iPad has landed, without 4G, Apple confirmed. The new 4G/3G tab is hitting Apple’s retail stores and online tomorrow at 8:00 a.m.
The new shiny 9.7″ Retina display tab boasts Apple’s new super fast A5X chip with quad-core graphics, 5 megapixel iSight camera and 1080p HD video.
It also boasts “all-day 10 hour battery life while remaining amazingly thin and light,” say Apple, although the device is now heavier than previous models and is already sold out with a 2-3 week delay flagged for online orders, meaning you won’t get it ’til late March, the earliest.
But 4G ready ‘new iPad’ is missing one important ingredient in Oz: 4G LTE capabilities, which Apple has finally admitted, conceeding it now only works on fast 3G networks outside U.S.
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“iPad Wi-Fi + 4G supports ultrafast 4G LTE networks in the US and Canada, and fast 3G networks around the world including those based on HSPA+ and DC-HSDPA,” Apple said in a statement today.
Read: New iPad Flop On Telstra 4G Here
The 700MHz and 2100MHz frequencies used by new iPad (and US networks) differ from the 1800MHz frequency used by Telstra’s 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) network and Optus’s network when it goes live.
Read: Telstra Mad Midnight iPad Run Here
Apple claims new iPad was 4G-capable in Australia was beginning to look like false advertising, in Australia at least, with reports suggesting the ACCC could be on its back if it didn’t change tack.
Every customer who buys a new iPad at an Apple store will be offered free Personal Setup service to customise their iPad by setting up email, loading new apps from the App Store and more, Apple said today.
The new iPad Wi-Fi models will be available in black or white starting at $539 for 16GB model, $649 32GB model, and $759 for 64GB. All prices include GST.
The iPad Wi-Fi + 4G model, which is really 3G here, will set you back $679 16GB, $789 32GB model and $899 for 64GB. Oh, and for those wanting an iPad 2 -a basic model is available at a more affordable $429 – down $100.
iOS 5.1 and iTunes 10.6 are also currently available as free software updates. iPhoto, iMovie 1.3 and GarageBand 1.2 are now available for $5.49 each from the App Store. Keynote 1.6, Pages 1.6 and Numbers 1.6 are available for $10.49 a pop. Updates are available for free to existing customers.
Australia is one of the first countries to get new iPad is hitting and won’t be available in in much of Europe including Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, until 23 March.
