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FrumpyGus

macrumors member
Oct 10, 2020
31
23
Another point that was interesting was about pen latency and Brad Cowboy's review confirmed that there is hardly any difference and he his one of the main tablet artist on youtube. That's only complaint I have with Dave Lee's otherwise great review, he stressed pen latency without even showing it (or even testing it?). Probably based on just the idea that 120hz makes the pencil noticeably faster. Personally, I am no artist but comparing the 10.5 and the mini 5 I can't see any speed difference.
Yeah, I probably wouldn't notice it myself (or maybe will slowly start to drive me crazy after a couple month, lol) with pencil latency...big thing is simply it uses Pencil 2, no air gap, and the Magic Keyboard, PERIOD...THAT alone makes it worth upgrading from Air 3. I'm super happy that the 4GB RAM was good enough for split window apps. I was a good point about future iOS rollouts that usually get limited by the RAM. I'm glad Brad Cowboy did his review...made me comfortable about the illustrator's view on it.
 
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Digitalguy

macrumors 601
Apr 15, 2019
4,659
4,495
Yeah, I probably wouldn't notice it myself (or maybe will slowly start to drive me crazy after a couple month, lol) with pencil latency...big thing is simply it uses Pencil 2, no air gap, and the Magic Keyboard, PERIOD...THAT alone makes it worth upgrading from Air 3. I'm super happy that the 4GB RAM was good enough for split window apps. I was a good point about future iOS rollouts that usually get limited by the RAM. I'm glad Brad Cowboy did his review...made me comfortable about the illustrator's view on it.
Since I returned my 11 pro last year I have always said the thing I missed most was pencil 2 (by the way, I kept it since I had bought at a great price of $60) and USB C. Another thing I like is touch id since I didn't like face id not working when I was not in from of my ipad (I keep tablets on the side next to my main laptop and sometimes want to turn them on while standing, and neither worked). As for 4GB RAM it's fine, it could become limiting for some high end future (Mac) apps, but it won't become a bottleneck like 2GB is now. I think 3GB might become an equivalent bottleneck at some point in a distant future (like 5 years), but not 4.
 

joeblow7777

macrumors 604
Sep 7, 2010
7,192
9,036
My case was out for delivery today, but apparently FedEx lost it...

So after filing a delivery dispute yesterday, the package appeared right outside my front door early this morning. No explanation, but it definitely was not there yesterday. Oh well. Now I'm just nervous about them actually delivering the iPad itself on Friday.
 

kazmac

macrumors G4
Mar 24, 2010
10,103
8,658
Any place but here or there....
Yeah, I probably wouldn't notice it myself (or maybe will slowly start to drive me crazy after a couple month, lol) with pencil latency...big thing is simply it uses Pencil 2, no air gap, and the Magic Keyboard, PERIOD...THAT alone makes it worth upgrading from Air 3. I'm super happy that the 4GB RAM was good enough for split window apps. I was a good point about future iOS rollouts that usually get limited by the RAM. I'm glad Brad Cowboy did his review...made me comfortable about the illustrator's view on it.
As a hobby artist, I take Brad’s word over Dave regarding Apple Pencil 2 latency too. I draw on the base iPad and have tried the iPad Pro. I love the Apple Pencil 2, but ProMotion isn’t as big a thing for me. Yes, the Pencil felt a little smoother, but overall it was not enough for me to keep the 11” iPP. That’s not to say I won’t try a 12.9” iPad Pro for art at some point, but right now, the Air seems like it fits my wants and need.

Looking forward to receiving my Rose Gold Air this Friday.

UPDATE: Just received the AppleCare email, so I expect my Air to ship soon.:)
 
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Herrpod

macrumors 65816
May 29, 2019
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Was waiting to hear about the speakers. That they sound nearly identical to the quad speakers on the Pro is music to my ears. I'll wait to see what deals Apple offers this Black Friday and then grab one.
 
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Sinochick

macrumors member
Sep 4, 2010
45
19
Vancouver, BC
Sorry if this has been asked before - how do the speakers sound with this IPad Air? I love the 4 speakers from the iPad Pro but I don’t really need the Pro. I was really disappointed with the 2 speakers on the iPad 6th Gen and wondering how the speakers on this iPad Air sound.
 

