At the spring 2022 new product launch just past, Apple released a number of new products such as the iPhone SE, iPad Air and Mac Studio. Among the many new products, the iPad Air is a regular upgrade, so the attention is relatively low. But I just got this new product during the epidemic in Shenzhen and home isolation, and it was practical for a few days, in this article, I will talk about the 2022 iPad Air experience.
2022 iPad Air
Since iPad Air is a product that I send readers to be very familiar with, and this generation of iPad has no special changes in appearance and function, in this hands-on experience, I will not repeat the parameters that can be found on apple websites, but in combination with my usage scenarios, talk about the parts that iPad Air makes me experience the most.
"I received it, it was genuine, and the child liked it."
In addition, I have used the 12.9-inch iPad Pro, the 7.9-inch iPad mini, and the old iPad without any suffixes, but I have not used the 10.9-inch iPad product. So I also took the opportunity to compare my experience with other iPads and provide you with more information on how to make an iPad purchase.
▍ Talk a little bit about the appearance
This generation of iPad Air is the fifth generation of the same series, and it is also the second generation of iPad Air with a boxy shape. Compared with the previous generation, the basic design and size of the iPad Air have not changed at all, and the screen is the same as the previous generation liquid Retina display, which is also equipped with side Touch ID. However, Apple continued its tradition of "each generation has its own color matching" and launched a new blue color for the new iPad Air, which I used this time.
Like several other colors, the blue version of the iPad Air features a frosted paint process. When used in an indoor environment, the color of the real machine will be a little darker than in the product picture, closer to the dark blue. In addition to the iPad itself, I also paired it with a white version of the Magic Keyboard, and the color combination of "blue and white" is also quite matched. And the white Magic Keyboard is more resistant to dirt than I thought, making it easy to remove stains after stains. However, some users who have used the keyboard have said that there is still a possibility of yellowing after long-term use. Appearance and durability require you to weigh it before purchasing.
"Blue and white matching" is actually quite good-looking
▍ Fully unleash the iPad's ability dessert size
What really reflects the value of the iPad Air is its 10.9-inch screen size, which in my opinion is a "big enough and small enough" size that appropriately balances information and portability.
"Large enough" means that its display area is large enough to carry a sufficient amount of valid messages. The iPad Air is about four-fifths the size of an A4 sheet of paper, and the actual display area is roughly the same as this ratio.
One of the scenarios where I use iPad more often is viewing PDF files. Normally, I read in portrait mode, where reading a document on iPad Air feels very close to printing out on A4 paper, and my reading speed and annotation habits are perfectly inherited on iPad. And when I need to read the document while doing something else (such as looking up words or chatting), using the horizontal screen mode split screen browsing, iPad Air width is still enough to present text content, will not feel that the same screen information is greatly reduced. If you use the iPad mini to complete this task, it will appear obviously cramped.
In addition to reading documents, iPad Air is also suitable for two people to share movies together. Recently, the epidemic in Shenzhen has worsened, and everyone works from home, and Daisy and I have a lot more time to watch movies while eating. We used to put the 12.9-inch iPad Pro on the table, although the display effect is great, but the 13-inch big guy on the dinner table is really a bit of a place, a little more fried two dishes will not have room to put. The size of the iPad Air can take into account the vision of the two people watching the drama without taking up a place, if it is nestled in the bed to watch the drama together, the hands holding the iPad Air will not be too tired.
The iPad Air is much smaller than the iPad Pro (12.9), making room for even a bunch of dishes on the table
In addition, the display scale of the iPad Air gives the user a subtle hint that "you can look at me like a piece of paper." After receiving the iPad Air, before I could tinker with it, Daisy took it and drew a few small pictures and gave it a "good" rating. However, the iPad Pro has been in my house for a long time, and although it has a larger display area and is equipped with an Apple Pencil, it does not make Daisy feel the urge to paint. After a brief communication, I realized that the size and size of the iPad Air made Daisy intuitively associate with pen and paper, and she naturally followed the habit of using pen and paper to draw with Procreate.
"Small enough" means that it is much smaller and lighter than the 12.9-inch iPad Pro while taking into account the amount of information displayed, which makes me more willing to pick up and use it in different life scenarios.
The aforementioned "no place on the dining table" is a good example, and there are many similar scenarios, such as I am used to reading text for a while before going to bed, but the iPad Pro is too large to be used in bed. Not only that, the iPad Pro after the Magic Keyboard weighs more than 1300 grams, which is not much worse than the MacBook Air in terms of volume and weight, and has been separated from the light and thin of the tablet category.
However, the size of the iPad Air is not perfect, and one of the influences is the Magic Keyboard. On the 12.9-inch version of magic keyboard, the main function buttons are full-size, but some of the buttons in the 10.9-inch version are limited by size and can only be half width. These keys are concentrated in the right small thumb range, the frequency of use is not low, if you follow the normal keyboard use habits, it is easy to mistakenly touch or can not find the key, affecting the input efficiency. For example, when I enter text, the two keys of "+" and "-" are most commonly used to flip the page, and the half-width button often makes mistakes. The width limit also causes the width of the two keys of the right-angle quotation marks to be different, and it is a bit difficult to find the north when pressed. Fortunately, such problems are not insoluble hard wounds, and you can adapt after two days of familiarity, but for users who especially rely on iPad for text creation, the half-width key will still bring a little trouble, and you need to consider this factor when purchasing.
