The Apple iPad Air was not the only tablet that that Apple unveiled today. The company also released the successor to the Apple iPad mini - the Apple iPad mini with Retina Display. The iPad mini 2 as we prefer calling it is no longer the weak under performing sibling of the regular iPad, instead it comes packed with a high resolution Retina Display and the same powerful processor found on its larger sibling.In terms of design, the iPad mini 2 is thinner (7.5mm), lighter (331g/341g for the Wi-Fi only/LTE versions, respectively) and more compact (200 x 134.7 mm) than the previous version, while retaining the design aesthetic.
The iPad mini 2 features the same Apple A7 processor found on the iPad Air. While the A7 processor is a dual-core chip in a world dominated by quad-core processors, its has proven itself in benchmark tests done on the iPhone 5s. Note that this also means that the iPad mini 2 has also inherited the dedicated M7 motion coprocessor.
The other big features on Apple's little tablet is the 7.9 inch display on the iPad mini has now a Retina (2048x1536 pixels) resolution, which amounts to an amazing 326 ppi pixel density. This is leaps and bound over the display on the original iPad mini. The iPad mini with Retina Display comes with a 5 megapixel, 5-element, f/2.4 iSight camera on its rear and a 1.2 megapixel front facing camera for FaceTime HD calls.
Under its hood you will find a 2380mAh battery, a tiny improvement over the 2340mAh cell on the original iPad mini, though Apple is advertising that it's good for 10 hours of continuous video playback, identical to its predecessor. We are curios to find out how Apple managed to keep the same usage time on a device with such a high energy consuming display.
Software
The Apple iPad mini with Retina Display will ship with iOS 7 preloaded. Apple was sure to point out that iPads have access to over 475000 exclusive apps. As an added bonus Apple will include their iWork Suite (Pages, Numbers and Keynote) and their iLife Suite (iPhone, iMovie and Garageband) for free with your new iPad purchase.
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 | Apple iLife Suite will be free with new iOS and Mac devices The updated versions of iPhoto, iMovie and Garageband, which are a part of Apple's iLife Suite will be available for free to new iOS and Mac users. If you already have a device and want to download Pages, Keynote or Numbers, it will cost you $14.99 each on your Mac or $4.99 each on your iOS device. | |
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 | Apple iWork Suite will be free with new iOS and Mac devices The updated versions of Pages, Keynote and Numbers, which are a part of Apple's iWork Suite will be available for free to new iOS and Mac users. If you already have a device and want to download Pages, Keynote or Numbers, it will cost you $19.99 each on your Mac or $9.99 each on your iOS device. |
Pricing and Availability
The base model with Wi-Fi and 16GB of storage will cost you $399 and goes all the way up to $699 for the whopping 128GB Wi-Fi version. If you're looking for a truly portable experience, than prepare to dole out $529/$629/$729/$829 for the 16GB / 32GB / 64GB / 128GB LTE variants, respectively.
The original iPad mini will continue to be available at a discounted $299 for its base model.
The iPad mini with Retina will be available Silver / White and Space Grey / Black, and it will be made available "later in November".
