Apple recently announced its updated iPad Air 4 lineup. Following the announcement of the iPad Air 4’s release, Apple’s Bob Borchers and John Ternus recently sat down with Justine and Jenna Ezarik on the “Same Brain” podcast to talk about the new iPad lineup.
Apple revealed its iPad Air 4 on September 15, complete with an updated A14 Bionic chip, a design inspired by the iPad Pro line, and a larger 10.9-inch display. Arguably the biggest difference for the iPad Air is its biometric alterations, with Touch ID moved from the Home button to the power button on the top.
Apple executives talk recent iPad Air lineup on “Same Brain” podcast
On the most recent episode of the iJustine and Jenna Ezarik podcast Same Brain published on Saturday, Apple VP of hardware engineering John Ternus and Apple VP of product marketing Bob Borchers talked about the changes that the iPad lineup underwent during the September event.
On the subject of the iPad Air’s Touch ID sensor built into the power button, Ternus explained:
“It’s an evolution of the technology. We wanted to get to the full-screen design, and we wanted to get rid of that home button and chin so we had to come up with another place for the Touch ID sensor. What made it so challenging is this really narrow aspect ratio that it has.
If you think about it, it’s only ever seeing a smaller slice of your fingerprint than what a traditional sensor could do. So it has to be incredibly sensitive and it also has to capture as you go through the enrollment process and then as it continues to adapt over time, a broader view of the fingerprints.
A lot of algorithm work, a lot of hardcore silicon and engineering work going in to create such a capable sensor in such a tiny little space.”
Borchers added additional information about the iPad’s cursor and trackpad functionality:
“The iPad is a touch-first experience, and what we didn’t want to do was to lose that in adding trackpad cursor support to it as well. And we wanted to make sure that it had all of the kind of magical elements that you would want and expect. The fact that it changes and morphs as you hover over different areas and different places, yet still retains enough of that kind of touch experience that you don’t suddenly lose context and think you’re at a different operating system.”
The full interview is highly informative and goes in-depth on the details of the iPad Pro, iPad Air, and more. The Same Brain podcast can be found on Apple Podcasts here.
