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iPad Air

LCfiner

Member
Posting from my new iPad air. Weight drop is great. It really feels like a mini in terms of weight. Looks like I missed the screen size for some apps. Gonna mess around with my Korg apps later - they never transferred well to the mini's screen.

Didn't bother with any covers. Just gonna plain black and use an old portable three pronged stand when I need to sit it up for watching video.

Oh yeah, best buy had a cage with a ton of iPads. No issue getting one within five minutes.
 
Posting from my new iPad air. Weight drop is great. It really feels like a mini in terms of weight. Looks like I missed the screen size for some apps. Gonna mess around with my Korg apps later - they never transferred well to the mini's screen.

Didn't bother with any covers. Just gonna plain black and use an old portable three pronged stand when I need to sit it up for watching video.

Oh yeah, best buy had a cage with a ton of iPads. No issue getting one within five minutes.

how is typing?

i recall big ipads kinda sucked trying to type with thumbs, but was fine landscape.
 

toohectic

Member
I've been on this thing non stop for over an hour, and no heating issues at all. Can't really speak on the screen since I never messed around w/ an iPad 3, but since its the same res, my guess is there's not much difference there.

So no heating at all? That's what I'm most curious about. My iPad 3 gets substantially warm when the backlight is cranked up. It would be great for the iPad Air to be back to iPad 2 status which stayed cool no matter what; you couldn't even tell it was on.

In regards to the screen, people are referring to the "feel" of the screen. The glass thickness has been reduced, so it supposedly feels a little less solid when typing on the glass. I use an original mini all the time which supposedly has the same issue, but I don't really notice it at all. The screen is larger on the air, so it might be more noticeable. Seems like this issue would have been negated if they had laminated the screen.
 

Nevasleep

Member
MRKSlBi.jpg

Can't wait, upgrading from an iPad 2.
 

dallow_bg

nods at old men
Posting from my new iPad air. Weight drop is great. It really feels like a mini in terms of weight. Looks like I missed the screen size for some apps. Gonna mess around with my Korg apps later - they never transferred well to the mini's screen.

Didn't bother with any covers. Just gonna plain black and use an old portable three pronged stand when I need to sit it up for watching video.

Oh yeah, best buy had a cage with a ton of iPads. No issue getting one within five minutes.

Man, maybe I will switch back to full size.
Definitely need to try it out to be sure.
 

Deadstar

Member
Generally I've been reading that if you are going to play games and watch movies it's better to get the black ipad however I wonder if the white is now less distracting since the bezel is smaller. Can anyone weigh in?
 

dorkimoe

Member
can someone help me with stupid itunes

everytime i open it, it starts to download a movie i watched like 10 years ago. i dont have the space on my hard drive for it to keep downloading. How do i stop it? i have deleted it 100 times. i will give someone my ipad air if they fix it (no i wont but please help)
 

Mononoke

Banned
Generally I've been reading that if you are going to play games and watch movies it's better to get the black ipad however I wonder if the white is now less distracting since the bezel is smaller. Can anyone weigh in?

Well, I had a White iPad 3 (same with iPhone 4s). When I went back to the black iPhone 5 and and black iPad Mini, it was night and day for me. The screen looks richer with the black bezel. I know it's 100% mental, and it doesn't actually make the colors look better. But at least to my eyes, the black bezel just makes it pop more.

I like the idea of white Apple products, but I'll never go back from the black bezel again. Just me. Haven't held an Air yet (which has a smaller bezel), so maybe not the best person to answer your question.
 

LCfiner

Member
how is typing?

i recall big ipads kinda sucked trying to type with thumbs, but was fine landscape.

I am a double thumb typer with the split keyboard. Since the bezels in portrait are thinner and the whole thing is lighter, it's easier than on the old ipad. Reminds me of the mini.

Guys, I missed having a retina class screen the past year. The contrast on this is also better than the old mini screen, as expected. So nice.
 

pdk27

Member
Just got home with my 128 GB Silver Wifi. Restoring a backup from my iPad 3. Can't wait to try out some of these games that were sluggish on the 3.
 
Any iPad 4 users make the jump to the Air? I have a 4 and I'm contemplating whether I should make the jump.

Just did.

Much lighter.

Actually able to play my tablet and cellphone killing 1080p 10 bit MKV with FLAC sound with a few frame drops here and there.

My iPad 4 going on Ebay sometime this weekend once I am sure that my Air has no defects, etc.

I just did as well. Got the black one and a little more fancy. The weight however has changed. Feels much lighter.

If weight isnt an issue for you with the ipad 4,stick with it till the next upgrade.
 

LCfiner

Member
A7 gif test!

loaded up this post

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=88265955&postcount=1408

ran both gigs (14.3 MB total) quickly and in full speed.

Loaded up the next gif in the following post, (23 MB gif)

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=88266025&postcount=1409

and it took a longass time but it loaded and all three gifs are running now in the thread. But none of them are full speed. the big 23 MB gif is about 1/2 speed, maybe.

So, anyway, reasonable gifs load and play fast. massive 20+ MB gifs can hurt it but it won’t die.
 

BFIB

Member
So no heating at all? That's what I'm most curious about. My iPad 3 gets substantially warm when the backlight is cranked up. It would be great for the iPad Air to be back to iPad 2 status which stayed cool no matter what; you couldn't even tell it was on.

In regards to the screen, people are referring to the "feel" of the screen. The glass thickness has been reduced, so it supposedly feels a little less solid when typing on the glass. I use an original mini all the time which supposedly has the same issue, but I don't really notice it at all. The screen is larger on the air, so it might be more noticeable. Seems like this issue would have been negated if they had laminated the screen.

Nope, no heating issues whatsoever. Been playing Peggle (oh how I have missed thee on a tablet), watched some Netflix, played a little Garage Band and just tried out Infinity Blade 3 for the past 20 minutes or so. Didn't even feel it get warm in the back.

I can't really speak on the screen end, since this is my first iPad. But typing feels great. Wish I could go more in depth for some comparisons for you, but I can honestly say, its a very solid, well build product. Zero regrets!
 

LCfiner

Member
hows memory though?

how many tabs on safari can you have open without refreshes?

how many apps?

can’t evaluate that now as apps are downloading in the background during the restore so it’s not typical usage.

Oh, regarding heat, after that gif test, the right side of the ipad got pretty warm. a space of a couple inches along the right edge.

Not as hot as the ipad 3 used to get, and not over as large an area, but it can get warm to the touch.
 

Mononoke

Banned
Okay, got mine. I'm coming from an iPad Mini to an iPad Air. Yes, the iPad air is as light as the mini. In fact, I'm going to go as far as to say I actually think it feels lighter when you hold it landscape. The reason is because the weight is more distributed across evenly, and so the weightiness of the device is spread across evenly. You feel less weight in each hand. Going back to the mini in landscape, the weight is more centered (as it's a smaller device).

I laid in bed and held the device up (like I do when I watch movies). Messed around with it in different situations. Obviously this is still new. But right off the bat, I can say that this is very comfortable to use. I think most that went from an iPad to mini, or who are considering going back to the Air, will really like the Air's weight. It's a world of difference. I also think the shaved off bezels is the right distance, where it feels good with where your hands are on the sides, and being able to type and browse etc. So that's my initial impression just based on the physical aspect of the build. I'm really impressed by Apple.

Update: everything I said above is true. But I wanted to mention something important and that is the physical dimension. While the shaved bezels and much lighter weight make this exceptionally comfortable to hold, it doesn't change the fact that this is physically bigger than the mini. It just is. So if you hated how it felt to hold ipad with your palms (I guess this depends on the size of your hands), then the mini still might be for you. I personally am okay with this because the weight and bezel distance is so perfect, its sits nicely in my hands.
 

joshschw

Member
A7 gif test!

loaded up this post

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=88265955&postcount=1408

ran both gigs (14.3 MB total) quickly and in full speed.

Loaded up the next gif in the following post, (23 MB gif)

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=88266025&postcount=1409

and it took a longass time but it loaded and all three gifs are running now in the thread. But none of them are full speed. the big 23 MB gif is about 1/2 speed, maybe.

So, anyway, reasonable gifs load and play fast. massive 20+ MB gifs can hurt it but it won’t die.

For fun I loaded up that page on my surface, it plays them fine, but yeah it started getting warm! it is so funny what can bring our top of the line tech to its knees. Some GIFs... haha
 
It would be cool if the iPad Air wallpaper that's displayed on the iPad on their site was actually available on the iPad itself. Odd oversight.
 

mrklaw

MrArseFace
Just got mine home and unboxed

- feels taller than my old one, probably due to it being narrower
- noticably lighter and thinner. Just overall nicer to hold
- got a white one and the screen is noticeably 'sunken', with dark edges. Is that just how it always is, and I've not noticed before because I had black ones before?

Also, I restored from a backup of my old iPad, and it remembered my browser tabs and settings etc, but NONE of my apps! Is there any way to pull them back off my Mac mini? Took me ages to organise everything just so :(
 

CrunchinJelly

formerly cjelly
Just got mine home and unboxed

- feels taller than my old one, probably due to it being narrower
- noticably lighter and thinner. Just overall nicer to hold
- got a white one and the screen is noticeably 'sunken', with dark edges. Is that just how it always is, and I've not noticed before because I had black ones before?

