Apple Announces New iPad Mini with A5 Chip, starting at $329

The rumours have finally come true, Apple has released it's mini brother to the iPad to compete with the likes of the Kindle Fire and Nexus 7. It comes with a 720p Facetime Camera, 10 hours of battery life, a 5-megapixel camera, a FaceTime HD front-facing camera for video chat, 4G LTE, 802.11a/b/g/n dual-band Wi-Fi and a Lightning port connector. It’s also just 7.22mm thick and sport s a 7.9-inch display with a 1024 x 768 resolution.

It will also come with a 32GB option that will cost $429 and a 64GB model is $529. If you want 4G LTE support, you can expect to pay $459, $559 and $659 for those models, respectively. The iPad mini will be available on November the 2nd and Pre-orders start this Friday (American Time). 

Apple Introduces 'The New iPad' with Retina Display, A5X Chip, LTE, 5-MP Rear Camera

Apple introduced the new iPad today, still unnamed. Comeing with a "breathtaking" retina display (when held from 15) of 2048 x 1536 Apple says that it is "redefining the category that Apple created". At 264 pixels per inch, the new display is considered Retina quality with indistinguishable pixels. 

Featuring an A5X system-on-chip with quad-core graphics, the Retina display offer 44% greater color saturation than its predecessor. All of Apple's stock apps have been optimized for the new ultra-high resolution display and existing apps from third-party developers will be automatically scaled up with text rendered for the new resolution. With additional work, developers can also optimize their entire apps for the new display. 


On the camera front, the updated iPad features a 5-megapixel rear camera with advanced optics very similar to those found in the 8-megapixel camera on the iPhone 4S. 1080p video recording is also supported. Voice dictation as found on the iPhone 4S is also included. 

Cellular-capable models of the new iPad also support 4G LTE as had been rumored by multiple sources. Supporting data speeds of up to 21 Mbps on HSPA+, 42 Mbps on dual-carrier HSPA+, and 73 Mbps on LTE, the new iPad offers a significant improvement in cellular data capabilities. LTE partners include AT&T and Verizon in the United States and Rogers, Telus, and Bell in Canada. Due to differences in frequency bands, AT&T and Verizon support will require separate models. 

On the battery life front, the new iPad offers the same levels as before: 10 hours on Wi-Fi or 9 hours on 4G LTE. As for the device's size, it comes it a scant 0.6 mm thicker than the iPad 2 at 9.4 mm thick, and weighs 1.4 pounds versus the 1.33-pound iPad 2. 

Pricing remains as before at $499/$599/$699 for Wi-Fi models and $629/$729/$829 for 4G LTE models, with capacities coming in at 16 GB, 32 GB, and 64 GB. The new iPad launches on March 16 in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Switzerland, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Australia. 

Apple will also continue to offer the 16 GB iPad 2 in both Wi-Fi ($399) and Wi-Fi + 3G ($529) models.