Apple refreshes iPad and announces it’s smaller sibling the iPad Mini

After announcing the 13″ Macbook Pro with Retina display, the new iMac and Mac Mini, Apple then shifted to their 3 year old product and announced a refreshed Ipad which they are calling the 4th Gen ipad and smaller iPad mini.

The 4th Gen iPad is just the reconfigured “new” Ipad or the 3rd Gen iPad, it’s practically the same iPad (even the price) except they’ve upgraded a few key components like the processor now using Dual-core A6X with quad-core graphics, new FaceTime HD camera capable of 720p HD video and 1.2MP photos and of course it will now be using Apple’s new Lightning port connector, which was introduced with the iPhone 5.

Then there’s the iPad mini, even though it looks like a smaller iPad 2, it’s not the same as the iPad 2, in fact the iPad mini has far better specs than the Ipad 2, the only similarity that the ipad mini has with the iPad 2 is that they are using the same Dual-core A5 processor and that’s where it stops. The ipad mini has the same screen resolution as the iPad 2 but since the ipad mini measures 7.9 diagonally the pixels are much compressed and denser, it support 4G LTE connectivity, a much better FaceTime (HD) camera and the new Lightning connector.

Here’s the full specs of the iPad mini

• 7.9-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit Multi-Touch display with IPS technology with 1024×768 screen resolution at 163 ppi
• Dual-core Apple A5X with quad-core GPU
• iOS 6.0
• Lightning connector
• 5-megapixel iSight camera with HD (1080p) video capture up to 30 fps
• FaceTime HD camera capable of 720p HD video and 1.2MP photos
• Bluetooth 4.0, 4G LTE (700, 2100 MHz)
• Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g, (802.11n 2.4GHz and 5GHz)
• UMTS/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA (850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz)
• GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz)
• LTE (Bands 4 and 17)/LTE (Bands 1, 3, 5, 13, 25)
• CDMA EV-DO Rev. A and Rev. B (800, 1900, 2100 MHz)
• Nano-SIM card tray (for 4g or cellular connection)
• Three-axis gyro
• Accelerometer
• Ambient light sensor
• Digital compass
• Assisted GPS (4G models)
• Cellular (4G models)
• Built-in 16.3-watt-hour rechargeable lithium-polymer battery

Both the 4th Gen iPad and iPad mini will be available in Black and White colors and 16GB/32GB/64GB storage capacity and will be available on November 2, Apple will however start accepting preorder starting on October 26, 2012 via the Apple Store in the US, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK.

As for the price of the iPad mini, here’s the price matrix.
Wi-Fi Model
16GB – $329
32GB – $429
64GB – $529

Wi-Fi + Cellular model
16GB – $459
32GB – $559
64GB – $659