iPad Air — Lightest Full-Sized Tablet In The World

October 25th, 2013 by Nicholas Brown

Apple has revealed the iPad Air, which it says is the lightest full-sized tablet PC in the world, weighing in at just a pound. It also consumes 20% less electricity in standby mode than its predecessor, the iPad 4, and still has a 10-hour runtime per charge, despite a smaller battery.

Apart from the reduced power plant emissions, can you guess what else the reduced power consumption translates to? It is another step towards integrating solar cells into portable electronics. Integrated solar cells currently only partially power devices like these (which is still helpful in some situations, as they extend battery life). Reducing power consumption of these devices while improving solar cell efficiency could one day lead to in-iPad solar cells that adequately power the iPad.

Aside from the much better energy efficiency, the iPad Air was built using much less in the way of materials, translating to less mining. It was built with only 86 grams of aluminium, while the iPad 3 was built using 135 grams. Apple also pointed out that the reduced size and weight of the iPad Air can reduce the load on shipping vehicles, reducing fuel consumption and subsequently emissions. Each tablet already contributes very little to shipping emissions, but the millions and millions of iPads shipped around the world add up — little improvements like these make a difference.

“To make an iPad this thin took a huge amount of work over years; the team has just been remarkable in finding every tenth and hundredth of a millimetre from every level of the system from the bezel, to the multi-touch surface, to the display and battery and enclosure,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said at the launch event.

“The benefits are not only making it thin, but lighter too. The new iPad Air weighs just one pound. That makes it the lightest full-sized tablet in the world. When you hold it, it will be a dramatically different experience to the previous iPad.”

Reduced material requirements actually help manufacturers transition to a “circular economy” in which materials are constantly reused. As material requirements decrease, the cost and availability of recycled materials becomes less of an issue as well, as less of them are required.

Hooray for doing more with less!

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Tags: Aluminium Required For iPad, Apple, Apple iPad, ipad, iPad Air, iPad News, new iPad, solar power in the United States, united states

About the Author

Nicholas Brown writes on CleanTechnica, Gas2, Kleef&Co, and Green Building Elements. He has a keen interest in physics-intensive topics such as electricity generation, refrigeration and air conditioning technology, energy storage, and geography. His website is: Kompulsa.com.

http://electrobatics.wordpress.com/ arne-nl

Whooah, 50 grams less aluminium. that’s how much soda cans? Three?

I’d rather hear about the rare earth materials that go into the electronics and that truly matter. Much of these materials are mined in Africa under horrible circumstances.
JamesWimberley

Whoa! If CT is going to report on every new consumer gadget that claims longer battery life or standby efficiency, there won’t be room for the good stuff we come here for.
Shiggity

I got to try one and they are amazing. But the sticker shock is pretty bad. The STARTING price is 500$.
mk1313

Want to bet it is also among the least repairable which means it is yet another throw away product. Not on my desk!
- Luke
  
  Tablets are never designed to be repairable.
  - mk1313
    
    Some are a lot better at it than others!
    - Luke
      
      I can’t think of any that are designed to be user repairable off the top of my head… I personally like to believe (you may or may not know that I’m a total Apple evangelist, so take my words with a grain of salt, lol) that Apple makes up for this by making their tablets last longer and providing software updates which extend the usable life of them. The second hand market price for an Apple product is significantly more valuable than some other-name tablet – implying that they have a longer useful life.
      
      Anything which lasts longer is good in my opinion!