iPad Air 10.5 vs iPad 9.7-inch : Which one is the best to buy?

Apple updated its iPad lineup and introduced two new iPads on Monday. The iPad mini 5 and iPad Air 10.5-inch. With the former being a smaller tablet, the iPad Air 10.5-inch is neck-to-neck in terms of features and size with the iPad 9.7-inch launched last year. We take a closer look at the features and specifications of both these tablets.

Design and Display

The iPad Air 10.5-inch and iPad 9.7-inch have the same build quality. Featuring an aluminium chassis, both the devices have thick bezels on the top and bottom. However, the iPad Air has smaller bezels thanks to its larger screen in the same form factor as the iPad 9.7-inch. The iPad Air has a 10.5-inch Retina display and is slightly bigger than its 9.7-inch counterpart. In terms of resolution, the iPad Air offers a resolution of 2224 x 1668 whereas the iPad 9.7-inch has a resolution of 2048 x 1536. The iPad Air 10.5-inch has an edge as it provides a true-tone display, P3 wide colour gamut, anti-reflective coating and display brightness up to 500 nits.

The latest iPad is just 6.1mm thick compared to the iPad 9.7-inch which measures 7.5mm in terms of thickness.

Both devices miss out on Apple’s latest FaceID technology found on the iPad Pro and only have TouchID for biometric authentication and purchases. In terms of weight, the iPad 9.7-inch weights 469 grams and is slightly heavier the iPad Air which weighs 456 grams. 

Processor

This is where using the iPad Air makes a big difference. The iPad Air has Apple’s latest A12 Bionic chip with second-generation Neural Engine coprocessor paired with M12 coprocessor. The iPad 9.7-inch, on the other hand, has Apple’s A10 Fusion processor paired with M10 coprocessor, which is two years old. The iPad Air 10.5-inch is said to be 70 per cent faster than the 9.7-inch iPad.

Camera

Both tablets have the same specifications when it comes to the camera unit. The rear camera has an 8MP sensor with no flash and an aperture of f/2.4 with autofocus. It is capable of recording videos at 1080p. The front camera is a 7MP sensor and has Retina Flash for low-light selfies.

Battery, OS and other features.

Apple does not mention the battery capacity on its devices but claims both the devices to run 10 hours on a single charge. Both devices run on iOS 12 and have stereo speakers, 3.5mm jack, dual microphones and Wi-Fi/LTE connectivity. Both devices come with Lightning port over Type-C found on the Pro models. The iPad Air is compatible with Smart Keyboard and Bluetooth keyboards whereas the 9.7-inch iPad is only compatible with Bluetooth keyboards. Both devices support Apple Pencil Generation 1.

Price

The 9.7-inch iPad is cheaper than the 10.5-inch iPad Air. The base model of the 9.7-inch iPad starts at Rs 28,000 for the 32GB model. The iPad Air starts Rs 44,900 for the base variant which is a Wi-Fi only 64GB variant with an option of 256GB.  Both tablets come with Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi + Cellular options.

Should you buy?

The iPad Air 10.5-inch has a bigger screen with True-Tone display and Apple’s latest A12 Bionic chipset. It supports smart keyboard which costs an additional Rs 13,500. The iPad 9.7-inch, on the other hand, has a smaller display with a comparatively slower but reasonably good performing A10 Fusion chip. However, it is Rs 16,900 cheaper than iPad Air.