Apple announced a new CPU today for the eighth-generation iPad, the A12 Bionic. The A12 Bionic, featured in the base iPad model, offers 40 percent faster CPU and 20 percent faster GPU than seventh-generation iPads, and Apple says that also means the A12 is twice as fast as the top-selling Windows laptop, three times faster than the top-selling Android tablet, and six times faster than the leading Chromebook.
iPad Air
The new iPad Air features a 10.9" Liquid Retina display, a new Touch ID sensor in the top button, camera and audio upgrades, and the new A14 Bionic CPU, Apple's most powerful CPU ever. Apple
The new iPad Air starts at $599, available beginning in October 2020. Apple
The iPad Air comes in five colors. Apple
Just like many analysts and leakers predicted, Apple introduced an iPad Air during its "Time Flies" livestream event today. The new iPad Air comes about a year and a half after the last refresh, but it does more than the previous update did: it overhauls the overall design of the device. The iPad Air will be available in October, starting at $599.
Taking cues from the more expensive iPad Pro, the iPad Air now has drastically reduced bezels, no home button, and rounded screen edges. It does not, however, have the front-facing TrueDepth sensor array that the iPad Pro uses for Face ID authentication. Rather, it introduces something new to Apple devices—albeit not new to consumer mobile devices in general. The new iPad Air has the long-rumored in-screen fingerprint reader, something people have speculated for a couple years would find its way into lower-end iOS and iPadOS devices like the iPhone SE.
Apple designed a new version of touch ID, integrated into the top button (which does not appear visually different). Underneath the button is a laser-cut sapphire lens and custom sensor for reading users' fingerprints.
The iPad Air gets the new A14 Bionic CPU, built on 5nm process technology. It's a six-core CPU with four high-performance cores and two lower-power, more efficient cores for simpler background tasks. The A14 Bionic offers a 30 percent GPU performance boost compared to previous generations, and Apple says it offers double the graphics performance of typical laptops.
It also offers a 16-core neural engine for machine learning performance—which can include many features used in graphics editors, voice assistants, and more—as well as a new DJ application which allows "air scratching" gestures made above the iPad.
