iPad Air 2 Review, Specs Roundup: Apple's Thinnest, Lightest iPad Ever

Apple's iPad Air 2 was first unveiled on Oct. 16 and now appears in stores this November with new features and a hardware that makes it the thinnest and the lightest iPad.

The new iPad Air 2 has a 9.7-inch 2048x1536 Retina display, a tri-core A8x processor and 2GB RAM. A TouchID fingerprint sensor is also available in the new model. Apple also improved the rear camera with a new 8-megapixel iSight shooter and a 1.2-megapixel front camera.

The iPad Air 2 also weights only 446g and is only 6.1mm thick, compared to the iPad Air that weights 469g and is 7.5mm thick. This makes iPad Air 2 Apple's thinnest and lightest iPad so far.

iPad Air 2 is also suited for travelers, not only because of its size and weight but also because of the improvements on its camera, battery life, and the auto-brightness feature that allows for better usage.

The improvements in the camera allowed for large panorama shots, slo-mo and time-lapse videos, and burst-mode photos. iPad Air 2 also has an anti-reflective display, faster wireless connectivity, and a faster and upgraded A8X processor. The battery life lasts up to 10 hours which is good to use for a trip.

The iPad Air 2 is also available in designs of silver, gold and space grey. It lacks a right-hand side mute/lock rotation button, and has relocated its microphones. The mute and lock rotation buttons are now available on the control panel while the microphones are now placed near the rear camera. The speaker grilles also consisted of a single row of small holes instead of two rows.

Interested buyers also have a choice between purchasing units with a storage of 16GB, 64GB or 128GB with either Wi-Fi only or Wi-Fi with cellular connectivity options.

For units with available Wi-Fi, the 16GB model costs $499, the 64GB model costs $599, while the 128GB model costs $699.

Prices are higher for units with cellular connectivity. The 16GB model costs $629, the 64GB model is at $729, while the 128GB model is priced at $829.

Reports have appeared on Apple's "iPad Pro," which has a rumored screen size between 12.1 and 12.9 inches and will possibly replace the iPad mini. No release date has been set for the unit although Apple was said to be looking into an early 2015 launch before they decided to push back production in their efforts to focus on the iPhone 6 Plus.