Apple has just unveiled the much awaited iPad Mini. A tablet that turns the "big" iPad screen size around (going from 9.7" to 7.9") and makes it the first pocketable iPad ever - provided you have large enough pockets.
With a screen resolution of 1024x768, just like the original iPad and the iPad 2, this iPad won't need any special tweaking for Apps to run on it. And even though Steve Jobs once said it made no sense to have mini tablets, Apple lost quite a bit of time convicing (or trying to) future customers that the screen size difference from 7" to 7.9" gives you a 35% bigger screen area. Sure... but what does that have to do when a much cheaper Nexus 7 offers a higher resolution than the iPad mini?
But truth be told, the new iPad mini will surely be a device that everyone will want. It's just 7.2mm thick, and thanks to the reduced bezels... it looks worlds apart from other low(ish) cost tablets.
The iPad mini has the same A5 CPU as the iPad 2, and has both a 5MP camera (FullHD video) and a front facing 1.2MP Facetime HD camera (720p video). You also get the new lightning plug, and a 3G/LTE version. Battery life stands at 10h.
There's also a refresh for the "big" iPad, that also gets a lightning plug, improved LTE support, and a new A6X CPU (based on the one used in the iPhone 5, but with extra GPU power to move around all the iPad 3 retina display pixels).
As for the prices:
The new "big" iPad keeps the prices it laready had, and the iPad mini will start at $329 (there goes the chances of us having a "nuclear" $249 iPad mini, or even a $299 one.
So, the iPad family now has 3 base prices: $329, $399, and $499 - for the iPad mini, iPad 2 and iPad (3) Retina respectively.
The new iPads will be available on November 2th in a vast number of countries, with preorders starting November 26th (at least here in Portugal).
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