Apple finally unveiled the shorty, its smaller version of iPad which it announced as iPad mini in an event in San Francisco stating: "we've got a little more to show you,” in the invite.
As the name suggests, the new device is certainly smaller than the regular iPad, though not as small as you'd expect — compared to something like the Nexus 7. It is hefty in your hands and the thinness of the device seems to make up for a bigger surface area.
The build of the smaller tablet easily surpasses the competition on the market. By comparison, the Nexus 7 and Fire HD feel like toys. There’s a striking difference in materials and solidness.
The Details:
Dimensions:
- .68 pounds
- 7.2mm thin
- 53 percent lighter
- Width of borders reduced.
Design
- Thinner bezels and ultra curved edges
- Updated smart covers. Blue Green Pink Light Gray Dark Gray and product RED
- White and Black models
Performance
- Dual-core A5
- Lightning connector
- 10 hours of battery life
- Better WiFi performance.
- 2x CPU power. Doubled graphic performance.
- 67% more surfing web space if in landscape mode.
Display
- iPad 2 is 9.7 inches. iPad mini 7.9 inches. The pixels are *exactly* the same. 1024×768.
- LCD
- 35% larger display for iPad mini vs. Nexus 7.
Carriers around the world for more LTE love — including Sprint in the U.S.
Camera. HD front camera. Back has 5MP iSight camera.
Preorder Dates
Pre-order this Friday on October 26. WiFi version ships on November 2 and the cellular models will come about two weeks later.
The Demo:
Pricing
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.
Apple Compares iPad mini to Google's Nexus 7
It was a bit surprising to see Apple comparing iPad mini with their competition. Apple’s SVP of Worldwide Marketing, Phil Schiller presented the comparison between the new iPad versus the leading Android tablet, Google’s Nexus 7. “Others have tried to make tablets smaller than the iPad, and they’ve failed miserably,” Schiller said. “These are not great experiences.” Schiller actually says “Android” showing the Nexus 7. There has not really been trash talking at an Apple event.
Schiller also does side-by-side comparisons of the iPad Mini and the “other” tablet, showing apps like Yelp, Pandora, Vimeo, eBay and TripAdvisor to the audience. Of course, the iPad Mini comes out looking better in these comparisons.
Interestingly, Schiller does not do side-by-side comparison of Apple versus Google Maps.
Nonetheless, Apple has been a leader in the tablets market and cannot possibly go wrong with the smaller iPad. It stands a tough competition in the pricing space.