The cat’s finally out of the bag: yes, Apple has indeed created an iPad mini. It’s a “concentrated” version of its big brother, not “smaller” as lead designer Jony Ive was quick to point out at the launch event.

Apple also unveiled a new full-sized iPad today, with a faster processor than the model introduced earlier this year.

Apple iPad Mini

iPad Mini

Inside the iPad mini is a dual-core A5 processor, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, and a battery that still provides enough juice for 10 hours of normal use.

As some insiders expected, Apple decided not to outfit the first iPad mini with a Retina display. Instead it features a 7.9-inch display with a resolution of 1024×768 — the same as the iPad 2 and the original iPad. There’s a 5MP rear-facing camera (quite possibly the same one found on the 5th-gen iPod touch), and a front-facing cam that’s ready for Facetime.

As for the price? Well, it looks as though Google (whose Nexus 7 made a cameo appearance in Apple’s slideshow) and Amazon don’t have much to worry about at the budget end of the tablet spectrum.

Apple has priced the iPad mini at $329 to start, and that’s for a 16GB model. Stepping up to 32GB costs another $100, while the 64GB Wi-Fi only model is priced at $519. LTE models are available, too, and command a $130 premium over their Wi-Fi only counterparts.

4th generation iPad

The 9.7-inch iPad has also received a modest update, too — a new A6X processor, dual-band 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, and a 720P front-facing camera.

Apple has also integrated the image processing chip from the iPhone 5, and thrown in a Lightning port for good measure. Prices for the new, new iPad start at $499 for the 16GB Wi-Fi model, and again it’s an extra $130 for mobile conenctivity.

While it wasn’t officially branded as such, it actually sounds a bit like an iPad 3S.

via Engadget

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Lee Mathews

Computer tech, blogger, husband, father, and avid MSI U100 user.

9 replies on “iPad mini unveiled at $329 alongside 4th generation iPad”

  1. I got the iPod touch 5, and it has most of those specs, but it is 32gb. The mini really sucks.

  2. @disqus_ZGTzYOJrdX:disqus Is this “fail” as in they will only sell 10 million of them instead of 50 million? It looks to be a very well engineered device and people will drool over the thinness and lightness of it.

    Now, it’s not a knockout either, and Google, Amazon, and B&N probably breathed a huge sigh of relief when the $329 price was announced. Google must be especially happy given that they’re going to have an opportunity to hit back next week when they announce the new 32GB Nexus 7 (and probably a $200 16GB model).

    I’m sure the Mini is a nice to have, but I’m not going to pay 64% more over a Nexus 7 for this, but then, I’m not invested in the Apple ecosystem either.

    Edit: If I were Google, I’d also think about continuing to offer the 8GB version, dropping the price to, say, $179, just to emphasize the price advantage the Nexus has over the iPad Mini.

  3. What’s the difference between “concentrated” and “smaller”? It just looks like a small iPad to me. While I think the iPad mini is nice for people who want a smaller iPad I feel it’s also a turning point for Apple. Now they are following the trends being set instead of trying to set the trends. Android tablets just appear too fast and frequent for Apple to keep up and Apple is simply reacting now. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but I will laugh if they try to market the mini iPad as revolutionary or game changing. The slogan for it should be “The smallest thing to happen to the iPad since the iPad”.

    1. “Now they are following the trends being set instead of trying to set the trends.”

      The same could be said about the iPhone 5 with the larger screen size.

      “Android tablets just appear too fast and frequent for Apple to keep up and Apple is simply reacting now.”

      Reacting to tablet specs, yes. But Apple is still ahead of Android in tablet sales, although I expect that will change in a year or two.

      I think Apple still has some trend setting left in them. There were six years between the first iPod and the first iPhone. It may take a few more years of incremental improvements, and the rest of the industry catching up, before Apple finds something truly new again.

    1. So, let me see,
      A5 (2010) cpu, 512 MB of RAM, 1024*768 res, still no GPS for the wifi model…
      No, this will sell like hotcakes.
      Just because wannabe iDrones who are too poor to buy the ‘real’ iPad and those who are too dumb to even read a comparison chart (with the Nexus 7) will pay 60+% more just for the privilege of a better ‘user experience’ (read having an fruit logo on their device).
      And for those who still believe that iOS is superior to JB, well, there are too far gone to even care about.

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