Anxiously Awaiting the Air

Hello everyone!

So, one of the upcoming additions to our equipment collection is Apple's newest iPad, the iPad Air.  I am excited for this to be brought into circulation and I am sure many of our patrons will be as well.  The one-pound tablet is innovative in not only its light-weight construction, but also in its functions and available applications.  Compared to our current iPad 1, the iPad Air has much more to offer including:

• 1080p camera
• Front "FaceTime" 720p camera
• Retina display
• Siri
• A7 chip for speed and power and M7 coprocessor for motion measuring
• iOS7 and the capability to download Garage Band, iMovie, iPhoto, Pages, Numbers, and Keynotes! 

Yes, you can use Garage Band and iMovie on the iPad Air!  I myself am excited to test out these programs on the iPad and see what others think about this feature.  Is this the future of crafting music and designing movies?  What implications will there be for this "portable design" for not just us at the Student Multimedia Design Center, but designers around the globe?

The anticipation of the Air's release here is certainly exciting, but there are still some waters to test.  Diana is dissecting the tablet and noting any issues.  Nick R., Dillon, and I were asked to play with the apps (as if we needed to be asked!) in order to locate any issues.  It ran well and we had some fun--especially with Garage Band with the Alesis MIDI controller kit connected. 


Procedurally, this will be similar to the iPad 1, and when returned we will follow the same steps to restore.  As the instructions note, "The iPad Air may ask you to connect to the iTunes store, press "Cancel" to permanently dismiss this dialog."

One last thing: as with all of the newer Apple products, it has a lightning port rather than the 30-pin port.