor and report internal sensors (It measures motion from your iPad by pulling data from the accelerometer, gyroscope, and compass) and in the future external sensors (devices). In the next 3-5 years there's going to be an explosion of wearable computers, office sensors, home sensors, retail shopping sensors and sensor monitoring apps. Again, look for new exciting apps and solutions that never existed before... starting in 2014.
- Retina Screens - Both Tablets now have high-resolution screens to help see display information. Your ability to read text and see numbers on spreadsheets just improved. The iPad Mini Screen is bigger than most other similar sized tablets. It makes a big difference when reading web pages. You have less scrolling up and down while you view information.
- New Apple iWorks Apps - Apple's version of MS Office (Word, Excel & Powerpoint) are now Free with the purchase of any new Apple Tablet (or iPhone). iWorks (Pages, Numbers and Keynote) auto syncs with each Apple iPad, iPhone, Mac Computer and the Cloud Storage (iCloud). The user interface for iWorks Apps is wonderful. The iWorks Apps are not perfect... but a great addition to the iPad world.
- Weight, Size & Feel - The weight and size was dramatically reduced in the iPad Air. You just have to pick the iPads up and use them to truly understand the improvement. There are lots of great tablets out in the marketplace. However, when you pick up and feel an iPad there's just something just different about the whole experience. Try it!
The new technology in both these Apple tablets should be good for the next 3-5 years. Overall, a very smart business or personal investment.
Note: This article is only focused on the new Apple iPad technology. We do not try to compare the iPad with the other tablets.
Photo credits: Apple