It's true! The iPad mini has been announced after months of rumours circulating online. Our GetConnected host Andy Baryer spoke weeks earlier on our radio show that nothing at Apple can be kept a secret anymore - most of the rumours turn out to be true, thanks in part to leaks from the supply chain.
The iPad mini is set to hit Canadian store shelves on November 3rd starting at $329 (compared to its bigger, older sibling iPad 2, which starts at $399, and a new offering - see below). At Apple's Special Announcement today in San Jose, Phil Schiller, Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing, explained that this "isn't just a shrunken-down iPad, it's an entirely new design."
Taking time to read online comments showed question over the relevancy of this re-designed model. What's the benefit over the other iPad models? How is this one different? Well, its size for one.
The new tag line? "Every inch an iPad". The iPad mini has a 1024 x 768 resolution, like the first- and second-generation 9.7-inch iPad models, but shrunken down to an all-new 7.2mm-thick aluminum shell and sporting a 7.9-inch screen, making for a higher-resolution - though not quite Retina - display. It's 53 percent lighter and 23 percent thinner than the new 4th-gen iPad, which was also announced today, along with a Retina Display 13-inch MacBook Pro, and updated iMac and Mac mini models.
A commenter online happily noted, "I will be one of the first to pre-order, this is the optimum-sized tablet to have. Microsoft should have made tablets at this size they are missing a big market by just doing 10.1 [and above sizes.]"
What do you think of the new iPad mini joining the iPad family? Do you think it will do well?
Let us know in the Comments section below!
