iPad Air vs Microsoft Surface 2

How do the iPad Air and Surface 2 stack up against each other

Now that the iPad Air has been made official, how does it stack up against the recently launched Microsoft Surface 2? Is there even a comparison?

Let's compare the two tablets and see how they really fare against each other.

Before we dive in, let's recall the big picture when it comes to each device. The iPad Air is the next iteration of the iPad, but it's half a pound lighter. It also has the new A7 chipset and a 5MP iSight rear camera. Oh, and Apple promises up to 10 hours of battery life, too.

The Surface 2 is the successor to the Microsoft Surface. It runs Windows RT 8.1 and promises up to 28 days of standby time, though most reviews online show about six to seven hours of real-world use.

iPad Air vs Microsoft Surface 2: Display

These days, when you're buying what is essentially just a big slab of screen, the display really matters. Here, we have a 9.7-inch 2048 x 1536 display on the iPad Air versus a 10.6-inch 1920 x 1080 display on the Surface 2.

The winner in terms of sheer resolution and sharpness is the iPad Air. At normal viewing distances, you really wouldn't be able to tell the difference. But side-by-side, you'd probably be able to tell which one is best. But don't strain your eyes, because we're telling you now it's the iPad.

iPad Air vs Microsoft Surface 2: Processor and performance

There's more to performance than just plain old hardware. You can put a 200 horsepower engine in a motorcycle and it will fly, put that in a 5,000-pound truck and it's a different story. Likewise, chipsets and processors in tablets and smartphones don't tell the whole story.

Here we have Apple's new A7 chipset with 64-bit architecture powering iOS 7. Apple claims that, thanks to the A7, the new iPad Air is going to be eight times faster than the previous model.

The Microsoft Surface 2 has NVIDIA's Tegra 4, which has had performance issues depending on the device and software running.

Given our experience with iOS 7 and Windows RT 8.1, we can safely assume that the overall user experience as a result of performance will be better with iOS, and therefore, the iPad.

iPad Air vs Microsoft Surface 2: Battery life

Apple promises up to 10 hours of real world use with the iPad Air. Microsoft seems to only offer standby times, but most reviews online show six to seven hours of real world use.

Perhaps for many prospective buyers, the battery life isn't as important if the tablet is going to be for home use. But if you plan on taking a tablet with you on your commute, you'll definitely want the iPad for that extra juice.

One interesting thing is that reports on the web are mixed regarding battery life on the Microsoft Surface 2. Some claim that it's great, others are not impressed. The ones who tend to be excited about it are reviewers who are comparing it to its predecessor, so you may want to take that into consideration if you plan to buy it.

iPad Air vs Microsoft Surface 2: Apps

When you buy a tablet, you're really buying it for one main reason: apps. You're running browsers, social networking apps, productivity apps, games and so on. It's really one of the biggest considerations, or at least it should be, when buying a new tablet.

Hands down, the iPad Air wins here. If there was one consistent thing reviewers disliked about the Microsoft Surface 2, it was the lack of apps.

iOS has always had the biggest number of quality, tablet-designed apps when compared to Android or Windows. That hasn't changed, and it becomes more obvious once we start comparing the iPad to other tablets.

If you're not going to use a browser only - and why would you? - you should strongly consider the iPad Air over the Surface 2.

iPad Air vs Microsoft Surface 2: Pricing

Perhaps the one thing that the Surface 2 has going for it is pricing. Starting at $449, it's $50 cheaper than the iPad Air. If money were truly an issue, and $50 wasn't worth getting a better overall tablet experience, the clear winner is the Surface 2.

However, we believe that in most cases you get what you pay for. Not only will you get better battery life with the iPad Air, it's a lighter and more svelte tablet, too.

Then there are the apps. Sure, the iPad Air starts at a hefty $499, and cost up to $929 if you get a 64GB model with Wi-Fi + cellular connectivity, but you're buying into the richest app ecosystems available today.

Verdict

It's clear that in every category that matters, the iPad Air edges out the Surface 2 We do wish that it wasn't such a landslide victory in this comparison, but that's the reality of it.

Where Microsoft is really lacking is in its app selection. There aren't very many good apps for the Surface 2, or on Windows RT 8.1. Perhaps developers are going where the sales and money are, and that makes sense.

When it comes to build quality and weight, battery life, apps, display and performance, we give this one to the iPad Air in every category. Oh, and obviously the Apple tablet takes it in the value category, too. For the money, you just get more bang for your buck with Apple tablets.

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iPad Air release date, news and features

The new iPad is here and this is what you need to know

Ever the tease, Apple announced earlier in October that "it still had a lot to cover" in its latest event invite and now we know just what Cook and co meant by this cryptic sentence - the iPad Air.

At an event in San Francisco it has taken the wrapper off of its airborne tablet.

