The iPad Air Review
by Anand Lal Shimpi on October 29, 2013 9:00 PM ESTWiFi
The iPad Air moves to a 2-stream dual-band 802.11n solution, a sort of compromise between where the iPad was with its previous single-stream implementation and some of the newer devices shipping with 802.11ac. Moving to two spatial streams obviously helps improve performance tremendously. Peak performance on 5GHz 802.11n, assuming an equally capable AP, went as high as 180Mbps in my tests. I was able to average 168Mbps during our standard UDP WiFi test on 5GHz.
Cellular
Apple continues to use Qualcomm’s MDM9615 modem in the iPad Air, the big difference this round is there’s only a single SKU (A1475) for the cellular model covering a total of 34 countries across the Americas and EMEA. The LTE iPad Air supports a total of 14 LTE bands (1,2,3,4,5,7,8,13,17,18,19,20,25 and 26). In his usual awesome fashion, Brian speculated that the increased number of supported LTE bands was partially a function of moving to Qualcomm’s WTR1605L transceiver.
| iPad Cellular Speeds | ||||||
| Property | iPhone 3G/3GS/iPad 1 3G | iPhone 4 / iPad 2 (GSM/UMTS) | iPhone 4 / iPad 2 (CDMA) | iPad 3 | iPad 4/iPad Mini | iPad Air/iPad Mini w/Retina |
| Baseband | Infineon X-Gold 608 | Infineon X-Gold 618 | Qualcomm MDM6600 | Qualcomm MDM9600 | Qualcomm MDM9615 w/RTR8600 |
Qualcomm MDM9615 w/WTR1605L |
| Max 3GPP Release Feature | Release 5 | Release 6 | Release 7 | Release 9 | Release 9 | Release 9 |
| HSDPA Category | Cat.8 - 7.2 Mbps | Cat.8 - 7.2 Mbps | N/A | Cat. 24 - 42 Mbps | Cat. 24 - 42 Mbps | Cat. 24 - 42 Mbps |
| HSUPA Category | None - 384 Kbps WCDMA only | Cat.6 - 5.76 Mbps | N/A | Cat.6 - 5.76 Mbps | Cat.6 - 5.76 Mbps | Cat.6 - 5.76 Mbps |
| EVDO | N/A | N/A | 1x/EVDO Rev.A | 1x/EVDO Rev.A | 1x/EVDO Rev.A | 1x/EVDO Rev.A |
| LTE | N/A | N/A | N/A | 100/50 UE Cat. 3 | 100/50 UE Cat. 3 | 100/50 UE Cat. 3 |
From a spec and performance standpoint, the LTE modem in the iPad Air is no different than what was in the 4th generation iPad. Consistent cellular connectivity options remains one of the staples of the iPad lineup. Although WiFi tablets still tend to be the more popular, it’s hard to argue with the productivity benefit to having LTE on a tablet. Being able to just reach for the iPad Air and know it’ll have connectivity regardless of where I am, without having to search for and log in to a WiFi network, is tremendously convenient.
Just as before, there’s no contract commitment necessary to buy an LTE iPad Air. You can manage your account directly on the device itself. Furthermore, at least in the US, the LTE iPad Air isn’t locked to any one network operator. You specify what provider you’d like to go with at the time of purchase, but afterwards you’re able to swap in any other activated nano SIM from a supported network operator. You could feasibly start out with a Sprint iPad Air and later switch to a Verizon, T-Mobile or AT&T SIM and continue using the device. The flexibility offered by a single SKU with support for a ton of bands is pretty awesome.
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abazigal - Saturday, November 2, 2013 - link
The A7 chip in the iPad air is clocked higher than on the 5s. I think that it technically counts as the A7X, Apple just decided not to market it as such.ipadair469g - Tuesday, October 29, 2013 - link
Like to point out that apple lists the weight of the wifi iPad air as 469 grams on their website, not 450. Seems important on a review that touts the reduced weight so prominently.Drumsticks - Tuesday, October 29, 2013 - link
He already said the LTE model weighs 1.05 pounds.Eug - Tuesday, October 29, 2013 - link
I think Apple's 64-bit iDevices really do need 2 GB RAM. I've been getting the tab reloads in Safari on my iPhone 5s, which is rather annoying, esp. if you're trying to copy from one tab to a text entry box in another tab.dishayu - Wednesday, October 30, 2013 - link
You nailed it. It's an absolute experience killer. Unless I have > 10 tabs open with music player and a couple of downloads in background, random tab reloads are NOT acceptable.PC Perv - Tuesday, October 29, 2013 - link
Yet another "Apple can do no wrong and this thing is the best since a sliced bread.. Until the next Apple thing ships, that is." stuff. When the next iPad ships with more memory and GPU resources, you will no doubt gush over how Apple "fixed" the shortcomings of this iPad. You wanted to keep your iPad for longer than a year? Too bad. Tech blogs and the industry are sailing on a same ship and I don't care how much you (consumers) waste as long as my wife is happy.Oh, and the obligatory Intel mention is duly noted. lol. This is like a never-ending nightmare around here.
ws3 - Tuesday, October 29, 2013 - link
Translation: I'm vewy vewy angwy because nobody cawes about my ovewcwocked watew-coowed wig anymowe.Coda: I'll get you, you wascawy Apple!
dugbug - Wednesday, October 30, 2013 - link
he he :)ssiu - Tuesday, October 29, 2013 - link
I think that is very harsh. Anandtech does generally like Apple products, but the article does say about the display "The only thing that the iPad Air leaves me wanting on the display front is a lower reflectance stack ....", and a paragraph about "My only complaints are limited to iOS 7, memory size and pricing. ..."pdjblum - Tuesday, October 29, 2013 - link
I totally feel your pain and frustration.