The iPad Air 2 has a thinner case and lots of hardware upgrades. It's also easier to crack open and the case hides several interesting surprises.
With a new processor, Touch ID Home button and thinner profile, the iPad Air 2 is a solid upgrade to last year's model. It's also easier to open and has a few surprises inside the case. The Air 2 is the same width and height as last year's Air, but it's ever so slightly thinner. It also weighs a few grams less, but the difference isn't noticeable, according to Gizmag.com.
Its Retina Display has the same resolution as last year's model, but in comes with a new antireflective coating, and for the first time the front panel and display are laminated together, which definitely came into play when we cracked this thing open.
Along with the screen upgrades, the Air 2 has Apple's new A8X processor and M8 motion coprocessor. It has better FaceTime and iSight cameras, 802.11ac Wi-Fi and finally a Touch ID-enabled Home button.
The Air 2's new laminated display, you no longer need to remove the front glass panel and display screen as separate parts. Once you disconnect its cables, you can remove the whole assembly. This makes opening the Air 2 much easier than last year's model.
For starters, Apple reduced the battery's capacity from a 32.9 watt/hour unit in last year's model to a 27.6 watt/hour one in the Air 2. The fact that this tablet still has the same 10-hour battery life illustrates how much more efficient the new hardware is.
The Air 2 has 2GB of DRAM compared to the original iPad Air's 1GB. This along with the new A8X processor gives the Air 2 a true performance boost.
According to IHS bill of materials on the Air 2, there's an NFC chip hiding under the motherboard's metal shields -- the same one used on the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. Now, the Air 2 does support Apple Pay, but not tap-to-pay at the register. So, the existence of this chip seems a little odd. Perhaps Apple will enable tap-to-pay at a future date.
With all its upgrades and a super-thin case, the Air 2 is solid upgrade to the iPad line. And Apple even made it a bit easier to repair.