It's crazy to think that in just three short years, Apple has helped create a new essential sector in the gadget market and it is hoping its new iPad will cement its lead in the tablet space. And that lead is hefty, at 81%.

Apple called the first iPad "the most advanced technology in a magical and revolutionary device," and it has sold 170 million iPads. But how has it improved the device?

But, we hear you cry, what does the new iPad Air offer? Is it a massive refresh or just a minor upgrade? Well, read on as we reveal all...

iPad Air features and specifications

There's an abundance of new feature with the iPad Air. For a start, the tablet is a whopping 8x faster than the original iPad. And when it comes to GPU, it is an unbelievable 72x faster in the graphics department.

It has been confirmed that the new iPad will indeed be 64 bit, have over 1 billion transistors, an A7 processor and Apple's M7 motion-sensing chip. When it comes to new camera features, there is a 5MP iSight camera and 1080p HD video on board.

FaceTime has been given a 720p HD video camera than can push out 1.2MP photographs.

When it comes to battery life, Apple claims you should get 10 hours out of the device. Wi-Fi should be speedy too, thanks to Apple adding MIMO 802.11n support. This does mean that there isn't any 802.11ac support.

The iPad Air is certainly capacious. The version available are: 16GB, 32GB, 64GB and 128GB.

The official specs for the iPad are: 169mm in width, 240mm in height and, as we said before, thickness is a nice and slim 7.5mm.

Interestingly, Touch ID which was mooted for both the iPad Air and iPad mini 2 with Retina has missing on this update. We guess Apple is saving this feature for another day.

iPad Air design

The iPad Air is said to be 20% thinner than the iPad 4 at 7.5mm and it weighs in at just 1 pound (453g). It has the same screen size as before - 9.7 inches - with a 2048 x 1536 pixel resolution Retina display.

Looks wise it is a lot more reminiscent of the iPad mini meaning that this is the most significant redesign the iPad has ever undergone.

Color wise there are a few to choose from. Apple is sticking with its ridiculous naming conventions and will offer the iPad Air in silver and white and space grey and black color options.

When it comes to ports and buttons there is nothing out of the ordinary here. Other than a lack of touch ID, the iPad Air has the usual Home button, volume, rotation lock, dual mics, 3.5mm headphone jack, the trust Lightning connector and a built in speaker. Oh, and the on/off button.

iPad Air apps

The iPad Air has launched at an interesting time for Apple apps, as the Cupertino company has seen fit to make most of its software free.

iPhoto, iMovie, GarageBand are now all free, though you will have to add some in-app purchases. Other, more productivity based apps, are also free - including Pages, Numbers and Keynote.

iPad Air price

The iPad Air price begins at $499, £399, AU$598 for the 16GB and you will also be able to get an LTE / 4G version beginning at $629, £499, $749.

iPad Air release date

The new iPad Air will be released globally November 1 - including the US, UK and Australia - and it will be the first iPad to arrive in China.

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A gold iPad mini 2 surfaces as word of double RAM bubbles

The iPad 5 could see a RAM boost too

While we can almost be certain the iPad mini 2 will be come in a darker shade of gray, details have dropped potentially revealing new tech specs for Apple new iPads. What's more, we could be in for a more celebratory shade for the smaller iPad.

Apple leak expert Sonny Dickson is back again with new images of space gray suited iPad mini 2. The new pics, posted to Twitter, add further credence to similar photoswe saw last week.

The new miniature iPad will supposedly come with 1GB of RAM, while the hunkier iPad 5 will have 2GB. This upgrade will mean the entire iPad line will be getting twice the amount of RAM compared to the last gen models.

Dickson also tweeted that the iPad mini 2 will be available in gold and silver in addition to space gray. A gold tab would of course follow the wildly popular color option Apple introduced us to with the iPhone 5S, one Samsung decided to jump on as well.

Going for gold

Hot on the heels of Dickson's tweets, we also caught newly leaked images of a gold iPad mini with Touch ID over at DoNews. Just like iPhone 5S'questionably reliable fingerprint scanner, the tablet in the leaked image has a home button with a ring around it, indicating the presence of Touch ID tech.

But before you get your credit card primed to buy a blinged out iPad mini 2, you should take these new images with a grain of salt - especially when this new golden boy seems to be the very first full, assembled tablet unit of this color we've seen.

These photos could just be rushed color-corrected images of the current iPad mini.

Of course we're all eager to see what Apple has in line for its next generation of tablets which could be revealed in the coming days as we get closer to the rumored Oct. 15 tablet extravaganza.

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iPad 5 release date, news and rumors

There's a new iPad on the way - here's what we know so far

The announcement of the iPad 4 during Apple's October 2012 event came as a surprise to many, but one expert was quick to predict that the company would release a thinner, lighter iPad 5 in early 2013.

