The Apple press conference is off and running in San Francisco with Apple Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing Phil Schiller revealing a thinner body full sized iPad Air and a Mini iPad with a high-definition “Retina” display.
Apple CEO Tim Cook told an audience of around 200 people that the iPad has surpassed 170 million sales since its 2010 introduction, and accounts for more than 80 percent of tablet usage, but added, “This is just the beginning for iPad” despite their being nothing new among the iPad portfolio other than significant upgrades.
According to Schiller. The previous full-sized iPad weighed 0.632 Kilo the new one is lighter, despite the device harnessing a powerful 64-bit A7X processor that debuted in the new iPhone 5S.
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| Note the cheaper US pricing. |
Schiller said that this processor will double the processing and graphics performance from the previous iPad.
Inside it uses an A7 processor, paired with an M7 motion co-processor. It includes a 5 megapixel iSight camera, a 1080p FaceTime HD camera, and dual microphones. Wireless technology incorporates Bluetooth 4.0, extended LTE coverage, and 802.11n Wi-Fi with MIMO antennas, potentially doubling Wi-Fi performance up to 300Mbps.
The iPad Mini receives the Retina display that is already offered on full-sized iPads and some Mac products, and also receives Apple’s new 64-bit processor. The new screen arrives with a price bump for the iPad Mini.
The iPad Air will debut Nov. 1 and the new iPad Mini will arrive later in the month, and both will be offered in two color options: silver and white, and space gray and black.
iPad Air with Wi-Fi models will set you back A$598 for 16GB storage, $699 32GB, $799 64GB and $899 128GB .
iPad Air with Wi-Fi + Cellular (3G/4G) has RRP of $749 for 16GB model, $849 32GB, $949 64GB and $1,049 128GB. Pad 2 now costs $449 for 16GB Wi-Fi model, $598 for 16GB Wi-Fi + 3G.
The new iPad mini with Retina display RRP is $479 for 16GB, $598 32GB, $699 64GB and $799 128GB storage.
iPad mini with Retina display Wi-Fi + Cellular starts at $629 for the 16GB model, $749 32GB , $849 64GB and $949 128GB. Apple has also cut the the original iPad mini price slightly to $349 for 16GB Wi-Fi model,$499 16GB Wi-Fi + Cellular.
Cook told the audience “We have a very clear direction and very ambitious goal”.
Apple executive Craig Federighi, gave the audience an update on Apple’s new PC operating system, called Mavericks which was developed in honor of a surfing location in California.
Federighi showed off the new operating system, focusing on its ability to extend battery life and use memory more efficiently to run the system faster. Federighi also announced that Mavericks will be provided for free, a new twist from Apple, and will be available for download starting today on Macs dating back to 2007.
Schiller followed Federighi on the stage to continue discussing Apple’s PC line, beginning with updates for the MacBook Pro line of laptops. The 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Pro models will be juiced up with new Intel (INTC) chips, and both received a price cut.
The two laptops will be available starting today, starting at $1,599.
Schiller also announced new details about Apple’s high-powered desktop PC, the Mac Pro, which was previewed at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference last June along with Mavericks, which has been in beta testing since then. Mac Pro will have a new generation Intel Xeon processor with 4, 6, 8 or 12 cores and the fastest memory ever in a Mac, with capability of up to 64GB. The Mac Pro, which will be assembled in the United States, will only have flash storage, eschewing hard drives for up to 1TB of flash storage.
Eddy Cue was next up in Apple’s executive parade, showing off new options in Apple’s professional software offerings iMovie, iPhoto, Garage Band and the iLife and iWork suites, which received updates to match Apple’s new mobile and PC operating systems. The programs will be offered free with the purchase of any new Apple device, and previous owners can update their software for free starting today.
