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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algalli - Wednesday, October 30, 2013 - link
typing error meant to say that most people have missed the IBeacon feature in IOSgrkhetan - Wednesday, October 30, 2013 - link
dsumanik and beautyspin: you guys have no idea what you are talking about. Anand's reviews are the some of the most objective and in-depth reviews. With your mindset -- it is clear that you hate Apple and have such a strong bias that you are not fit to be a reader of this website.ekotan - Wednesday, October 30, 2013 - link
You have listed a bunch of features which would be either impossible or pointless to implement on an ARM tablet. Apple is not a company who just adds features for the sake of ticking every box, they actually care about how the device will be used and this attention to detail is a major reason why Apple users love their Apple products.errorr - Wednesday, October 30, 2013 - link
NFC will never be supported by Apple. They just aren't interested. Wireless charging is an interesting idea but the design would make it the hardest engineering challenge I can imagine as the aluminum makes that a non starter. Plus if or when the ipad does wireledd charging I'm sure it'll be proprietary.ClemyNX - Wednesday, October 30, 2013 - link
I truly laughed at that.Haptic feedback?
NFC?
Someone still hasn't understood that NFC is dead.
darwiniandude - Wednesday, October 30, 2013 - link
Why does the review mention frame rate drops and lack of ram then? There is polite negativity in the review where appropriate.steven75 - Thursday, October 31, 2013 - link
Haptic feedback and NFC? Why would they add two technologies that are already on their way out?Walkop - Tuesday, November 5, 2013 - link
I love how everyone says NFC is dead when every single credit/debit card out there has recently adopted it for pay-and-tap, and Google Wallet has been revolutionized in that it'll work regardless of carrier through NFC now.Djasonw - Thursday, October 31, 2013 - link
Yes, I definitely see a need for NFC. <smh>whatsa - Friday, November 1, 2013 - link
I played with the surface variable stand and that works greatnot flapping around
but yeah I agree with the additions
(the outdoor screen brightness to be pumped up too)