Apple Reveals iPad mini – official price $329
Apple just took the wraps off its latest gadget: the iPad mini. As the name suggests, it’s a smaller version of the company’s popular iPadtablet, with a screen that measures 7.9 inches diagonally.
The new model comes in both black and white. The 7.9-inch screen with 4:3 aspect ratio gives the iPad mini a size advantage over 7-inch competitors. The area measures 29.6 square inches to 21.9 on a 16:9 7-inch tablet. It has the same resolution as the original iPad and iPad 2, at 1,024 x 768. For fans of retina displays, however, that’s not even close, at just 163 pixels per inch (ppi).
The iPad mini packs an A5 chip, the processor that was first seen in the iPad 2, and it’s the same chip that powers the current iPod touch. It has a front-facing FaceTime 720p camera, with 5-megapixel camera in back. It also includes Apple’s new Lightning connector, which first debuted on the iPhone 5.
At 10.9 ounces, the iPad mini is less than half the weight of the full-size iPad. It’s just 0.28 of an inch thick.
The iPad mini starts at $329 for the Wi-Fi-only version with 16GB capacity. Higher capacities and 4G LTE options are available. Prices for Wi-Fi-only versions are: $429 for 32GB, and $529 for 64GB. For the cellular versions, prices are $459, $559 and $659 for 16, 32 and 64GB, respectively. Pre-orders begin Oct. 26. Wi-Fi devices ship Nov. 2, and the cellular models will come about two weeks later.
