Apple's New iPad Air and iPad Mini 2 Pack iPhone 5s' A7 Chip
Apple's next generation of iPad is the iPad Air.
Aside from OS X Mavericks, new MacBooks Pros, a fresh look at the upcoming cylindrical Mac Pro, Apple also updated its line of iPads. This update has been rumored since before the launch of the iPhone 5S and 5C, so it was the number one rumor for today's event. As predicted, the new iPad packs Apple's A7 processor, as well as a new thinner design.
In fact, it's down to this design that Apple is renaming this iPad the iPad Air. The iPad Air is 20 percent thinner than the iPad 2 (7.5 mm vs. 8.6 mm) and has a bezel that is 43 percent thinner. It's also significantly lighter than the iPad 2, weighing in at just one pound (the iPad 2 weighs 1.4 pounds). Under the hood, you've got the same 64-bit A7 chip that powers the iPhone 5S, as well as a 9.7-inch Retina display (2048 x 1536 resolution), a 5-megapixel iSight camera, and a 10 hour battery life. Pricing for the iPad Air starts at $499 for the WiFi-only version while the LTE+WiFi version will start at $629. Apple is still selling the iPad 2 at $399.
Now, on to the iPad Mini, which finally has the Retina display we all longed for last year. It also runs on Apple's 64-bit A7 processor, quite a bump from the A5 chipset powering the original iPad Mini. It also boasts a 5-megapixel iSight camera, and 10 hours of battery. Pricing starts at $399 (16 GB model) while the last generation iPad Mini will be dropped down to $299.
As far as availability is concerned, the new iPad Air will hit November 1, while the iPad Mini 2 is scheduled later in November (Apple didn't give a release date on that one).
Check out the lands on with the iPad Air and iPad Mini from our sister site LAPTOP:
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Jane McEntegart is a writer, editor, and marketing communications professional with 17 years of experience in the technology industry. She has written about a wide range of technology topics, including smartphones, tablets, and game consoles. Her articles have been published in Tom's Guide, Tom's Hardware, MobileSyrup, and Edge Up.
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the1kingbob Not sure about the first post, but I think the price is too high. $300 for the old iPad Mini??? What a joke. I am surprised they gave the mini the new processor, I expected them to shove in the A6 (or some flavor of) and stick a plastic cover on it, with colors, to help their margins. I am really confused about comparing to the iPad 2, does that mean the second one released or the one that was just replaced?Reply -
Geddoff Myazz Apple's newest 7 inch tablet for just over the price of TWO of Google's or Amazon's. Ditto for the last year's models except Amazon and Google are too proud to put much (or any) effort into those.Reply -
Geddoff Myazz $400, your choice. iPad Mini Air OR Fire HDX for you and a Fire HD for the kids. Great Ad potential.Reply -
tipoo Hm, but the A7 doubled the GPU performance of the A6, not A6X, yet in this keynote they said double the iPad 4/A6X. I wonder if they just meant the few specific tests that's true in, or if it's clocked higher than the iPhone version?Reply
Given how many more pixels it has to push in the iPads, it would actually perform far worse at native than the 5S if the performance is the same. -
TeKEffect Reply
It's 7.9 inch so it's half way between the Kindle 7 and 8.9. Better internals. No "special offers" ie targeted ads being pushed to your tablet. It may be a little pricey but it's not that bad. I was surprised it got the retina and A7. At $330 it would have been a steal and that's not apples style.11772243 said:Apple's newest 7 inch tablet for just over the price of TWO of Google's or Amazon's. Ditto for the last year's models except Amazon and Google are too proud to put much (or any) effort into those.
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DarkSideOfTheEarth Really? 400$ for the mini? That is robbery plain and simple.Reply
Get a nexus tablet for 250$ and save your money!