iPad Versus MacBook: Air What?

Lots of people had the same reaction when Apple told us the next iPad would have a new name: iPad Air. Momentary silence and then polite applause.

Me? The same. Then I thought "iPad Pro, next?"

Then the next thought was "iPad Air versus MacBook Air".



9.7" Versus 11.6" screens. Not a big diff but the iPad wins because it had a Retina display. Both have long battery lives: 10 hours versus 9 hours for the iPad and MacBook respective.

The iPad Air wins on weight but the MacBook Air runs Mavericks.

While the IPad starts at $499, a 128 GB model moves it into the MacBook Air price range. Even closer if you had the cellular version.

Oh, yeah, the iPad has a cellular option that the MacBook doesn't.

In a few years, with Apple improving the iOS and the iPad, especially with the 64-bit chip, the line between what we can do on the iPad and the MacBook will be further blurred. The computing and graphics power of the iPad has been increasing faster than on the PC side. It's unlikely the tablet will catch up to the PC anytime soon or if at all. But it may not have to. Closing some of the gap might be enough.

And a couple of more iterations from now, when people talk about the Air, they could be referring to the iPad rather than the MacBook version.


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