Upgrading to an iPad Air 4
This is the new iPad Air 4, with a new pro-like design, a new display and a new power button. If you’re upgrading from an older iPad, you’re probably coming from something with a home button. I compare it with my 6th-generation iPad (early 2018, A10), both running iPadOS 14.
Unboxing and setup
The color is a mint green: subdued, but not as pale as the blue Air 4 seems to be. In the box: a 20 W power adapter (more than you get with the iPhone 12) and a USB-C to USB-C cable. Setup is very similar to previous iPads, with one curiosity: with no home button, Apple moved Touch ID to the power/sleep-wake button, and setup is pretty much the same: repeatedly lift and touch the button, then adjust your finger for the edges.
To unlock: press the button and keep your finger on the sensor for a second, as with a home button. If this is your first Apple device without a home button, you’ll learn new gestures for going home, multitasking and the home bar swipe.
Display
It’s bigger and more modern, with smaller bezels: 10.9 inches vs. the more common 9.7. It’s laminated to the glass (no gap between the display and glass), so the pixels are closer and it feels like you’re touching them. You also get the wide P3 color gamut (good for photos from modern iPhones that capture the wider range) and True Tone. Brightness: depending on your iPad’s age, you may see a 25% increase: my 6th-gen iPad matches the Air 4 at 500 nits, but anything older than a 5th-gen will be brighter on the Air 4, which helps outside or in bright rooms.
Cameras
Much better than previous non-Pro iPads. The iPad Air 3 and the last few standard iPads have an 8 MP rear camera (f/2.4) that shoots HD video. The Air 4 gets a camera very similar to or the same as the iPad Pro’s: 12 MP, f/1.8, 4K video at 60 fps. If you’re one of the three people who use iPads for photo or video, it’s a big upgrade (I used my iPad Pro to shoot a number of my YouTube videos). The front camera is 7 MP, 1080p, versus 1.2 MP 720p.
Speakers and weight
Both have dual speakers: the older iPad has two at the bottom, and the Air 4 has one on each side, and like the iPad Pros, the speakers automatically orient in landscape to keep stereo on the correct side. Though the Air 4 is clearly larger, it’s lighter: 1.01 lb with cellular versus 1.05 lb for the 6th gen with cellular, so there’s no need to worry about weight.
Apple Pencil
Previous iPads that support the original Pencil (6th, 7th or 8th gen, iPad Air 3, first-generation iPad Pros) won’t work with it: you need the second-generation Pencil, which attaches magnetically to the side for charging and pairing.
USB-C
The Air 4 has USB-C instead of Lightning: faster charging plus SD card readers, USB drives, AV connectors for an external display, USB hubs and more.
Battery and performance
The same 10 hours of surfing or video as every iPad since the original in 2010, so the same or better battery life than your old iPad depending on its battery health. I wish Apple could improve battery life over time, but we keep getting faster processors instead: the Air 4 has the A14, with more cores, more megahertz, more GPU and more neural network than your old iPad. For the average user, that means faster app launches and installs, faster page loading, fewer stutters switching apps and better game graphics, plus niche uses like video editing that work far better.
Verdict
Upgrading from an iPad with a home button, you get a more modern design, a better screen, much better cameras, USB-C support and performance that will last for years, though you may have to retrain your muscles to unlock from the power button and learn the gestures. It takes what’s great about the iPad (good performance and features at a reasonable price) and mixes in premium design cues from the Pro line, and USB-C brings it closer to replacing a computer. If you want to see how an iPad can be your only computer, see my video on that.
Links
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