Also, I restored from a backup of my old iPad, and it remembered my browser tabs and settings etc, but NONE of my apps! Is there any way to pull them back off my Mac mini? Took me ages to organise everything just so :(

Sunken screen is normal. That and the thin black outline is why I don't like white.

You could try restoring to factory settings and restoring from backup again. That happened to my mini before and that fixed it.
 
y’know, a table with 4 or 6 iPads laid out that’s separated from other tablets or computers.

something that gives them space to display multiple models. if they got this space, an Air could easily be on display as it was where I went.

ah ok. just never heard it called an island before.
 
Just got mine home and unboxed

- feels taller than my old one, probably due to it being narrower
- noticably lighter and thinner. Just overall nicer to hold
- got a white one and the screen is noticeably 'sunken', with dark edges. Is that just how it always is, and I've not noticed before because I had black ones before?

Also, I restored from a backup of my old iPad, and it remembered my browser tabs and settings etc, but NONE of my apps! Is there any way to pull them back off my Mac mini? Took me ages to organise everything just so :(
Until iPads get laminated screens that sunken in look will continue to exist.
 
A7 gif test!

loaded up this post

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=88265955&postcount=1408

ran both gigs (14.3 MB total) quickly and in full speed.

Yep. Gave me 2-3 frames where I thought "damn, this is gonna load slow" and then bam! Every GIF is running at full speed.

Loaded up the next gif in the following post, (23 MB gif)

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=88266025&postcount=1409

and it took a longass time but it loaded and all three gifs are running now in the thread.

I clicked on that link and it loaded quickly and ran full speed as best I can tell?
 

Guess Who

Banned
This thing is SOOOOOO light. Wow!!!

Keep in mind that I'm coming from iPad 1.

Christ, going from an iPad 1 to an Air must feel like a caveman boarding a space shuttle.

Also, I notice the Air's home button is 300x less mushy than previous iPads. Much more satisfyingly clicky.
 

LCfiner

Member
Yep. Gave me 2-3 frames where I thought "damn, this is gonna load slow" and then bam! Every GIF is running at full speed.



I clicked on that link and it loaded quickly and ran full speed as best I can tell?

all three at once? I was in the thread and loading gifs (using mobile gaf) one at a time. third one slowed things down.

Of course, maybe part of it is that I am restoring a backup at the same time so it’s downloading like 10 GB of apps at the same time...
 

Aiii

So not worth it
Best thing compared to the 3? Instant loading of webpages. No more looking at patches of gray when scrolling down quickly.

Also, no keyboard lag. So good.
 
Is your Air crashing or freezing on you when trying to delete an app? Trying to delete the Find my iPhone app but when the app starts to shake I can't click anything…just becomes unresponsive.
 

TxdoHawk

Member
Just bought mine. Screen's already broken. No, not accidental damage. Took it out of the box and there's fucking lines on the screen, kind of like this:



Not there all the time, it comes and goes, but I am hella pissed. Already have a Genius Bar reservation for this afternoon.

I had this to a far lesser extent with my first iPad 3 (one solid line). They replaced it with zero questions asked in about three minutes flat, don't even worry about it.
 
so from this thread, i'm guessing if one needs one, air's aren't hard to come by?


cheapest is walmart right?



does apple have a return policy for opened stuff?
 

Spitz

Member
Had no luck to get my hands on a iPad Air 64GB Space Grey with Cellular in local shops. Had to order it in the Apple Store Online will arrive next Tuesday. The Smart Cover will take a week longer to arrive from the Apple Store. :(
 
all three at once? I was in the thread and losing gifs (using mobile gaf) one at a time. third one slowed things down.

Of course, maybe part of it is that I am restoring a backup at the same time so it’s downloading like 10 GB of apps at the same time...

Oh, loading the thread? Yeah, let me try that...

well, it certainly took longer to load. Not forever but more remiscent of a desktop chug. But all three are playing. I don't think any of them are running at half speed (the last one in particular is hard to judge because he slams into a corner fast and then is slow coming out) but I definitely think some frames are being dropped. The middle GIF in particular still seems "fast" but not as smooth.

It's worth noting that if you scroll to get only one of the three on-screen I think it's back to being totally smooth.
 
Back from pick-up at the Grand Central Station store. In and out in 5 minutes. What a stress free experience.

Now to stare at this thing in my work back till I can get home and get it set up tonight!
 
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