It's been a year, almost to the day, since Apple announced the iPad mini 2, bringing a high-resolution 'Retina Display' to the small tablet for the first time. We've known for a while that a new version of the device would be announced today, but Apple inadvertently confirmed as much ahead of schedule, when it prematurely posted user guides on its site yesterday.

So it was to the surprise of no-one that, alongside the new thinner iPad Air 2, Apple today announced its next-generation small tablet, the iPad mini 3.

Like its larger sibling, the iPad mini 3 gets Touch ID for the first time, and retains its familiar 7.9-inch Retina Display. It will be available in silver, space grey and gold, and will be priced as follows:

Wi-Fi only
16GB : $399
64GB : $499
128GB : $599
Wi-Fi + cellular
16GB : $529
64GB : $629
128GB : $729

The iPad mini 2 will continue to be sold from $299, and the original iPad mini will also live on, starting at $249.

Apple took the stage today at its headquarters in Cupertino where it has announced the next iteration of its iPad Air, the Air 2. The updated tablet brings with it improved specs that will make it faster than the previous generation and also introduces TouchID.

Apple has made the tablet even thinner than the iPad Air; the tablet is 6.1 mm thick which means it is 18% thinner. As expected, the tablet now comes in gold too.

Powering the device is the A8X that is 64-bit which is said to be 40x faster and have 2.5x the GPU performance. Battery life will be 10 hours and the usual senors are included too.

The camera has been updated with an 8Mp sensor at F/2.4 aperture and 1080P video recording. It allows you to do all of the same capture functions as the iPhone like slow-motion capture, time-lapse and panoramic images.

802.11AC with MIMO for Wi-Fi which will allow for faster connection speeds and LTE bands have been updated too.

For those not familiar, TouchID is the fingerprint sensor that Apple has been incorporating in to all of its product. The sensor replaces the 'Home' button that was on the previous iPad AIr and by placing your finger on the button, it scans your fingerprint to unlock the device.

The tablet will start at $499 for a 16GB, $599 for 64GB and 699 for the 128GB; if you want LTE it's an additional $130.

Pre-orders start tomorrow and will start shipping next week.

Posted: Oct 16, 2014 10:15 pm
Related Forum: Mobile Devices

Source: http://www.neowin.net/news/apple-has-announced-the-ipad-air-2-makes-it-even-thinner