Dstopsie

macrumors 68020
Jun 22, 2010
2,214
3,161
LOS ANGELES BABY!!
My space grey 256 WiFi wasn’t supposed to ship until November 3-5. And tonight my apple credit card got charged.

it’s now preparing to ship!! Wow!! Should ship tomorrow. Wasn’t supposed for ship until two weeks from now!!
 
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lexikon318

macrumors regular
Dec 3, 2018
212
245
So, potentially dumb question.... since the top button has Touch ID, wouldn’t a case on the iPad cover it up and render it useless?

I haven’t looked around at cases yet but just curious because I typically use one.
 

Herrpod

macrumors 65816
May 29, 2019
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Did anyone else use the education store to get $50 off? Same discount for both 64 gb and 256 gb models.
I would have, but the military store gives 100 off. I use the education store when they give out free headphones with purchases for back to school though.
 

joeblow7777

macrumors 604
Sep 7, 2010
7,192
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So, potentially dumb question.... since the top button has Touch ID, wouldn’t a case on the iPad cover it up and render it useless?

I haven’t looked around at cases yet but just curious because I typically use one.

Not any case that’s actually made for this iPad. You’ll have to look carefully though, because I’ve already seen some cases that were designed for the 11” 2018 iPad Pro which is the same form factor as this one be listed as compatible on Amazon.
 
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lexikon318

macrumors regular
Dec 3, 2018
212
245
Not any case that’s actually made for this iPad. You’ll have to look carefully though, because I’ve already seen some cases that were designed for the 11” 2018 iPad Pro which is the same form factor as this one be listed as compatible on Amazon.

Gotcha. Thanks.
 

Herrpod

macrumors 65816
May 29, 2019
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Cases don’t cover the buttons, but some cases do make hitting the power button harder than it should be, and I imagine it would be a pain to use the fingerprint sensor on those.
 

TheIntruder

macrumors 68000
Jul 2, 2008
1,771
1,282
So, potentially dumb question.... since the top button has Touch ID, wouldn’t a case on the iPad cover it up and render it useless?

I haven’t looked around at cases yet but just curious because I typically use one.

In their eagerness to be first to market for the hot new model, accessory makers sometimes play a bit loose with what they label as "compatible," which can result in little compromises, or less than perfect fit. Sometimes, design adjustments are made in subsequent production runs that make them better, or truly tailored for the new model.

It happens with screen protectors, cases, and is more acute when Apple only makes small changes in its product dimensions or part placements (sensors/magnets, buttons, and such), but, depending on design elements, or tolerances, can work both for, and against the suitability of an existing design for the new model.

One telltale sign that should raise flags is a package with a supplemental sticker applied to it, specifically proclaiming compatibility with the new model. That indicates that it's probably originally designed for an older model, but physically "close enough" to work with the new one, at least until the company can make revisions and produce new runs, based on the actual newly released model.

Such a thing probably mostly goes unnoticed, or is not significant enough to concern those without OCD, but can compromise appearances (e.g.--the asymmetrical speaker cutouts and shifted camera bump of the XS vs the X), if not function (magnets not placed properly to trigger sleep/wake; Apple loves to move them around from model to model). With screen protectors, some of the cuts and radii clearly don't match; there was a picture posted here of a mismatched Zagg protector on an XR that looks horrible, even if one is willing to pay more for a brand name.

The tables can be turned and affect old models as well. I just ran into this with a case from Speck.

To its credit, it was able to quickly produce a new model specifically for the Air 4 (1386501050), with a frame molding that has a large cutout around the top button to accommodate Touch ID.

Yet it also labels this case as compatible with the 11" Pro, which results in a unsightly exposed gap where none is needed, so those users might actually prefer the previous version truly and originally designed for the 2018/2020 11" Pro models (1348581050), albeit whose clearance status at Best Buy probably indicates it has stopped production, and been discontinued.

These are minor, more often early adopter issues, but something to be aware of. Some companies make it easier to distinguish, with distinct model numbers, but some just make running changes in production, with no other indications that can be gleaned without closer examination.

In this case, the external dimensions of the Air 4 and 11" Pro differ only fractionally in thickness, so the area to zero in on is how the top button area is handled. And whether a case maker decides to revert back to the smaller single camera cutout shared with the 2018 Pro, or leave it large as a compromise to cover all the 2018/2020 bases will indicate how dedicated it is to making each product truly bespoke.
 
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Fishels

macrumors 6502
Feb 25, 2015
260
67
Any word on battery size and or battery life?
not that I expect it to be bad or anything, but it’d be cool to know the specifics of both.
 
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