Buying an iPad used to be easy, with one new model that was really rather good, and one older one that you should probably avoid. Now there a whopping five models on sale, with two very-similar looking iPad Air tablets at the top of the pile. Now they may look similar but there are actually considerable differences between the two tablets, not least the £80 price difference between the most basic models. Here we'll go through all the key differences between the two, so you can choose the best one for you - iPad Air vs iPad Air 2.
DESIGN AND DIMENSIONS
We were blown away last year when the original iPad Air came out and measured just 7.5mm thick. So imagine our surprise when Apple this year launched the iPad Air 2 at even thinner 6.1mm. For some this won't be a big issue, and if you haven't seen the Air 2, the Air will still feel very slender indeed. However, the new Air 2 is nicer to hold and it also skims another 32g off the weight, though that's pretty negligible given the Air 2's 437g weight. In short the Air 2 is sleeker, but it's not enough reason alone to pay the extra money.
The other physical difference between the two is the addition of Touch ID to the iPad Air 2, so the button looks a little different. It allows you to unlock your tablet with a swipe of your finger, and it saves you punching your password into iTunes all the time. If you're security conscious - maybe you use your tablet on the go a lot, or have kids around the house – then it's a nice extra to have.
One final point is that the iPad Air 2 is also available in Gold, as well the usual Silver and Space Grey finishes.
DISPLAY
The display on the Air 2 has the same core specs as its predecessor, a Retina-class 2,048x1,536 resolution over a 9.7in diagonal, giving a 264 pixels per inch. Apple hasn't stood still though, with the iPad Air 2 using a newer display that has all three layers (LCD, touch and glass) laminated into a single unit. This eliminates air gaps between them and so reduces reflections. It should also make the screen appear closer to the surface you interact with, though the effect is pretty minimal as we didn't have any complaints with the old Air in this regard. In terms of image quality the two are largely equivalent.
HARDWARE
Last year's iPad Air used Apple's first 64-bit chipset in the form of the A7, the iPad Air 2 uses a faster A8X chipset which adds a third processing core and up the clock speed a little. It's certainly faster, but you'll only notice the extra core in apps that are really crunching through data, like video editing or photo touch-ups. More importantly the RAM has doubled for 1GB to 2GB which will mean the iPad Air 2 should have a far longer useful lifespan than its predecessor as Apple inevitably packs more and more features into iOS over time.
CAMERA
The camera on the iPad Air and previous iPad's was pretty mediocre, one of the reasons why we often ridiculed those who use their iPads as cameras. The five-megapixel camera on the iPad Air takes pretty mediocre pictures, as you'd expect. The new camera on the iPad Air 2 is upgraded to a more modern eight megapixels, though its sensor size and lens aperture still isn't a match for the current crop of iPhones.
That said it performs far better than its predecessor, with more detail and better low light performance. It also gets a bunch of fancy tricks from the iPhone, such as 43-megapixel panoramas and a 10fps burst mode. There's also 1080p video and a 120fps slow-motion mode.
WI-FI
Not much change here, though the new ipad Air 2 does support the latest 802.11ac standard, which is starting to appear in some routers from broadband suppliers, and is common if you're buying your own. It provides far faster transfer speeds, though only those with the absolutely fastest internet connections, or a need to move large amounts of video or photos across their network will see any benefit.
CONCLUSION
The iPad Air 2 makes numerous small improvements over its predecessor, the iPad Air. It's faster, its screen is better and it has better battery life. However, if you use iPad around the house for little more than browsing the web, social networking, replaying to emails and the odd game you're really not going to notice much difference. More obviously, the iPad Air 2's camera is much improved and Touch ID has been added for easier security, these will interest some people, but others won't be too bothered.
If you're looking not to spend too much on an iPad then the Air is still a great tablet, with a great screen and a fast 64-bit chipset. The 16GB version is a little short of storage in our opinion and is only suited to fairly minimal use. Thankfully the 32GB version is only £40 more at £359 and comes highly recommended still.
There's no 32GB iPad Air 2, so you have to jump straight up to the 64GB model at a fairly steep £479, which is £120 more than the 32GB iPad Air. That's not cheap, but if you want the new features and you're going to make full use of it then it's worth the extra cash, you certainly won't be disappointed. Also its more powerful processor, extra RAM, and 64GB of storage on our preferred model, all make for a tablet that will undoubtedly stand the test of time better.
We feel that both Air tablets offer good value for money, which you buy comes down to how much you'll use the new features, the kind of apps you run, and whether you're happy to spend £120 more today for a longer lifespan a few years down the line.
If you need more information, then read our full iPad Air review and iPad Air 2 review.
