The iPad Air 2: A host of hidden upgrades in one skinny package

Apple has trained us pretty well about what to expect from alternating years of iDevice launches. The year of the Big Upgrade is routinely followed by the year of an extra letter tacked to the end of the name.

Traditionally, Apple devotes its so-called "off" years to smoothing out prior iPhone or iPad issues while introducing respectable speed and spec boosts, even the occasional cool new feature. While we know better than to expect tablet revelations on an annual basis, now is a bad time for Apple to hit the snooze button. iPad sales are flattening, tablet/phablet competition is growing, and there's a looming sense—one we already had last year—of wonder on the device itself, of where, exactly, the default iPad form factor fits into our personal device portfolio.

It's good that in the face of all that, the iPad Air 2 really isn't a standard off-year release. It barely bends the external mold of its 2013 Air sibling, sharing most of the same dimensions and screen attributes, but it also takes the processing power and spec sheet we were happy to pay $500-plus for last year and jacks them up significantly. On top of everything, Apple reduces device thickness and weight even further for its latest iPad (and the company even improves the rear-facing camera, too).

The only problem? The iPad Air 2's launch setup brings up and fails to answer a new question. With a tablet, what exactly are we supposed to do with all of this power?

The sound of one hand browsing

Look at both iPad Air models from up high, and you'll be hard pressed to notice a difference. From that vantage point, the height, length, 1.2 MP front-facing camera, and bezels are identical, as is the reflective aluminum tapering around the body that connects the front and back sides.

The only visible difference is the new Touch ID sensor on the iPad Air 2, which has replaced the standard home button. Just like on the iPhone 5S and beyond, Touch ID requires a calibration procedure to read your fingerprint from various angles. From that point, unlocking or paying for purchases requires a half-second dabbing of your fingerprint on the sensor at pretty much any angle you can imagine.

This is the first iPad model with the feature, and while it works without a hitch, its introduction on a tablet reveals a logistical wrinkle: namely, that iPad owners are less likely to power their iPads by tapping the Touch ID sensor, whether because they're picking up the larger device with two hands or using a Smart Cover. Thus, they might not enjoy as much of a power-on speed boost as iPhone users.

Specs at a glance: Apple iPad Air
Screen	2048×1536 9.7-inch (264 PPI) touchscreen
OS	iOS 8.1
CPU	1.5GHz triple-core Apple A8X
RAM	2GB DDR3
GPU	"Apple A8X GPU"
Storage	16, 64, or 128GB NAND flash
Networking	802.11a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0
Camera	8MP rear camera, 1.2MP front camera
Ports	Lightning connector, headphone jack
Size	9.4" × 6.6" × 0.24" (240 × 169.5 × 6.1 mm)
Weight	0.96 pounds (437 g) Wi-Fi, 0.98 pounds (444 g) with cellular
Battery	7,340 mAh
Starting price	$499
Other perks	Charger, Lightning cable

If you want to appreciate the biggest form-factor change in the iPad Air 2, pick it up with one hand. The reduction in weight and thickness from the iPad Air are subtle enough to miss with a standard two-hand hold—or even resting it on your stomach while watching videos in bed. Those changes prove particularly noticeable if you're one-handing your Air 2 while, say, walking around the office or reading on the beach while using your other hand to support your weight.

We know that's not an ideal way to use an iPad, and Apple must have agreed. The company didn't elect to include the new iOS "reachability" functionality along with the iPad Air 2's Touch ID feature. While any longtime iPad user has suffered the wrist fatigue associated with using older iPads as e-book readers—and the last iPad Air lightened the load considerably—we could honestly see this model erasing our desire to pack a separate e-reader for more comfortable vacation book reading from here on out.

The Air 2 doesn't feel cheap or fragile as a result of its apparent dieting, as it sports the same aluminum chassis as its older, ever-so-thicker sibling. But with Bendgate still fresh in our minds, we took our two iPad Air 2 models (16 GB with Wi-Fi, 128 GB with 4G), along with the original, and applied some subtle force to see if we could get them to flex a bit out of shape. We know the "bend in pocket" scenario that affected some iPhone 6 Plus handsets isn't something an iPad user should reasonably expect—unless they wear the biggest jeans in the world—but both iPad Air 2 models bent a decent amount more than the far-more-rigid iPad Air 1 did (though they did bend back into place just fine afterward).

We checked the bending to confirm our suspicion—that we don't think the move toward thinness resulted in a serious degradation of build quality—but if Apple runs these things any thinner, the company will want to work on some serious reinforcement design.

The back of the iPad Air 2 has the same curved sloping around the edges and the same smooth aluminum body, but almost every other element, save the Lightning interface, has received a slight change. For starters, say goodbye to the mute/rotation lock switch; those options now live in the pull-from-bottom menu in iOS 8. Muting has always been as simple as holding the volume-down button for a second, so we're more annoyed that we can't lock the rotation by way of a switch anymore. (Personally, I want to enable such a lock when my hands are on the device's edge while, you know, rotating the thing.)

In addition, the stereo speakers still live on the device's bottom, but their openings have been remodeled as a single row of dots, as opposed to two. We found that this projected more sound forward when watching videos and listening to music, though we couldn't tell how much that had to do with the Air 2's total increase in volume. Either way, the newer model is easier to hear, and it's also worth noting the opposite can be true. The Air 2's lowest volume setting is lower than the Air 1's, in case you're trying to watch late-night TV without bothering the person next to you.

The Air 2's two microphones have been moved next to the camera sensor, as opposed to the top of the Air 1. We assume this was done to compensate for users who might otherwise cover microphones with their hands. Lastly, the rear-facing camera has seen a significant boost, jumping from last year's 5MP offering to an 8MP lens. This isn't the exact same lens as can be found in the iPhone 6—and it lacks the Optical Image Stabilization of the 6 Plus—but the specs otherwise match up pretty closely.

Our tests revealed that the iPad Air 2's lens has a better capacity to pick up colors in a scene, whether by quickly compensating for a dark room or picking out colors in the sky without enabling options like HDR. We think the iPad Air 2's new burst mode is a bigger deal, but users will certainly miss it if they don't know beforehand—there's no option or special icon to toggle. Instead, hold the "shoot" button down, and your iPad Air 2 will snap photos in rapid succession and then automatically pick the "best" one in your gallery. (Burst mode will last as long as you want; we got bored after it snapped 120 photos of a couch.)

Weirdly, even with burst mode enabled, our default photos tended to be sharper when taken by the iPad Air 1 than the iPad Air 2 (see above). That is to say, we pointed, we shot, and we held the iPad as still as possible, and these were the results. Thus, while we're certainly impressed by the newer iPad's color reproduction—especially in the "shrub" shot above, which absolutely nailed color reproduction of things like walls and fences—we weren't otherwise sold on this as a reason to fish an iPad out for a "superior" photo.

The camera also supports slow-motion video, but its capture maxes out at 120 frames per second. That's less than the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus' 240 frames per second.