Oh iPad Air, how can you even call yourself an Air anymore?
Today, Apple hosted its “Let Loose” iPad event and announced the next-generation iPad Pro and iPad Air as well as its new Apple Pencil Pro and next-gen Magic Keyboard for the iPad Air and iPad Pro. The company also revealed some notable software updates to Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro.
One of the biggest changes to the new iPad Pro is its all new design which, in addition to resulting in some thermal performance and other gains, also made the iPad Pro the thinnest product Apple has ever created — even thinner than the previous record holder: the long-gone iPad nano.
It’s also now lighter than the iPad Air
In addition to being the thinnest product Apple has ever created, the new iPad Pro is now also even lighter than its predecessor and, oddly enough, lighter than the iPad Air.
For the 11-inch models, the iPad Pro now weighs under a pound at 0.98 pounds (444 grams). The new 11-inch iPad Air, in comparison, weighs 1.02 pounds (462 grams). For the 13-inch models, the iPad Pro comes in at 1.28 pounds (579 grams) while the newly announced 13-inch iPad Air comes in a bit heavier at 1.36 pounds (617 grams).
This is a strange reality, especially since Apple has historically used “Air” in the name of a product to convey that it was thinner or lighter than comparable products. Since it unveiled the wedge-shaped MacBook Air by pulling it out of an envelope, the “Air” name has stood for thin and light.
It’s weird to see that, with its redesign, the iPad Pro is not both thinner and lighter than the iPad Air. Perhaps the next generation of the iPad Air will also get a more substantial redesign to reclaim its name? We’ll have to wait and see.
We’re covering the Apple iPad event as it happens. Follow the Let Loose event LIVE here. Or check out our roundups for all the latest on the new OLED iPad Pro, iPad Air, and the new Apple Pencil.
