Five Things You Should Know About the iPad Mini
The mini tablet has officially launched, dubbed as the “iPad Mini;” the new tablet has become a buzzword in the mainstream press. Apple rolled out the smaller iPad at the drop of a hat despite the fierce competition from various Android tablets.
“Apple also has stuck with one size for its iPad tablet but is testing models with screens smaller than the current 9.7-inch display,” said Lorraine Luk and Juro Osawa, The Wall Street Journal. “Other manufacturers have produced a range of sizes.”
Here are five things you should know about the iPad Mini, which will influence the future direction of web design, and pages hosted on your Midphase servers.
- Screen
The iPad Mini measures 7.9 inches in height, 5.3 inches in width, and 0.28 inch in thickness. The screen is 7.9 inches when measured diagonally, compared with the 9.7 inches for the full-sized iPad.
The iPad Mini is also lighter than the original iPad, and it weighs 312 grams. The iPad Mini’s display has the same resolution with that of the iPad 2 (exactly 1024 x 768 pixels), which means it does not have retina display. - Specs
The iPad Mini features the same dual core A5 chipset installed in the iPad 2 and iPhone 4S. In previous reports, it was speculated that it would run in 32nm A5 or A5X. However, it was confirmed that it’s a dual-core A5 processor.
“An iPad Mini would be able to run Apple’s 32nm A5, A5X or even a new A6 processor,” said Alex Zaharov-Reutt, IT Wire.
“Apple has been testing a 32nm A5 process in its new batches of 2nd-generation iPad 2 models on sale in stores since the new iPad with retina display went on sale, giving ‘up to’ 15.7 hours of battery life for some applications.” - Design
The overall design of the iPad Mini is similar to that of the full-sized tablet, although there are a few significant differences that make it unique from its bigger parent.
One of them is the color scheme that is similar to the iPhone 5 – available in silver aluminum with white glossy bezel or the black slate model with a black glossy bezel. Another revamp is the chamfered edges between the glass display and the body. - Camera
The iPad Mini comes with a 5-megapixel-iSight camera and a 1.2-megapixel sensor for the front-face shooting mode. - Price
The entry-level price starts from $329 for the Wi-Fi model in 16GB storage. The 32GB Wi-Fi model is priced $429, and the 64GB tablet will retail for $529. Add $130 if you prefer the LTE models.
The price of the iPad is quite surprising. Customers and iOS enthusiasts expected Apple to price the iPad Mini between $200-$300, competitive to Android tablet pricing.
“Instead, Apple chose to ignore what its competitors were doing. You might say that this is a big mistake, and that the iPad mini doesn’t stand a chance against its 7-inch rivals,” said Killian Bell, Cult of Mac. “But many analysts feel the iPad mini will do just fine at $329.”