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It’s really, really real — after years of speculation Apple has lifted the lid on its teeny-tiny tablet.
The iPad mini has a 7.9-inch display, and is just 7.2mm thick — a depth Apple proudly says is as thick as a pencil. Like previous iPad models, the mini comes in black and white options. It starts at £269 here in the UK.
Being very small, it’s dead light — the iPad mini weighs about 0.3kg, making it extremely portable. It’s powered by a dual-core A5 processor and has a 5-megapixel camera, as well as Apple’s new Lightning connector port. Apple promises you’ll get 10 hours of battery life.
4G is also on board, though we’re still waiting to learn whether it’ll be compatible with the UK’s spectrum bands. Stay tuned, folks.
Those hoping for the retina display seen on other Apple gadgets will be dismayed to learn that the resolution is a more modest 1,024×768 pixels. That will be a cost-cutting measure on Apple’s part, but means this tablet has a lower resolution than some rival gadgets.
In a catty side-by-side comparison with Google’s Nexus 7, Apple insists its own tiny tablet is better for web browsing thanks to a little more space around the edges of the screen, and that it has better apps that the Android-powered alternative.
Pre-order for the iPad mini kicks off on 26 October, with Wi-Fi versions shipping on 2 November. The 4G version will be released two weeks later.
The mini isn’t the only iPad news of the night. The full-size iPad has been refreshed, introducing a faster A6X processor and the spangly new Lightning port.
We’ll know prices for all the different versions very soon, at which point we’ll update this story. Are you interested? Say so in the comments or on our Facebook wall.
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