According to Ming-Chi Kuo, an analyst for KGI Securities, the fourth generation full-sized iPad (and the iPad mini, which was launched at the same event) might not be enough to fend off competitors. Kuo cited Microsoft'sSurface tablet as posing a particular risk to Apple's dominance. Hey, don't laugh, Surface has grabbed 7.5 per cent of recent market share, and Surface 2 has popped out too now.

Now we have a more likely release date, more pictures apparently showing the device in all its glory (with components too) so read on to find the best information rounded up from the web about the new iPad.

iPad 5 release date

Our current thinking is that we'll see the iPad 5 launched at an event some time in October 2013, the the 15 Oct the most likely date at the moment. Given the comparative schedule of last year's iPad Mini and iPad 4 launch, this seems to make a lot of sense.

Digitimes reported on 19 November 2012 that the iPad 5 release date would be "around the middle of 2013", while on 24 December 2012, an "inside source" talking to Japanese site Macotakara, wrongly pegged the new iPad release date as March 2013.

Citing an April release, apparently knowledgeable sources revealed to iMore in March that the iPad 5 would be available in April. Given the date now, those sources might want to re-label themselves as "not at all knowledgeable".

On 25 January, iLounge editor-in-chief Jeremy Horwitz, claiming to have seen the new iPad 5, wrote that the fifth-gen iPad would not go on sale until October 2013. That sounds more likely to us, and looks to have been validated as the month approaches. Horwitz also said that the iPad mini 2would be launched in the same month.

We've also heard, via a report on International Business Times, that Apple is ditching Foxconn as its iPad-manufacturing partner due to the "unreliability" of the Chinese firm (which also happens to be producing Android handsets and recently announced its own wearable tech that could compete with the iWatch).

Apparently, this split is causing a delay in getting those new iPads made, although the supposed delay puts the iPad 5 release date sometime in the Autumn, again corroborating what we're hearing.

iPad 5 price

When Apple introduces a new product it's usually priced to match the one that it supersedes. So with this in mind, we're looking at US$499 (£399, AU$539) for the Wi-Fi-only 16GB iPad 5, US$599 (£479, AU$649) for the 32GB model, US$699 (£559, AU$759) for the 64GB and US$799 (£639, AU$869) for the 128GB iPad.

International Business Times doesn't necessarily agree, though. In a 1 July report, the site talks of how it's "speculated" (by who, we don't know) that Apple will price the iPad 5 at $100 less than the $499 launch price of the iPad 4. Why would it do this? Because the iPad 2 is due to be discontinued and Apple wants "something in the $399 spot," writes IB Times. Hmmm.

It seems more likely the iPad 4 would occupy this slot, or slightly lower, with Apple maintaining its love of incredibly high profit margins for products that don't cost a whole lot to make.

iPad 5 features and specifications

Apple gave the iPad 4 a new A6X processor system-on-a-chip, which it claims to be twice as fast as the previous iPad.

It also gained the new lightning connector and better LTE support. But that's all the new features iPad fans got with the fourth-gen tablet.

And considering the current iPad is the same weight, thickness and price point as its predecessor, it's very possible Apple is looking to produce a slimmed-down version.

iPad 5 display

The new iPad 5 could pack all new display technology when it launches, using "GF DITO" (or GF2) touchscreen tech to make it 23 percent thinner and 53 percent lighter than its bigger brother.

Last year, analyst Paul Mueller predicted the new iPad would have a 16:9 ratio screen, claiming he'd talked to sources who had seen it. This is really unlikely to happen, given the amount of work Apple would need to do to bring its apps in line, and how much effort it's put into convincing the world of 4:3.

But who will be producing the display for the new iPad? Not Samsung,reckons GottaBe Mobile, claiming that Apple is "actively moving away from Samsung for the next generation of mobile products."

The ever-present DigiTimes reckons the iPad screens will be supplied by LG and Sharp, but then again given the accuracy of that site it could be made by Ford for all we know.

iPad 5 processor

As we mentioned earlier, the new A7 chip is a cert to be used in the new iPad 5, if not an upgraded version that's designed for the larger tablet.

Patently Apple lent weight to the notion of Apple taking its processor manufacturing business away from its best buddy Samsung, citing a report published on 10 April 2013. According to the report: the "chasm between Samsung Electronics and Apple is expected to widen further as Apple has excluded its Korean rival from a project to develop A7 application processors due to be released in the first half of next year."

KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reckons that the Apple/Samsung partnership has some life left, though, which would make sense given Samsung made the recent chip in Apple's iPhone.

As picked up by MacRumors on 17 April, Kuo wrote that the iPad 4 would be powered by an A7X processor and that Apple would be staying with Samsung for this chip at least.

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