Apple October Event Roundup: iPads
Apple held their October Media event today. They announced a whole slew of items. As expected Apple announced a couple of new iPads, the iPad Air 2 and the iPad Mini 3.
iPad Air 2
The iPad Air 2 is an update to last year's iPad Air. When the iPad Air was introduced last year, it was touted that is was as thin as a pencil. The iPad Air 2 is even thinner. The iPad Air is 7.5mm and the iPad Air 2 is 6.1mm. This is a significant reduction in size; 18% to be exact. This reduction in size is due to the new screen. The new screen combines all of the features of the screen into one single piece. Despite the smaller form factor Apple has managed to cram more into the package.
The iPad Air 2 now comes with an A8X chip, which houses 3 Billion transistors and an accompanying M8 co-processor. The M8 also includes a barometer. The graphics performance, compared to the original iPad is 180x better. Along with the better graphics is the improved Camera. The Camera is now an 8 Megapixel iSight Camera with a five-element lens and the same ƒ/2.4 aperture. The camera is also now capable of doing burst mode photos, better paranoiac photos (up to 43 megapixels). Still photos are not the only thing to be improved. Video has also been improved with the iPad Air 2. The iPad Air 2 is capable of doing Slow motion video at 120 frames per second.
On the front of the iPad Air 2, the FaceTime Camera has also been improved. It now sports an ƒ/2.2 aperture lens, which should bring in more light into pictures, as well as the ability to geotag photos and videos taken with the FaceTime Camera.
There has been a couple of other new features added to the iPad Air 2. The first is a Touch ID sensor. The Touch ID sensor is not the same as the one in the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. Instead, it is the same one that is in the iPhone 5S. This means that users will only be able to use the Touch ID to purchase items from the iTunes Store, unlocked their device and apps, and purchase items using Apple Pay, but only through applications.
The second new feature is improved wireless. The iPad Air 2 now sports 802.11AC wireless. This means that it is capable of speeds up to 866 Megabits per second.
The pricing for the iPad Air 2 is $499 for a 16GB model, $599 for 64GB Model, and $699 for the 128GB Model. The Cellular versions cost $629, $729, and $829 respectively. There is one item for the iPad Air, it now comes in three colors, Silver, Space Gray, and Gold.
iPad Air
The iPad Air has now replaced the iPad with Retina Display (4th Generation). The features of the iPad Air remain the same, excluding the price and available sizes. the iPad Air is now available for $399 for the 16GB and $449 for the 32GB. The cellular models cost $529 and $579.
iPad Mini 3
The iPad Mini 3 is only a slight update to the iPad Mini with Retina. The iPad Mini 3 now has a 5 Megapixel iSight Camera that includes a Timer Mode. The timer mode is available so you can get into the proper pose before taking pictures. The front-facing FaceTime Camera is now also capable of taking Panoramas as well as burst-mode.
The iPad Mini 3 did also get a Touch ID sensor. As with the iPad Air 2, the iPad Mini 3 will only be able to use the Touch ID sensor to unlock the device, unlock Applications and purchase items from iTunes and apps.
The only other change is that the iPad Mini 3 is now available in gold. It is available in three configurations, 16GB, 64GB and 128GB models for $399, $499, and $599. The cellular model is available in the same size configuration at $529, $629, and $729.
iPad Mini 2
The iPad Mini with Retina has remained largely unchanged except for two things, the price and its name. The name of the iPad Mini with Retina is now the iPad Mini 2. The pricing of the iPad Mini 2 has been reduced to $299 for 16GB and $349 for 32GB. The cellular models are $429 and $479 for the 16GB and 32GB models respectively. The iPad Mini 2 is only available in Silver or Space Gray models.
iPad Mini
One might expect that Apple would eliminate the original iPad Mini, but they did not. Instead, they dropped the price to $249 for the wi-fi version and $379 for the cellular version. It is available in Silver or Space Gray. This is the lowest price point that an iPad has been available at throughout its history.
Final Thoughts
The introduction of the iPad Air 2 and iPad Mini 3 bring forward the success of the iPad line. During the presentation Tim Cook, also known as Chairman HoneyCrisp, stated that Apple has sold 225 Million iPads, since they launched back in June of 2007. If you are in the market for a new iPad, now is a great time to purchase a new one. The iPad Air 2 and iPad Mini 3 will be available for pre-order tomorrow and will ship next week.