iPad Air 2 — First Impressions

Surprisingly, my wife’s iPad Air 2 arrived this morning and since she’s at work, I got the chance to play around with it for a few hours before I get my own. She opted for a 64 GB model, without cellular connectivity, in white.

New camera.

The new camera certainly looks better and while we don’t use our iPads for any kind of photography, perhaps I will use it for video from time to time.

Touch ID.

It seems that iFixit has confirmed that the new Touch ID sensor on the Air 2 is identical to the one used in the iPhone 6 — that’s a good thing; it’s much more reliable.

Air 1 (bottom); Air 2 (top)

The difference in thickness doesn’t seem to be very significant, but when held, it immediately becomes apparent. It seems to be easier to hold with one hand, though I will have to test this at length. Combined with the reduced weight, it’s not a game changer, but very noticeable. Since I’m upgrading from the Mini 2 this should make me happy despite the larger size.

iPad Air 1 screen.

iPad Air 2 screen.

I hope you can see the difference in the above photos — the screen and glass distance is now greatly reduced due to them being laminated together. I haven’t yet noticed the anti-reflective coating, but it is quite overcast today…

Custom engraving.

I got the above engraving for Iwona when I bought the iPad Air 1. She refused to switch to the new one without duplicating it, so I didn’t have much of a choice — came out beautifully.

Unfortunately, I had to order mine in gold so we wouldn’t mix our iPads up — I really wanted the white front. I’ll try to get some photos up when it finally arrives.