Before the iPhone 12 series arrives in Malaysia, Apple has finally released its new iPad Air 2020 for the local market. This is their new mid-range iPad that runs on the latest Apple A14 Bionic chip.
Pricing and availability
The iPad Air 2020 is offered with 64GB or 256GB of storage and it’s available in both WiFi only and cellular versions. Below is the official Malaysian pricing along with its compatible accessories:
WiFi
64GB – RM2,599
256GB – RM3,249WiFi + Cellular
64GB – RM3,149
256GB – RM3,799Accessories
Apple Pencil (2nd gen) – RM549
Apple Magic Keyboard – RM1,349
The tablet comes in 5 colours – silver, space grey, rose gold, green and sky blue. You can buy it now from the official Apple Online store but availability depends on the version you’re taking.
The 64GB WiFi variant will ship within 4-6 business days, while the 256GB WiFi version takes 5-7 business days. If you want the cellular version with 4G LTE support, unfortunately, it isn’t available yet.
Alternatively, you can also pre-order the new tablet from authorised retailers such as Machines and Switch, with stocks expected to arrive on the 23rd of October. Alternatively, you can also pre-order via the Apple flagship store on Lazada.
Hardware Specs
The new iPad Air gets an iPad Pro like design and it features a 10.9″ Liquid Retina Display that pushes 2360×1640 pixels resolution. There’s no longer a home button, but Apple has integrated Touch ID to its power button.
Under the hood, it runs on an 5nm Apple A14 Bionic chip, which is the same processor that’s powering the new iPhone 12 series. The new Air also gets stereo speakers which is great for video consumption.
Unlike its predecessor, the new iPad Air now supports the 2nd generation Apple Pencil and it also works with the Magic Keyboard. For imaging, it features a single 12MP main camera at the rear that can shoot 4K videos at 60fps. Meanwhile, the front gets a 7MP selfie shooter that can do FaceTime HD.
The device still boasts 10 hours of battery life and it now supports USB-C charging. Unlike the new iPhone models, Apple is still including a 20W USB-C power adapter in the box, along with a USB-C to USB-C cable. With the USB-C port, you can also hook it up to an external 4K monitor.
If you compare this to last year’s iPad Air 2019, the new version costs RM400 extra. To learn more, you can check out our announcement post and Nic’s article about why you should buy the iPad Air as your next iPad.
