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The new iPad Air carries Apple’s most advanced chip

The most powerful iPad Air ever

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Apple’s latest chip — the A14 Bionic — was probably supposed to debut on the iPhone 12 but the pandemic happened and that announcement had to be delayed. Regardless, it still made a splash as the headlining component of the new iPad Air. 

Most Powerful iPad Air with A14 Bionic

The A14 Bionic chip offers a new six-core design for a 40 percent boost in CPU performance. There’s also a new four-core graphics architecture for a 30 percent improvement in graphics.

Apple showed side-by-side shots of a game and it showcased how the new chip helps in rendering an overall better visual experience of the game. There’s also no lag despite the more demanding graphics settings.

Its combination of the new Neural Engine, CPU machine learning accelerators, and high-performance GPU enables powerful on-device experiences for image recognition, natural language learning, analyzing motion, and more.

More colors, new finishes 

The upgrades aren’t all on the inside. The new iPad Air features a completely new thin and light design in five gorgeous finishes: silver, space gray, rose gold, green, and sky blue.

The new all-screen design features a larger 10.9-inch Liquid Retina display for a stunning visual experience.

To allow the display to extend on all sides, a next-generation Touch ID sensor is integrated into the top button. It provides the same fast, easy, and secure way to unlock iPad Air, log in to apps, or use Apple Pay that customers know and love.

The  iPad Air is compatible with Magic Keyboard and its floating design, and built-in trackpad, Smart Keyboard Folio, and new Smart Folio covers. It will also work with the Apple Pencil which attaches magnetically to the side for easy pairing, charging, and storing.

Upgraded camera, USB-C port 

The new iPad Air now features the same 12MP rear camera used in iPad Pro for higher resolution photos and 4K video capture. The new design features stereo speakers in landscape mode for a much better audio experience.

Also, Apple finally relented and opted for a USB-C port for up to 5GBps of data transfer. This is standard for connecting cameras, hard drives, and external monitors up to 4K. Highly unlikely though that we’ll see the same port on the iPhone 12. But we’ll see.

Distinct experience with iPadOS 14

Hardware is only half the battle. The biggest draw of the iPad over other tablets is iPadOS and the latest of which — iPadOS 14 — will run on the new iPad Air.

It better integrates Apple Pencil into the iPad experience for better note-taking capabilities, and new ways to work with handwritten notes. Smart Selection can now distinguish handwriting from drawings. Handwriting can be selected, cut, and pasted into another document as typed text using gestures that iPad users will be familiar with.

Shape recognition allows users to draw shapes that are made geometrically perfect and snap right into place when adding diagrams and illustrations in Notes.

Data detectors work seamlessly with handwritten text, recognizing phone numbers, dates, addresses, and links, making it easy for users to perform actions like tapping a handwritten number to make a call.

All of these will be available on the IPad Air plus more IPadOS 14 features.

Most environmentally friendly iPad Air

Perhaps this is the best thing about the new iPad Air that will likely go unnoticed. Apple already promised to bring its carbon footprint to net zero by 2030 and they’ve already started.

The iPad Air uses a 100 percent recycled aluminum enclosure and 100 percent recycled tin for the solder on its main logic board. The new speakers in iPad Air also use magnets with 100 percent recycled rare earth elements.

It remains free of harmful substances, is highly energy efficient, and uses wood fiber packaging that is recycled or comes from responsibly managed forests.

Pricing and availability

  • The new iPad Air will be available starting next month on apple.com and in the Apple Store app in 30 countries and regions, including the US. Wi-Fi models will be available with a starting price of US$ 599 and Wi-Fi + Cellular models start at US$ 729. It comes in 64GB and 256GB configurations, and will be available in five beautiful finishes including silver, space gray, rose gold, green, and sky blue.
  • iPadOS 14, the powerful operating system designed specifically for iPad, ships for free with the new eighth-generation iPad and new iPad Air, and will be available as a free software update tomorrow for all iPad Pro models, iPad Air 2 and later, iPad 5th generation and later, and iPad mini 4 and later.
  • Apple Pencil (2nd generation), available for purchase separately for US$129, is compatible with iPad Air.
  • Magic Keyboard and the Smart Keyboard Folio for iPad Air are available for purchase separately for US$ 299 and US$ 179, respectively, both with layouts for over 30 languages, including simplified Chinese, French, German, Japanese, and Spanish.
  • Smart Folios are available for iPad Air for US$ 79 in black, white, and three new seasonal colors including deep navy, cyprus green, and pink citrus.
  • Education pricing for individuals, including current and newly accepted college students and their parents, as well as faculty, staff, and homeschool teachers of all grade levels, is available for US$ 549 for the new iPad Air. The second-generation Apple Pencil is available for US$ 119, the Smart Keyboard Folio is available for US$ 159, and Magic Keyboard for US$ 279. For more information, visit apple.com/us-hed/shop.

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HUAWEI Pura X View is 2026’s first WIDE slab-type smartphone

2026’s first non-foldable WIDE smartphone makes its surprising debut

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Graphics by Vincenz Lee | GadgetMatch

It seems like the WIDE smartphone craze is getting out of hand.

Surprise, surprise! Out of nowhere, HUAWEI reveals the Pura X View — 2026’s first WIDE smartphone that does not fold at all.

Tied to WIDE

With the massive success of HUAWEI’s Pura X Max as well as the newly-released Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8, it’s hard to ignore the sudden trend behind WIDE smartphones. Let alone, Apple’s much-awaited iPhone foldable (dubbed the “iPhone Ultra”) will be announced in less than a month.

Graphics by Vincenz Lee | GadgetMatch

Opposed to the usual tall and narrow form factor, the Pura X View comes in a wider body with a 16:9.5 aspect ratio. Display bezels are extremely narrow too at just 1.09mm and StB (Screen-to-Body) ratio reaches a whopping 96.1%.

This wider than usual body means better ergonomics with better content consumption — from images, books, documents, all the way to movies and shows, as well as games.

While it has a smaller 6.39-inch display, the Chinese electronics giant says it has greater content area compared to 6.9-inch flagship smartphones.

Other display feats include a 2160Hz PWM Dimming, resolution of 2232 × 1320, and max brightness of up to 6500 nits.

Graphics by Vincenz Lee | GadgetMatch

Despite all these, HUAWEI still managed to put a monstrous 7000mAh battery capacity inside its super slender 6.68mm chassis — which also happens to be lightweight at only 201 grams.

Unfortunately, at the time of this writing, HUAWEI did not reveal every bit of spec on their website.

Pricing and Availability

The HUAWEI Pura X View comes in four colorways: Illusion Dark Night, Zero-degree White, Leap Shadow Red, and Linen Ash.

It’s currently open for pre-orders in China alongside three configurations:

  • 12+256GB
  • 12+512GB
  • 12+1TB

Just like its unrevealed specifications, HUAWEI did not reveal the exact pricing of the Pura X View.

Make GadgetMatch.com your daily habit so you don’t miss out on these updates!

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Samsung might launch the Galaxy S26 FE next week

A new event is hinting at the smartphone’s debut.

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It wasn’t too long ago when Samsung launched the new Galaxy Fold and Flip series. Historically, the brand is done for the year after two major Galaxy Unpacked events. However, if you’re still hankering for a few more morsels of Galaxy devices, Samsung is hosting another event next week, which might mean the debut of the Galaxy S26 FE.

This week, Samsung has just released an official invite for a Galaxy Event on August 27. The invite itself looks like a tray with two glasses of matcha and a coaster in between them. It’s visually similar to a modest camera setup, hinting at a new smartphone coming during the event.

Because Samsung has already filled its usual quota of flagships and foldables, it’s highly likely that the event is meant for the Galaxy S26 FE. The Galaxy FE series is Samsung’s way of extending the life cycle of the current generation of Galaxy phones, while also catering to another segment of the market.

As for what the Galaxy S26 FE might hold, it looks like AI might be a prime focus. Samsung confirms that the invite graphic has AI-generated images. The text accompanying the graphic also indicates that AI will be a part of the event.

It’s only a week left before the August 27 event, so we’ll get to know more about everything soon.

SEE ALSO: Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 Review

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Leaked Grand Theft Auto VI footage surfaces online

The leakers says they are protesting the game’s lack of a physical release.

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We’re nearing the dreaded date that all game publishers are rightfully fearing: the launch of Grand Theft Auto VI. Since we’re so near, it’s only right that Rockstar Games starts teasing their upcoming game, which is officially happening later this month via a special presentation on Netflix. However, ahead of that highly anticipated date, a leaker has apparently leaked the footage in protest of the game’s lack of a physical release.

Let’s parse that out piecemeal. First up, Rockstar Games is scheduled to release an extended first look at Grand Theft Auto VI through Netflix on August 27. If you don’t have the platform, the publisher will release the same footage on more public outlets six hours later. The footage will represent our biggest peek at the game after months of relative silence.

Secondly, a leaker has released the said footage ahead of time. Now, this isn’t the first time that a major leak spoiled details about the game. Previously, a leak was the first to reveal that the sixth entry in the series is getting two playable protagonists.

Third, the why: The leaker says that they will continue to reveal more information about the game to protest the game’s lack of a physical release. Like new PlayStation games next year, Rockstar Games does not plan to release a disc version of the game.

The footage itself

And, finally, the leak itself. Rockstar Games is currently issuing DMCA notices against anyone posting the leaked footage. It lends credence to the authenticity of the footage but also ensures that we can’t post the leaks themselves.

If anything, there are two reportedly legitimate clips, while others were seemingly generated with AI. The first clip has Jason, one of the two protagonists, playing basketball in his hideout, which gives him a stat boost. The clip confirms the return of minigames you can play in between missions.

The second clip sees Jason fight with a truck driver after a traffic incident. He kills the driver with a wrench, which earns him a two-star wanted level and summons a police chase as the series often does.

There’s not much to glean from these two short clips. In fact, it’s hard to say whether this footage represents the final release or something left over from previous leaks. Thankfully, Rockstar Games is releasing the official extended look soon on August 27.

After that, Grand Theft Auto VI launches on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S on November 19.

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