3 Killer Features We Wish Apple Had Packed with the New iPad Air
It was thin, light and more importantly brimming with power under the hood but the iPad Air that Apple has just unveiled still skipped some features that would have made the iOS 7 slate virtually perfect and a killer.
We listed below what we believe are the game-changing features that users will surely miss out with the fifth make of Apple's 9.7-inch tablet:
Multiple-user account
Android has it and definitely Microsoft has extended this useful device computing function to the Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 that currently power mobile devices and conventional computers. Allowing different users to create his or her unique account on a tablet (or even smartphone) encourages unlimited productivity plus privacy.
And it saves money, especially for a family unwilling to blow too much cash by purchasing tablets for each member when one or two will do.
It has been rumoured that Apple will port this OS X feature to the new iPad Air, which would have made many Moms and Dads quite happy. But the tech giant decided otherwise, likely realising that it makes more business sense for everyone to get the iPad Air instead of sharing a single unit.
Touch ID
We thought Touch ID is a given iPad feature - the offering is cool and quite functional. While the Apple rendering is far from perfect, gadget users would certainly appreciate a tool that provides them extra layer of protection aside from the usual pass codes, face recognition and pattern inputs.
Strangely, Apple thought it wise to skip the deployment of fingerprint scanner for its tablet lines. Perhaps, the production issue concerning this particular technology is really that serious as some analysts suggest. Or the company would simply want to further enhance the system before giving iPad users a taste of its prowess.
It would have been a great companion in guarding multiple-user accounts had Apple stuffed Touch ID with the iPad Air. But then again, the two features are absent from the slate and users will have to wait until the next iPad to experience them.
256GB of iPad space
Like the iPad 4 before it, the iPad Air will boast of a variant with 128GB of built-in memory. Seems good enough for the tablet to serve as a portable digital locker, which is especially useful for those who are used to move around with their favourite music, movies, e-books and TV show episodes.
The latter appears to be the current passion of Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and he did not hide his disappointment, using the Apps World gathering staged this week as a forum, that the maximum storage capacity delivered by Apple with the iPad Air is only 128GB.
With 128GB, his iPad would easily run out of space when he has to store all his must-watch TV shows, foremost of which is The Big Bang Theory, Mr Wozniak said, per reports by BGR. And without a memory expansion slot, he really would be out of luck (or device memory) pretty soon.
Powered by iOS 7 and an A7 chip capable of 64-bit computing tasks, the iPad Air is set for a Nov 1 release date, hitting on select markets such as the United States and China on its first day of availability. Price starts at $499.