At a press event, Apple unveiled the iPad Mini, surprising absolutely no one. The tablet, both thinner and lighter than the iPad, comes with a 7.9-inch screen with a 1024×768 resolution, a dual-core A5 chip, a FaceTime HD camera, and a 5-megapixel rear camera.
The iPad Mini will start at $329 for a 16GB Wi-fi only version, while a 64GB version with Wi-fi and 4G will be priced at $659. iPad Minis will start shipping November 2 with pre-orders being offered starting on Friday.
Apple CEO Tim Cook also boasted that the company sold its 100 millionth iPad and that the company’s tablet computers comprised 91 percent of all tablet web traffic. Part of the reason for this, they say, is that the iPad browser winds up with a 67 percent larger display in landscape mode, and 50 percent larger when upright.
In something of a surprise, the company also showed off the fourth generation iPad, with a A6X chip said to be twice as powerful as the previous iPad’s A5X, an updated camera, faster Wi-fi, expanded LTE coverage, and 10-hour battery life. It will come in black and white versions with the same configurations as the last iPad, starting at $499 for the 16GB Wi-Fi only versions
Apple also announced the 13-inch Macbook Pro sporting a high-resolution Retina display, which is thinner and lighter than any previous MacBook. The laptop is available in a variety of configurations, but starts at $1,699 for the model sporting a dual-core i5 processor, 8GB of RAM, and a 128GB solid-state drive.