At today’s media event, Apple announced the next generation models of its iPad and iPad mini tablets. The full-sized iPad is now called the iPad Air to recognize its thinner and lighter design compared to its predecessors and the iPad mini gets the higher resolution Retina display.
The full-sized iPad retains its 9.7-inch Retina display but gets a thinner casing at just 7.5 mm thick and weighing in at 1 lb. It will have Apple’s new 64-bit A7 processor, a 1.2-megapixel front-facing Facetime camera, and a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera capable of recording 1080p HD video.
The iPad Air will come in two color combinations: silver/white and space gray/black. The new iPad Air will be available to ship and in Apple stores on November 1 and will start at $499 for the 16 GB model with Wi-Fi connectivity and $629 for the 16 GB model with Wi-Fi and LTE connectivity.
The new iPad mini revealed today gets a higher resolution Retina display and Apple’s new A7 processor as well. Like the iPad Air, it will also come in the white/silver and space gray/black color combinations. The 16GB iPad mini models will start at $399 for the Wi-Fi version and $529 for the Wi-Fi and LTE versions. Also like the iPad Air, the iPad mini will be available in capacities up to 128 GB.
The new iPad mini will be available for purchase in late November. The first-generation iPad mini will still be sold alongside the new models at a reduced price of $299 for the 16 GB Wi-Fi version and $429 for the 16 GB Wi-Fi and LTE version.
Apple also announced new information on the Mac Pro and changes to the MacBook Pro line and you can find more information at our sister site, MacRumors:
- Mac Pro Launching in December with Xeon Processors, Dual FirePro GPUs and PCIe Flash Storage
- Apple Updates Retina MacBook Pros With Updated Processors and Faster PCIe Flash Storage
If you’d like to see the video of the event yourself, it’s now available on Apples site here.
I’m excited to see a new iPad mini with a Retina display. I love my first-generation iPad mini and its only “fault” was its display compared to my iPad 3. However, that wasn’t enough to stop me from making it my go-to tablet for ebook reading and other tasks, leaving my iPad 3 to languish on a shelf for weeks at a time. Do you plan to get an iPad Air or new iPad mini?