Apple iPad Air 2 Philippines Price and Release Date Guesstimate, Complete Specs : Should You Upgrade?

Very early this morning, while most of you guys were still asleep, Apple officially introduced its 6th generation flagship tablet.

The iPad Air 2 looks largely similar to its predecessor but it's a lot thinner and it features a handful of improvements both obvious and under the hood.

Apple iPAd Air 2

“iPad is a magical piece of glass that runs more than 675,000 apps specifically designed for it, and is thin and light enough that you can comfortably hold it all day; the new iPad Air 2 is packed with amazing new innovations, weighs less than a pound, and at just 6.1 mm is the thinnest tablet in the world,” shared Mr. Philip Schiller, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing.

He added,iPad Air 2 has a new Retina display with anti-reflective coating, second generation 64-bit A8X chip, all-new iSight and FaceTime HD cameras, faster Wi-Fi and LTE wireless, and includes the revolutionary Touch ID fingerprint identity sensor.

Apple iPAd Air 2
Weighing 0.96 pounds, the iPad Air 2 is not the lightest tablet available in the market. But measuring only 6.1 millimeters at its thickest point, it is surely the thinnest -- as of today.

Apple iPAd Air 2

The iPad Air 2 flaunts a 9.7 inch 2048 x 1536 pixels resolution Retina Display, which is just like that of last year's release but the screen is now fully laminated and has anti-reflective coating, which should help provide a more enjoyable viewing experience on the device even when you're using it outdoors under direct sunlight.

The main camera at the back likewise received a slight specs bump as it's now an 8 MegaPixel shooter versus just 5 MP on the previous iteration.

Apple iPAd Air 2

Below the screen, we'll find the new Touch ID, which didn't make an appearance on the iPad line until now. This sensor has the same functionality as what's on the iPhone 5S, iPhone 6, and iPhone 6S -- allowing you to quickly unlock the device, make purchases on the App Store without having to always type in your password, among a few others.

Apple iPAd Air 2

Under the hood, Apple iPad Air 2 is powered by the new Apple-designed A8X chip, which - according to the Cupertino company - "delivers a 40 percent improvement in CPU performance and 2.5 times the graphics performance of iPad Air, and still delivers the up to 10-hour battery life users expect while working, playing games or surfing the web. Combined with 'Metal', the new graphics technology in iOS 8, the A8X chip unlocks realistic visual effects comparable to the most advanced gaming consoles. iPad Air 2 also includes the M8 motion coprocessor that gathers motion data from the accelerometer, gyroscope, compass and an all-new barometer which senses air pressure to provide relative elevation."

Apple iPAd Air 2

So should you upgrade? If you're a big Apple fan and you have more than enough moolah to do so, by all means, upgrade. To be honest, however, I don't see enough design and features improvement that makes this iteration a compelling update to last year's iPad Air. Nonetheless, if you're coming from an earlier version of the iPad - like the New iPad or the iPad 4 or an even more dated release and you want to experience the latest of what Apple has to offer in this category, I think now is the perfect time to make an upgrade.

TechPinas Tablet Technical Specs Table (TTabTST)
Name Apple iPad Air 2 (6th Generation iPad)
Type Tablet
Price Category High-End (Flagship Level)
Dimensions and Weight WiFi Only Version
Height: 9.4 inches (240 mm)
Width: 6.6 inches (169.5 mm)
Depth: 0.24 inch (6.1 mm)
Weight: 0.96 pounds (437 g)

WiFi + Cellular (Nano SIM)
Height: 9.4 inches (240 mm)
Width: 6.6 inches (169.5 mm)
Depth: 0.24 inch (6.1 mm)
Weight: 0.98 pounds (444 g)
Available Colors Space Gray, Gold, Silver
Operating System iOS 8
Display Retina display
9.7-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit Multi-Touch display with IPS technology
2048-by-1536 resolution at 264 pixels per inch (ppi)
Fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating
Fully laminated display
Antireflective coating
Processor Apple A8X chip with 64-bit architecture and M8 motion coprocessor
RAM 2GB of RAM (TBC)
Memory 16 GB, 64 GB, and 128 GB options
Camera Front-Facing FaceTime HD Camera:
1.2MP photos
720p HD video
FaceTime video calling over Wi‑Fi or cellular
Face detection
Backside illumination
Tap to control exposure for video or still images
Photo and video geotagging

Main iSight Camera at the Back:
8MP photos
Autofocus
Face detection
Backside illumination
Five-element lens
Hybrid IR filter
ƒ/2.4 aperture
Tap to focus video or still images
Tap to control exposure for video or still images
Photo and video geotagging
HDR photos
Burst Mode
Video Capture 1080p HD
video recording
Video stabilization
Face detection
Tap to focus
while recording
Backside illumination
3x video zoom
Slo-Mo Video
Audio and Video Playback Audio: Frequency response: 20Hz to 20,000Hz
Audio formats supported: AAC (8 to 320 Kbps), Protected AAC (from iTunes Store), HE-AAC, MP3 (8 to 320 Kbps), MP3 VBR, Audible (formats 2, 3, 4, Audible Enhanced Audio, AAX, and AAX+), Apple Lossless, AIFF, and WAV
User-configurable maximum volume limit

TV and Video: AirPlay Mirroring to Apple TV (2nd and 3rd generation) at 720p
AirPlay video streaming to Apple TV (3rd generation) at up to 1080p and Apple TV (2nd generation) at up to 720p
Video mirroring and video out support: Up to 720p through Lightning Digital AV Adapter and Lightning to VGA Adapter; video playback up to 1080p (sold separately)
Video formats supported: H.264 video up to 1080p, 30 frames per second, High Profile level 4.1 with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; MPEG-4 video up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps per channel, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; Motion JPEG (M-JPEG) up to 35 Mbps, 1280 by 720 pixels, 30 frames per second, audio in ulaw, PCM stereo audio in .avi file format
Ports 3.5 mm audio jack, 9-pin Lightning dock connector port
Connectivity For WiFi Only:
802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi (802.11n 2.4GHz and 5GHz)
Bluetooth 4.0 wireless technology,

For WiFi+Cellular model:
additional UMTS/HSPA/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA (850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz); GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz)
CDMA EV-DO Rev. A and Rev. B (800, 1900 MHz)
LTE (Bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26)
Data only
Sensors Three-axis gyro, Accelerometer, Ambient Light Sensor, Touch ID, Barometer
Battery Built-in 27.3-watt-hour rechargeable lithium-polymer battery
Uptime Up to 10 hours of surfing the web on Wi‑Fi, watching video, or listening to music
Up to 9 hours of surfing the web using cellular data network
Charging via power adapter or USB to computer system
Announcement October 17, 2014
Availability Philippines: TP Guesstimate ~ November via online sellers, December via official network carriers
Price Official SRPs in the United States:
Wi‑Fi Only
16GB - $499
64GB - $599
128GB - $699

Wi‑Fi + Cellular:
16GB - $629
64GB - $729
128GB - $829

Just for comparison ~
Kimstore Apple iPad Air Prices (November 2, 2013 Kimstore Launch):

WiFi Only
16GB - Php 23,580
32GB - Php 27,880
64GB - Php 32,680
128GB - Php 35,880

WiFi + Cellular (4G)
16GB - Php 29,380
32GB - Php 33,780
64GB - Php 39,780
128GB - Php 43,440