Apple VPs join Same Brain podcast to talk iPad Air, Touch ID, and more

iJustine and Jenna Ezarik interview two Apple VPs about the iPad.

What you need to know

• The Same Brain podcast had on two Apple VPs to talk about iPad.
• John Ternus, VP of Hardware Engineering, and Bob Borchers, VP of Product Marketing, sat down for the interview.
• The episode covered the new iPad Air as well as how Apple sees the entire iPad lineup.

John Ternus, Apple's Vice President of Hardware Engineering, and Bob Borchers, Apple's Vice President of Product Marketing, sat down with Justine and Jenna Ezarik on the Same Brain podcast to talk about the new iPad Air and the company's entire iPad lineup.

The first part of the interview focused on the new iPad Air, which Apple announced at its "Time Flies" event back in September along with the 8th generation iPad, Apple Watch Series 6, and Apple Watch SE. The second part of the interview brought to light how Apple views the entire iPad lineup and how each model plays its own part.

When it comes to the 8th generation iPad, Ternus says that its the iPad for everyone and a great way for those who just want to get into iPad to do so.

"I think, especially someone who's new to iPad and wants to get into that experience and wants to have, again, just this incredibly great value in terms of its capability and its functionality. It's perfect at doing all the things the original iPad, you know, did and that we said, it's the space between the notebook and the phone. It's perfect for reading or, you know, being on the web, email, that kind of stuff, but of course, we've also been bringing other technology to it. So I think with the Pencil and the Smart Keyboard, you have so much flexibility in that device."

The iPad Air, according to Ternus, is the iPad that you step up to if you want that newer form factor, higher performance, and an exciting new range of colors. The new iPad Air also works with the 2nd generation Apple Pencil and Magic Keyboard for iPad.

"Stepping up to the iPad Air, again, it's all about bringing some of these Pro technologies down and I think there, you get to take advantage of the bigger screen, the greater performance. Maybe if you're a user who's pushing more into higher performance things whether it's, you know, you want to push harder in gaming or you want to be, you know, doing video editing or other things and taking advantage of that more powerful processor, it's just a great option there, and of course the colors."

Ternus specifically called out the 12.9-inch iPad Pro as the ultimate iPad experience, with its larger display for creative pros and anyone who benefits from that extra screen space. The iPad Pro, according to Ternus, pushes the boundaries of what is possible with the iPad.

"I think the Pros, you know, really it's stepping up into that next level. What do you want to do? How do you want to push things forward? It's amazing how powerful these devices are and some of the use cases whether it's photo editing or video editing or, you know, the AR stuff we talked about, you know, someone really wanting to push farther into AR, it's just an incredible platform for that ... In particular, the 12.9, I mean, that's just kind of the ultimate, you know, experience with the big canvas and, you know, I think it's been huge for creative pros and artists and anyone who wants that extra space."

Ternus even took a second to show some love for the iPad mini, calling it a "Moleskine replacement" and that bringing the Apple Pencil to it was a huge upgrade for the device.

"The mini's a little bit off to the side, as I think the poeple who want the mini know they want the mini. It's this incredible form factor. It's super versatile too in all sorts of different ways. I think bringing the Pencil to it was a huge upgrade in terms of it's this perfect little kind of of Moleskine replacement, you know, note-taking device."

Borchers summed things up by focusing on how the iPad is really a family of products that serves the needs of any particular user, while its accessories support and bring expanded capability to the entire lineup.

"We've got this variety of screen sizes and processor capabilities and camera quality and price points, all these areas to choose from. But we also shouldn't lose sight of the fact that across the line, you can use Apple Pencil. You've got iPadOS 14 with all of those amazing capabilities. There's really kind of a common, you know, there's a common foundation of awesomeness across all of the line, and then you just get to choose what form factor you want that to take in."

Check out the full interview below: