Although there were rumours on the cards, Apple surprised everyone today with an Apple Store refresh that replaces the iPad Air 2 with a brand new iPad.
Simply called ‘iPad’, the new device uses the updated A9 CPU and the M9 motion co-processor, a generation newer than iPad Air 2’s A8 and M8 processors. Â Aside from this and the depth and weight, the two are virtually the same physically.
The new iPad is another 9.7″ screen device with a depth of 7.5mm (iPad Air 2 is 6.1mm) and weight of 469g (478g for Wifi and Cellular model).  It comes with the now standard fingerprint sensor on the Home button, stereo speakers and 2048 x 1536 resolution (264 ppi) Retina display with lighter screen for easier reading.
What’s perhaps more surprising is that all this comes at a lower price point than the iPad Air 2, only £339 for the 32GB Wi-Fi model, £559 for the 128GB, Wi-Fi and cellular model.
The iPad Air 2 has been scrubbed from the Apple Store page in the meantime, leaving just this, the iPad Mini 4 and the iPad Pro on the store. Â This also means that the new iPad is the cheapest on the store.
When can you pre-order? Â 15:01 GMT on 24th March 2017, that’s only a couple of days time.
