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iPad Mini on the Shelves

By Mike Putman · The Mainstream
Published October 31, 2012

Apple is trying to blow consumers’ socks off one more time this year with the release of the iPad mini on Oct. 23.

The latest addition to the iPad family, the iPad mini has a 7.9-inch screen as opposed to the 9.7-inch screen that Apple currently offers. The mini also lives up to its name with an ultra-thinness of 7.2 mm, barely over a quarter of an inch. It is exactly 7.87 inches by 5.3 inches wide. The mini is the size of half a sheet of notebook paper, so it fits in your hand but not your pocket.

The price is not as mini, however, as consumers had hoped. The mini starts at $329, a $70 deduction from the regular iPad or a $170 deduction from the thicker iPad with retina display. The starting price for the mini is much higher than the $250 price tag that consumer had been led to hope for. 

The mini comes in either black or white and includes the new lightning port for docking which not only charges faster than the current docking port but also allows the unit to transfer larger amounts of data even quicker. The cord is also reversible, making the cord easier to connect to the unit in the dark.

One downside to the lightning port is that it also allows Apple to require authentication through their chip, making it much tougher for third party devices to connect to the iPad.

For its small size, the iPad mini packs a big punch with a dual core processor with 512 Meg of RAM, 4G compatibility (in the LTE versions), Apple’s newest operating system iOS6 as well as 10 hours of use on a single charge for web-surfing, Wi-Fi and watching videos. The mini is also capable of taking 1.2 Meg pictures and 720 HD video recording with the face camera and 1080p video recording via the iSight camera.

In addition, the unit comes installed with Siri, which is software that allows users to speak to the mini for placing calls, sending messages and making appointments. The system will charge either via the plug-in power adapter or by simply plugging it into a computer Usb port.