Chip Chick
Apple unveiled their not-so-secret iPad Mini yesterday, and one thing is becoming clear – Apple is getting worse at keeping secrets. Most of the rumors swirling around the downsized tablet ended up being true.
Most will classify the iPad Mini in the same group as 7” tablets like the Kindle Fire HD and the Google Nexus 7, but the iPad Mini is a bit larger, at about 7.9”. In Apple fashion, it’s also very light and thin, at .68 pounds and 7.2 mm. Inside and outside, it’s, roughly speaking, a shrunk-down iPad 2. Inside, you’ll find a dual-core A5 processor, while the outside features a 1024 x 768 resolution display. That display is surrounded by strong build quality, thanks to anodized aluminum.
The iPad Mini has two cameras – a 1.2 MP FaceTime camera and a 5 MP rear-facing camera, the latter of which can’t be found on the Nexus 7 or the Kindle Fire HD. It will also use the Lightning connector, along with the iPhone 5 and the newly announced 4th generation iPad. Apple is putting battery life at around 10 hours.
Price is an eye-opener. Like many outlets suspected, the base, 16 GB model of the iPad Mini will sell for $329, which is way more expensive than the other 7” tablets available. The price will jump $100 for increases in storage capacity up to 64 GB, and will increase by $130 for the addition of LTE.
The iPad Mini isn’t a bad device by any stretch of the imagination, but, for that base $329 model, there seems to be virtually no reason to favor it over the Nexus 7 or Kindle Fire HD, unless Apple already has its hooks in you courtesy of its expansive ecosystem. If you’re still a free agent on the tech market, so to speak, an iPad Mini purchase would be difficult to justify.