Some of the keys of the 10.9-inch Version of magic Keyboard are half-width, making them easy to mistakenly touch when you first get started
▍True one-day battery life
After the release of the new iPad Air, I saw that some friends were concerned about whether there would be major changes in the follow-up flights equipped with the M1 chip. According to the apple website, the new iPad Air and the previous generation of battery life level is the same, not only that, the iPad mini, iPad Air and iPad Pro battery life level is also exactly the same. Judging from my experience, the battery life of the iPad Air is really nothing special, and I call it "true one charge a day".
My usage habit is to start at nine o'clock every day, open Feishu to participate in the editorial office's yesterday's article voting, then meet and type; use it to eat while reading YouTube at noon, continue typing after lunch break, listen to music or chat in social tools during the afternoon; use it to continue to read YouTube while eating dinner after work in the afternoon; read documents for half an hour or so before going to bed, and then charge up and go to bed. In the state of automatic indoor brightness throughout the whole process, the power of the iPad Air is just enough to meet my day's use, which can be described as a literal one charge a day.
This battery life is the "normal operation" of the iPad, no better than the previous generation, but also more than many laptops. However, since my previous iPad Pro is a 2018 model, the battery life is not as good as new today. Therefore, after replacing the iPad Air, I feel that the battery life of the iPad has been improved, which is also a passive harvest of the new device.
▍M1 chip with performance
Since Apple launched the M1 chip, I believe you have seen countless discussions about how powerful this chip is, and I will not repeat it in this article. In my daily use, whether watching a film, writing, retouching, or cutting short films in iMovie, there is no scene that can really touch the M1 performance ceiling. For the question of "when the iPad encounters the M1 chip, what kind of performance will be brought", it is also described in detail in the previous "The strongest screen + chip on the mobile platform, the iPad ushered in the biggest upgrade in history: the new iPad Pro experience". In simple terms, the M1 chip on the iPad Air compared to the iPad Pro did not make any trade-offs or "castration", only in terms of performance, iPad Pro can do everything, iPad Air can also do.
▍ Some regrets
Overall, from the old iPad Pro to the new iPad Air, my use of the feeling is more enjoyable. But there are also some things that I don't feel comfortable with.
The most obvious point is that there is no Face ID, and unlocking the open screen is a little more troublesome than the original. Most of the time, when I light up the iPad, I am in the state of holding the side of the tablet with one hand, and when using the iPad Pro, Face ID will automatically detect my face and unlock it directly, which is equivalent to the moment I pick up the iPad and complete the unlock, which can be directly operated. But on the iPad Air, I also have to take the initiative to reach out and touch touch THE TOUCH ID, although the unlocking process is very convenient, but after all, there is more of a finger movement, less of the smooth feeling of the previous one-shot.
The second is high brush screen. The iPad Pro applied the 120 Hz ProMotion high-brush screen at a very early age, which is also an important selling point of the Pro series. On large screens, the difference between different refresh rates will be much more obvious than on mobile phones. Without opening any apps, just swipe between different pages of the main interface to feel the significant difference in refresh rate between iPad Air and iPad Pro. From 120 Hz to 60 Hz, it is inevitable that each step of the operation has a bit of a card, and it will take a period of continuous use before it can be adapted.
▍Purchase suggestions
At the end of the article, I would like to talk about which users are suitable for the current iPads.
The iPad Air is undoubtedly the right device for most people, it strikes a relative balance between price and configuration, even if it is only used to watch a show, online lessons or play games, buying it is not an exorbitant investment. At the same time, it also has a high performance ceiling and expansion potential - with the same performance as the Pro series M1 chip, compatible with the Pro series of accessories, if you want to use it the Way Pro, iPad Air is completely up to your pace.
For advanced users who already know exactly what I want to do with iPad, the iPad Pro is a better fit. Compared with iPad Air, the extra "Pro" parts on iPad Pro may directly determine whether some usage scenarios are true. For example, if you're an interior designer, you might need a LiDAR camera to help you model quickly; if you want to use an iPad for podcasts, five studio-grade microphones will naturally produce better recordings; if you want visual or even 3D design on an iPad, the larger screen size and Liquid Retina XDR display will help you get the most out of your talent.
The iPad mini can be thought of as a "big phone" for users who must carry the tablet in their pockets. Compared to mobile phones, the iPad mini has a wider field of view, more information, more room to grasp when playing games, and is more visually comfortable. But it doesn't have accessories like Magic Keyboard, and the screen size isn't big enough, so the iPad mini may not be as comfortable when you need to work or create seriously.
▍Summary: An iPad in the standard sense
This generation of iPad Air is an iPad in the standard sense - easy to carry, powerful performance, balanced configuration, and the price is not expensive, which is fully in line with the impression and expectation of the public users for the word "iPad". Many friends have a plan to "use it for three or five years" when buying an iPad, and the M1 chip is the bottom that allows you to use it for a long time without worrying about backward performance. During the time of using the new iPad Air, the epidemic in Shenzhen gradually escalated, and I was stuck at home using it to work, use it to entertain, and use it to learn. To make life happy and fulfilling, this is the meaning of a good device.
https://sspai.com/post/72104?utm_source=wechat&utm_medium=social
Author: Zhang Yiyuan Nick
Editor-in-Charge: Himself