The new iPad Air goes on sale this Friday. Last week, Apple loaned iPad Airs to a few journalists who were allowed to post their reviews starting last night. The reviews are universally positive. Everyone seems to agree that iPad Air is not just lighter than previous models, it is light enough to make a real difference in every-day usage. It is also the fastest iOS device to date (just a sliver faster than the iPhone 5s), and has incredible all-day long battery life. Here are all of the reviews that I have seen so far, along with some quotes to give you a sense of the new features of the iPad Air.
- John Gruber of Daring Fireball: "For those whose software needs are such that they can truly go iOS-only, the new iPad Air is a compelling option as an alternative to a Mac or PC laptop. Even if you pack along a hardware keyboard peripheral, you can easily stay under 2 pounds total weight with an iPad Air as a travel computer. The iPad Air makes an iPad 3/4 feel heavy; it makes an 11-inch MacBook Air feel like an anchor."
- Jim Dalrymple of The Loop: "It’s very hard to describe how good the iPad Air feels in your hand without actually picking one up. It’s kind of like the first time you saw a Retina display for the first time—shock. The other thing you will quickly notice is that while the screen size of the iPad Air is the same as the previous generation, the Air is actually a smaller device. The height is the same, but the width is considerably narrower."
- Tim Stevens of CNET: "If you found yourself tuning out the last few generations of iPad thanks to their extreme familiarity, it’s time to get yourself dialed back in. The iPad Air is worth getting excited about. Though it brings no new functionality to the table, and we can’t help being disappointed about the lack of Touch ID, the performance increase and solid battery life show that progress is still being made on the inside. It’s the new exterior design, however, that really impresses. The iPad Air is thinner than any tablet this size deserves to be, and lighter, too. The old iPad always felt surprisingly hefty. This one, compellingly lithe."
- David Pogue, who is currently in-between jobs: "The thing is, making the iPad smaller, lighter, and faster without sacrificing battery life or beauty is a tremendous achievement. This isn’t a device that sits or hangs in one place its whole life. It’s not a microwave or a TV. You have to hold this thing while you’re using it, and carry it around when you’re not. So size and weight matter a lot."
- Walt Mossberg of All Things D: "I’ve been testing the iPad Air for about a week and found it a pleasure to use. This new iPad isn’t a radical rethinking of what a tablet can be, but it’s a major improvement on a successful product. It is the best tablet I’ve ever reviewed. ... The battery performance of the iPad Air simply blew me away. In my tough tablet battery test, where I disable automatic screen dimming and other power-saving features, and combine video playback from the device’s memory with leaving Wi-Fi on and email working at normal settings, the iPad has almost always met its claims and beat competitors by a wide margin."
- Ed Baig of USA Today: "As it happens, though, this latest full-size Apple tablet is the most tempting iPad yet, better than its already best of breed predecessors, superior still to each and every rival big screen slate that I've tested. Apple dominates the tablet apps ecosystem. Its tablet remains the easiest to use."
- Brad Molen of Engadget: "Simply put, the iPad Air is the most comfortable 10-inch tablet we've ever used."
- Vincent Nguyen of SlashGear: "It makes more of a difference than you might imagine. While you see plenty of full-sized iPads out in the wild, the majority of larger tablets spend their time indoors. With the iPad Air, however, we found ourselves far more likely to drop it into our bag than before, replacing the iPad mini and other 7- to 8-inch tablets as our go-to device for mobility purposes."
- Clayton Morris of Fox News: "It’s hard to believe Apple managed to shave nearly a half-pound off last year’s fourth-generation iPad while still maintaining exceptional battery life, which in my all-day usage rarely dropped below 30 percent."
- Harry McCracken of Time: "Still, whether it’s a record-holder or not, the iPad Air is such a featherweight that it changes the experience of using Apple’s tablet. (I tried a unit provided by Apple with built-in Verizon 4G LTE, adding .05 of a pound to the package; no, I didn’t notice it.) To steal the phrase that Jeff Bezos used to describe Amazon’s original Kindle e-reader, you want a tablet to disappear in your hands. And there’s so much less of the Air that it comes closer to doing that than any previous full-sized iPad, letting you focus on the app you’re using rather than the device you’re holding. You can even support it in one hand, at least for a bit, without giving yourself a sore wrist. It’s just plain more approachable."
- Darrell Etherington of TechCrunch: "It’s a difference that you feel, all numbers and measurements aside. The iPad Air is much, much more comfortable to hold than the iPad 4th-gen it replaces; This isn’t strictly a one-handed device, but it’s as close as you can get with a tablet that still has a gorgeous, expansive 9.7-inch Retina Display."
- Stuart Miles of Pocket-Lint: "The Air goes on and on for what seems like forever — especially if you turn off the 4G. Even though the battery is physically smaller this time around, performance savings within iOS 7 — Apple's installed as standard mobile operating system — and the new processors really does mean you'll see the same 10 hours of life per charge."
- Damon Darlin of the New York Times: "A tablet, especially this iPad, is a delight to use and will bring you more hours of enjoyment than any other electronic device I know of."
- Rich Jaroslovsky of Bloomberg: "I actually grew impatient trying to exhaust the battery in my tests; you should get a lot more than a full day of normal use on a charge."
- Matt Warman of The Telegraph: "I’ve had one for a week or so and it’s the first full-size iPad I’ve ever thrown into my bag without thinking about the (28 per cent lighter) weight. It’s totally replaced the iPad Mini for me, which previously was the model I’d take out and about."
- Ben Bajarin of Techpinions: "The new iPad Air is so light you have to feel it to believe it. The iPad Mini weighs .69 pounds and the iPad Air weighs 1 pound. But when you hold them at the same time, the weight difference feels negligible. The iPad Air distributes its weight in a way that holding it and using it feels about as light as the iPad Mini. The iPad Air is easily the best designed iPad yet."
- Anand Lal Shimpi of AnandTech: "The iPad was never light enough for me to comfortably hold in my hands, suspended above my face while lying in bed or on the couch for long periods of time. The iPad 2 got close, but the 3rd and 4th generation iPads reset the scale completely. That’s actually one reason why I liked the iPad mini and Nexus 7 so much, they were far more comfortable to hold. The iPad Air gets incredibly close. Sans case, the iPad Air is light enough that I can comfortably hold it above me (with two hands) for a while without my wrists getting tired. I still prefer propping the iPad up against something but I think 1 pound may be the crossover point for me personally."
- Anick Jesdanun of AP: "Apple says it has been working on this engineering feat on the side for years, even as it released bulkier models. To make the Air 20 percent thinner, Apple shrunk just about every layer: the front glass, the touch sensor, the display, the battery and the aluminum back. Apple says it kept the device durable without unnecessary materials. It's not until you hold the old and the new side by side that you feel and appreciate the difference."
- Luke Peters of T3: "Pitching the iPad Air against its competitors is quite easy – it's the best looking, premium, and app-happy tablet on the market. The cosmetic design changes are an unequivocal improvement, and the weight reduction proves a genuine benefit for everyday use."
