Apple unveils new range of iPads, Retina iMac
Tech giant Apple has lifted the veil off its new range of iPads, as well as new updates to its iMac and Mac Mini at an event held in Cupertino today (16 October 2014).
The event kicked off with an update on the launch of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, which Apple noted broke the record for the most phones ordered in 30 days.
Apple CEO, Tim Cook said developers were beginning to design apps for its upcoming Watch, which would be releasing in “early 2015”.
iOS 8.1 was discussed after the iPhone 6 and Apple Watch recap, with Apple promising the mobile operating system was shaped by customer feedback.
iOS 8.1 will introduce Apple Pay to users, along with the return of Camera Roll. The mobile OS is due to launch Monday
OS X Yosemite was given some time in the spotlight, and a beta of the operating system has reportedly already been requested by 1 million users. Yosemite was announced as available at the time of publication.
The headline of the evening, though, were the announcements of Apple’s new devices: the iPad Air 2, the iPad mini 3 and the Retina Display iMac.
iPad Air 2
iPad Air 2
The new iPad Air 2 is only 6.1mm thick – 18% thinner than the first iPad Air. Cook demonstrated that two iPad Air 2s on top of each other were thinner than the original iPad.
Apple said it removed the air gap between glass and display, which was present in all previous iPads, in the new iPad Air 2.
The iPad Air 2 features:
- The new A8X chip – a version of the A8 chip which has been created specifically for iPad Air 2. The device offers far more processing power than its predecessor, but still manages to keep up 10 hour battery life;
- An 8MP iSight camera, which includes a new sensor and supports 1080p HD video;
- Connectivity: Wi-Fi (802.11ac with MIMO) speeds of up to 866Mbps, and LTE seeds of up to 150Mbps;
- Ships with iOS 8.1;
- The device will cost between $499 and $699 for the WiFi model, and between $629 and $829 for the Wi-Fi and cellular models.
Pre-orders will start on October 17, and the new iPads will start shipping by the end of next week.
iPad mini 3
iPad mini 3
Not much time at the event was dedicated to the iPad mini 3, with a brief announcement made about the tablet’s basic specs and pricing.
The iPad mini 3’s features:
- 7.5mm thick;
- A 7.9-inch Retina display;
- A7 chip with 64‑bit architecture;
- 5MP iSight camera, capable of 1080p video recording;
- 1.2MP front FaceTime camera, capable of 720p recording;
- 10 hour battery life surfing the web on Wi‑Fi, watching video, or listening to music – up to 9 hours of surfing the web using cellular data network
- Connectivity: Wi‑Fi (802.11a/b/g/n); dual channel (2.4GHz and 5GHz) and MIMO.
Wi-Fi + Cellular models of the mini 3 are priced between $529 and $729 for the 16GB – 128GB models.
Nothing was said about the internal specs of the mini – such as its processor and battery life.
Retina 5K iMac
Retina 5K iMac
Moving onto its Mac presentation, Apple boasted that its Mac sales were increasing in a PC market that was actually declining.
Apple proceeded to unveil its 27-inch Retinia Display iMac, boasting “5k” resolution – 5210 x 2880 pixels.
The Retina 5K has 14.7 million pixels, and is “the world’s highest-resolution display,” according to Apple.
Other specs include:
- The display is 5mm thin at the edge
- 3.5GHz Intel i5 – which can be upgraded to a 4GHz i7
- AMD Radeon R9 M290X graphics
- 8GB of RAM
- Thunderbolt 2, 1TB fusion drive
- Starting price of $2,499
Mac Mini
Mac Mini
Apple also announced an update to the Mac Mini, boosting the portable Mac’s features to:
- 4th generation Intel Core processors
- Intel Iris HD Graphics 5000
- PCIe-based flash storage
- 802.11ac Wi-Fi
- Two Thunderbolt ports
- Starting price of $499
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