Apple announced the fifth generation of its iPad tablet computer on October 22, 2013, as the iPad Air. The Apple iPad Air is a much thinner, lighter version of earlier iPads that retains the same 9.7-inch Retina display in a profile that is 7.5 millimeters thick and weighs one pound.
Among its many new features and enhancements, the iPad Air offers a 64-bit A7 processor, iOS 7, up to twice the Wi-Fi performance of previous iPads via the use of MIMO technology and two antennas, and a variety of free built-in apps that weren t available in previous iPads, including iPhoto, iMovie, GarageBand, Pages, Numbers and Keynote.
The iPad Air was announced at the same time as the iPad Mini with Retina Display, although the iPad Air would become available for purchase earlier than the new iPad Mini. Pricing remains the same as earlier releases, with the retail price for the iPad Air starting at $499 for the 16GB Wi-Fi edition.
