Apple has introduced an iPad Mini in an event in San Jose today, along with a fourth generation iPad and a new MacBook Pro 13 inch with retina display.
The new pencil-thin (7.2mm) iPad mini comes a mere half-year after the third generation iPad was introduced. Apple says it is as light as a pad of paper. It has a 7.9-inch screen, measured diagonally (versus 9.7-inches for the larger iPad). Apple starts taking orders for the new model on Friday Oct. 26 and will ship the Wi-Fi-only models on Nov. 2, said marketing chief Phil Schiller at an event in San Jose, Calif. Later, the company will add models capable of accessing "LTE" wireless data networks.
The screen resolution is 1024 by 768 pixels, the same as the iPad 2 and a quarter of the resolution of the third-generation iPad.
Company watchers have for a year been expecting the company to release a smaller iPad to counter cheaper tablets like Amazon.com Inc.'s Kindle Fire. However, most were expecting it to cost between $250 and $300. At $329, it's twice the price of the basic Kindle Fire.
The iPad mini is made of aluminum, as opposed to the plastic that Google's Nexus 7 is made of. The new iPad has a dual-core A5 chip. It has FaceTime HD, and a 5MP iSight camera. It has fast LTE wireless as the bigger iPads, and faster Wi-Fi too. And it has the inevitable Lightening connector (bad news for those of you with lots of iPad accessories based on the prior dock connector).
The upgraded full-size iPad tablet comes just six months after launching a new model, doubling the speed of the processor. Previously, the company has updated the iPad once a year.
Here is a breakdown of the iPad Mini and new iPad prices:
