PRESS RELEASE
09 March 2022
Apple introduces the most powerful and versatile iPad Air ever
The new iPad Air features the breakthrough M1 chip, ultrafast 5G, a new front camera with Centre Stage and more
Cupertino, California Apple today introduced the new iPad Air with the Apple-designed M1 chip, delivering a massive leap in performance. Available in a new array of colours, iPad Air also features the new Ultra Wide front camera with Centre Stage for a more natural video conferencing experience, a USB-C port with up to 2x faster transfer speeds and blazing-fast 5G on cellular models — at an affordable price. Advanced cameras and compatibility with the latest accessories enable users, including content creators, gamers and students, to push the boundaries of creativity, productivity and self-expression. The new iPad Air is available to order beginning Saturday, 12 March, and will be in stores beginning Friday, 18 March.
“Whether it’s a college student taking elaborate notes, a content creator working on their latest project or a gamer playing graphics-intensive titles, users love iPad Air for its amazing performance and versatility in such a portable design,” said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “With the breakthrough M1 chip, Ultra Wide front camera with Centre Stage and ultrafast 5G, iPad Air is now more powerful, more capable and simply more fun than ever.”
M1 Brings a Massive Leap in Performance to iPad Air
The breakthrough M1 chip in iPad Air delivers a giant performance boost to even the most demanding apps and workflows, with incredible power efficiency and all-day battery life.1 The 8-core CPU delivers up to 60 per cent faster performance, and the 8-core GPU delivers up to 2x faster graphics performance compared to the previous iPad Air. Combined with the CPU and GPU, a 16-core Neural Engine powers advanced machine learning (ML) functions that enable next-level experiences. From editing multiple streams of 4K video, to playing graphics-intensive games, redesigning a room in 3D and more realistic augmented reality (AR), the performance of M1 enables users to do more than ever with iPad Air.
The breakthrough performance of M1 enables more realistic augmented reality experiences on the new iPad Air.
Ultra Wide 12MP Front Camera with Centre Stage
The Ultra Wide 12MP front camera with Centre Stage automatically pans to keep users in view as they move around. When others join in, the camera detects them too, and smoothly zooms out to include them in the conversation. So whether catching up with loved ones or learning remotely, Centre Stage makes connecting more engaging than ever. With the addition of Centre Stage to iPad Air, all iPad models now feature this magical experience.2
The 12MP Wide camera on the back of iPad Air lets users capture sharp photos and 4K video, scan documents and enjoy amazing AR experiences. An end-to-end solution for photo and video capture, editing and sharing, iPad Air is an incredibly versatile and ultraportable mobile studio.
The new Ultra Wide 12MP front camera with Centre Stage enables more natural and engaging video conferencing experiences on iPad Air.
Ultrafast 5G and Advanced Connectivity
Customers can do even more on iPad Air with faster wireless connectivity on the go. With 5G, iPad Air can reach peak speeds of up to 3.5 Gbps in ideal conditions.3 With eSIM and Wi-Fi 6 support, iPad Air offers greater flexibility when users need to get connected — from accessing files, to backing up data, communicating with colleagues, or enjoying a movie with family and friends using SharePlay.
The USB-C port is now up to 2x faster than the previous generation, with data transfers up to 10 Gbps, so importing large photos and videos is even quicker. The port connects iPad Air to a vast ecosystem of USB-C accessories, including cameras, external storage, and displays with up to 6K resolution.
All-Screen Design with the Liquid Retina Display and Touch ID
Loved for its thin and light design, the new iPad Air comes in a gorgeous array of colours: space grey, starlight, pink, purple and a stunning new blue. iPad Air features a 10.9-inch Liquid Retina display for an immersive visual experience, with 3.8 million pixels and advanced technologies, including 500 nits of brightness, full lamination, a P3 wide colour gamut, True Tone and an antireflective screen coating.
Combined with the Liquid Retina display, landscape stereo speakers in iPad Air deliver wide stereo sound for a great movie-viewing experience. Touch ID is built into the top button of iPad Air, delivering the same ease of use and secure authentication users know and love to unlock iPad Air, log in to apps or use Apple Pay.
Accessories
Apple Pencil (2nd generation) turns iPad Air into a digital journal and sketchbook users can take anywhere. With wireless charging and pairing, Apple Pencil delivers pixel-perfect precision and imperceptible lag, making writing as easy and natural as using pen and paper.
The new iPad Air is compatible with Magic Keyboard, providing the best typing experience with its floating design and built-in trackpad; Smart Keyboard Folio, with its comfortable typing experience in a slim design; and Smart Folio covers, which come in beautiful coordinating colours — black, white, electric orange, dark cherry, English lavender and marine blue — that complement the new iPad Air finishes.
iPadOS 15 Takes the Productivity and Versatility of iPad Air Even Further
iPadOS 15 delivers an experience that is designed to take advantage of the unique capabilities of iPad.
- Multitasking is even more intuitive, making features like Split View and Slide Over easier to discover, easier to use and more powerful.
- Notes goes system-wide with Quick Note, and offers new ways to collaborate and organise, whether typing or writing with Apple Pencil.
- SharePlay makes it possible for friends and family to share experiences while on a FaceTime call. Whether users are hosting a viewing party, listening to an album together or completing a fitness challenge with a friend, SharePlay keeps everything and everyone perfectly in sync.
- iPad keeps getting smarter with advanced ML capabilities. Live Text uses on-device intelligence to recognise text in a photo and allow users to take action. For example, a snapshot of a shopfront may reveal a phone number and the option to place a call.4
- With next week’s release of iPadOS 15.4 and macOS 12.3, Universal Control will enable users to work with a single mouse and keyboard and move between Mac and iPad for a seamless experience, with no setup required. Users can even drag and drop content back and forth between devices — great for sketching with Apple Pencil on iPad and placing it into a Keynote slide on a Mac.5
iPad Air and the Environment
iPad Air features a 100 per cent recycled aluminium enclosure, 100 per cent recycled tin in the solder of the main logic board, and 100 per cent recycled rare earth elements in the enclosure and audio magnets. All iPad models meet Apple’s high standards for energy efficiency, remain free of numerous harmful substances, and use wood fibre in the packaging that comes from recycled sources or responsibly managed forests.
Today, Apple is carbon-neutral for global corporate operations, and by 2030, plans to have net-zero climate impact across the entire business, which includes manufacturing supply chains and all product life cycles. This means that every Apple device sold, from component manufacturing, assembly, transport, customer use, charging, all the way through recycling and material recovery, will be 100 per cent carbon-neutral.
Pricing and Availability
- The new iPad Air is available to order beginning Saturday, 12 March, from apple.com/au/store and in the Apple Store app in 29 countries and regions, including Australia, with availability beginning Friday, 18 March.
- Wi-Fi models of iPad Air are available with a starting price of A$929 RRP inc. GST and Wi-Fi + Cellular models start at A$1,159 RRP inc. GST. The new iPad Air, in 64GB and 256GB configurations, comes in space grey, starlight, pink, purple and blue finishes.
- iPadOS 15, the powerful operating system designed specifically for iPad, ships for free with the new iPad Air. iPadOS 15 is available as a free software update for iPad Air 2 and later.
- Education pricing is available to current and newly accepted university students and their parents, as well as faculty, staff and homeschool teachers of all grade levels. The new iPad Air starts at A$849 RRP inc. GST. The second-generation Apple Pencil is available for A$189 RRP inc. GST, the Smart Keyboard Folio is available for A$239 RRP inc. GST and the Magic Keyboard for university students at A$419 RRP inc. GST. For more information, visit apple.com/au-hed/shop.
- Apple Pencil (2nd generation), available for purchase separately, is compatible with the new iPad Air for A$199 RRP inc. GST.
- Magic Keyboard for the new iPad Air is available in black and white for A$449 RRP inc. GST, with layouts for over 30 languages.
- The Smart Keyboard Folio for the new iPad Air is available for A$269 RRP inc. GST.
- The Smart Folio for the new iPad Air is available for A$109 RRP inc. GST in black, white, electric orange, dark cherry, English lavender and marine blue.
- Customers who trade in an eligible iPad could get credit towards a new one. Terms apply. For eligibility requirements and more details see apple.com/au/trade-in.
- Engrave iPad with a meaningful mix of emoji, names, initials and numbers, all for free, available only at apple.com/au/store or in the Apple Store app.
- Apple provides customers with a number of services in store and online. From personalised support and advice from Apple Specialists to convenient delivery and pick-up options, Apple ensures the best way to buy Apple products is from Apple Store locations and apple.com/au/store.
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- Battery life varies by use and configuration.
- Centre Stage is available on iPad Air (5th generation), the 12.9-inch iPad Pro (5th generation), the 11-inch iPad Pro (3rd generation), iPad mini (6th generation) and iPad (9th generation).
- 5G wireless plan and coverage required. Speeds will vary. Check with carriers for details.
- Live Text language translations include English, simplified Chinese, French, Italian, German, Portuguese and Spanish.
- Universal Control will initially be released as a public beta.