Apple Finally Announces iPad Mini, Also Unveils iPad 4

News
By Jane McEntegart
published

Apple unveils two new iPads in one day.

After months of rumors Apple finally took the wraps off the iPad mini. The device's display measures in at 7.9-inches compared tp the regular iPad's 9.7-inch display. Unfortunately, it's not a Retina display, however, it does feature the same 1024x768 resolution as the iPad 2. That means all the old apps will work perfectly on this smaller iPad.

 

Specswise, you're looking at an A5 chip, just like the iPhone 4S, a front-facing camera for video calls, a 5-megapixel camera on the back, Apple's new Lightning connector, 16 GB of storage in the base model, and a price that starts at $329 for the WiFi-only model. The WiFi + 4G models start at $459 for the 16 GB model. The iPad mini will go up for pre-order this coming Friday (also known as Windows 8 launch day) and the WiFi models will ship first, on November 2.

 

That's not all for the iPad line, though. Despite only launching the iPad 3 six months ago, Apple also updated its regular-sized iPad. The company is calling it the 4th generation iPad and it boasts an Apple A6X chip, which Apple says is capable of two times the performance of the A5X in the old "new" iPad. There's also global LTE, a new Wi-Fi chip, and a FaceTime HD camera. Similar to the iPad mini, pre-orders start this Friday, October 26, with the device shipping on November 2. The base model (16 GB, WiFi-only) starts at $499, while the top-end model with 4G and 64GB of storage will set you back $829.

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Jane McEntegart
47 Comments Comment from the forums
  • eternalkp
    oh wow, still worse than google nexus 7, why isn't this ipad mini not 720p and 16:9 ratio is beyond comprehension
    Reply
  • spookyman
    Hmm

    I think a laptop computer will be faster and cheaper then the pad.
    Reply
  • rebel1280
    well...im sold on the Nexus 7, i was waiting on the ipad mini showing but its not worth the extra $130 to me, as i have not invested much in the ecosystem. Not hating on Apple, just at this point it seems the N7 is better (IMHO). Plus, im not sure how the iPad mini displays more than the N7 if the N7 has higher resolution? o_O
    Reply
  • lpedraja2002
    Wow, double the storage capacity for $100!?

    I hate this planet.

    Reply
  • srhelicity
    I'm curious why they released a new full-size iPad after only 6-8 months of the iPad 3 (I refuse to call it the "new iPad" since it's no longer new or the "iPad third generation" since that's silly). Apple used to have yearly product cycles, and in no world can I see Apple only giving 6-8 months on premiere item. In fact, if you look at their new line-up graphic, they are still selling the iPad 2, but there is no mention of the iPad 3. In addition, they only referenced the iPad 3 a few times in the presentation, but there were many mentions of the iPad 2. It's like they wanted us to forget about the iPad 3. Very strange.

    I can only think of two reasons why the iPad 4 would be released -- either they had some supplier issues with the existing iPad 3 (quality control, costs, etc.) or they wanted to make minor changes to counter an upcoming Google 10" or Microsoft Surface tablet. It looks like the only meaningful change between the iPad 3 and the iPad 4 is an upgraded processor. If so, why announce an entirely new product after such a short time? I assume that they were worried about benchmark results with some upcoming competitors (MS or Google), and they wanted to kick out a new iPad that would level those concerns.
    Reply
  • therogerwilco
    OMG SO TIRED OF APPLE RELEASES AND TABLETS AND SMARTPHONES AND SMARTER MINI SMARTPHONE-TABLETS AND SMALLER MINI TABLETS THAT ARE ACTUALLY SMARTPHONES AND MINI-SMARTPHONES THAT ARE ACTUALLY CASIO CALCULATOR WATCHES!@!
    I wish they would all just merge into one glorious company and make some really cool stuff, but definitely reduce releases to once every year or two, not this crap releasing every 2-3 months... I'm tired of having to upgrade what I just upgraded because another company thought another company's upgrade wasn't actually an upgrade but THIS upgrade will be worth it and then of course that other company tells another company they STOLE their upgrade so now they can't upgrade because the other company got their upgrade banned.... freakin rediculous world we live in.
    Reply
  • svdb
    This is at least the 6th Apple related article and the day isn't even over yet.
    Gee.. If I wanted to read mostly about Apple products than anything I'd go a an Apple oriented website... :(
    Reply
  • RealBeast
    Come on everyone, Apple users need to stand in line to upgrade to the latest model, it's part of their social DNA. They can't help it, it's called the iEnvy gene.

    Who would camp out for an iPad 3.1?
    Reply
  • deadlockedworld
    svdbThis is at least the 6th Apple related article and the day isn't even over yet.Gee.. If I wanted to read mostly about Apple products than anything I'd go a an Apple oriented website...
    Tech site. Largest tech company in the world. Unavoidable.

    Tom's editors do have an "Apple Free" version of the site though. They should repost that for everyone so they stop complaining.
    Reply
  • nbelote
    iPad Mini? Cool, more fanboi dollar leeching. Suck 'em dry, Apple... suck 'em dry.




    ...but can it run Crysis?
    Reply