• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia
Apple

Apple unveils iPad Air 2, the ‘world’s thinnest tablet’

By
Tom Huddleston Jr.
Tom Huddleston Jr.
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Tom Huddleston Jr.
Tom Huddleston Jr.
Down Arrow Button Icon
October 16, 2014, 1:52 PM ET
Apple

Apple unveiled the iPad Air 2 at an invite-only event on the tech giant’s Cupertino, Ca., campus Thursday morning.

The new iPad Air 2 is 18% thinner than its predecessor and less than half the girth of the original iPad.

“Can you even see it?” Apple CEO Tim Cook joked as he showed off the new tablet. Cook had previously called the iPad “a simple and magical device,” adding that Apple has 225 million iPads in the product’s first four years in existence.

The device features a new iSight camera with 8 mexapixels and a feature called Burst mode that takes photos in bunches. The iPad Air 2 also has a touch ID sensor on its Home button, a feature that Apple previously debuted last fall with the launch of the iPhone 5s.

Apple (AAPL) also revealed the new iPad Mini 3 that features the touch ID sensor as well. At a similar Apple event last October, the company announced the first iPad Air as well as a new iPad Mini.

Apple started the event by letting Senior Vice President of Software Engineering Craig Federighi run through some of the new features of Apple’s iOS 8 and OSX Yosemite operating systems, the latter of which includes a version of the Safari explorer that the company says is 6.6 times faster than before as well as a feature called “Continuity” that lets users start working on a project on one Apple device and then carry that work over to another device. The operating system also gives users the ability to place phone calls and send and receive text messages across any Apple device.

Federighi announced that Yosemite will be available for free starting Thursday, while the iOS 8.1 update will be available starting Monday.
[fortune-brightcove videoid=3843372651001]

Apple’s latest product reveal comes a little over a month after the company launched its new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, along with the much-anticipated Apple Watch and the Apple Pay mobile payment system. If Thursday’s event did not have quite the same hoopla leading up to it as the September launch, that could be because most industry insiders felt pretty strongly that Apple would reveal its new iPad iterations along with a handful of other, slightly less exciting, updates to existing product lines.

What’s more, Apple seems to have accidentally leaked images of the two new iPads on iTunes a day before their unveiling in an iPad user guide that included previews of two new products with Home button touch ID sensors and cameras with Burst-mode features. The guide hit the web on Wednesday before being quickly removed by the company, but not before eliminating at least some of the suspense leading up to Thursday’s event.

The product launch event also saw the introduction of Apple’s newest iMac with Retina display, new Mac minis, the company’s new Yosemite operating system and news that Apple Pay will start operations on Monday.

About the Author
By Tom Huddleston Jr.
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • Future 50
  • World’s Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in

vicente
CommentaryLeadership
Ingersoll Rand CEO: here’s how employee ownership helped drive more than 8x enterprise value growth
By Vicente ReynalApril 11, 2026
10 minutes ago
karp
Future of Workpalantir
Palantir CEO says AI ‘will destroy’ humanities jobs but there will be ‘more than enough jobs’ for people with vocational training
By Jacqueline MunisApril 11, 2026
50 minutes ago
Data centers and gas demand make boring pipelines great again
EnergyPipeline
Data centers and gas demand make boring pipelines great again
By Jordan BlumApril 11, 2026
53 minutes ago
Berkshire Hathaway's Warren Buffett
SuccessWealth
Warren Buffett says ‘accumulating great amounts of money’ doesn’t achieve greatness—He still lives in a $31,500 Nebraska home and clipped coupons
By Emma BurleighApril 11, 2026
1 hour ago
A Starbucks barista stands behind a cash register.
RetailFood and drink
Starbucks’ game plan to roll out AI chatbots at cafés could serve as a ‘litmus test’ for the industry, analyst says
By Sasha RogelbergApril 11, 2026
1 hour ago
The ‘Tuscan Mom’ aesthetic is taking over TikTok as Gen Z glamorize McMansions and reject millennial gray
Travel & LeisureGen Z
The ‘Tuscan Mom’ aesthetic is taking over TikTok as Gen Z glamorize McMansions and reject millennial gray
By Sydney LakeApril 11, 2026
1 hour ago

Most Popular

Scottie Scheffler joined Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy in golf's $100M club—and donated his entire Ryder Cup stipend to charity
Success
Scottie Scheffler joined Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy in golf's $100M club—and donated his entire Ryder Cup stipend to charity
By Fortune EditorsApril 10, 2026
20 hours ago
Schools across America are quietly admitting that screens in classrooms made students worse off and are reversing years of tech-first policies
Innovation
Schools across America are quietly admitting that screens in classrooms made students worse off and are reversing years of tech-first policies
By Fortune EditorsApril 10, 2026
1 day ago
Mark Cuban admits he made a mistake letting go of the Mavericks: 'I don't regret selling. I regret who I sold to'
Investing
Mark Cuban admits he made a mistake letting go of the Mavericks: 'I don't regret selling. I regret who I sold to'
By Fortune EditorsApril 9, 2026
2 days ago
The U.S. government is spending $88 billion a month in interest on national debt—equal to spending on defense and education combined
Economy
The U.S. government is spending $88 billion a month in interest on national debt—equal to spending on defense and education combined
By Fortune EditorsApril 9, 2026
2 days ago
A Meta employee created a dashboard so coworkers can compete to be the company's No. 1 AI token user—and Zuckerberg doesn't even rank in the top 250
AI
A Meta employee created a dashboard so coworkers can compete to be the company's No. 1 AI token user—and Zuckerberg doesn't even rank in the top 250
By Fortune EditorsApril 9, 2026
2 days ago
The Navy confirmed an ‘abundant amount’ of Uncrustables when the Artemis II crew lands. Smucker’s just offered them a lifetime supply
Politics
The Navy confirmed an ‘abundant amount’ of Uncrustables when the Artemis II crew lands. Smucker’s just offered them a lifetime supply
By Fortune EditorsApril 10, 2026
14 hours ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.