Apple iPad Mini vs. iPad(4th
Genration): Specs Compared
It
used to be fairly easy to decide on an iPad—pick your storage capacity, price,
and whether or not you need cellular data support or can get by with just
Wi-Fi. But not anymore.
Today
Apple unveiled the long-rumored iPad mini, a smaller, lighter model with a
7.9-inch screen, instead of the 9.7-inch Retina display on the regular iPad.
Just to keep things interesting, the company also boosted the existing, larger
iPad, adding a new A6X processor, faster Wi-Fi performance, and the 8-pin
Lightning connector, all while keeping the price the same as before—starting at
$499 for the 16GB Wi-Fi model. Both also have 4G LTE versions available for
$130 more, and you can get them all in 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB varieties.
So
now which do you choose? Many people have extolled the virtues of smaller
tablets. Most of the praise is centered around the ability to use the tablet
one-handed, and to carry it in a coat pocket or an even smaller bag. That makes
the iPad mini perfect for reading books, playing certain kinds of games, and
just having it handy in a crowded coffee shop or anywhere space is constrained.
Don't
discount the iPad mini's lighter weight, either. Amazingly, it weighs less than
half of what the regular-sized iPad weighs, despite only losing 1.8 inches of
screen diameter to its larger sibling. It's also $170 less expensive.
That
said, there's still plenty of reason to get the larger one. The 9.7-inch model
has four times the screen resolution, at 2,048-by-1,536 pixels instead of
1,024-by-768. It also has a new A6X processor that Apple promises is up to
twice as fast as the earlier A5X in the iPad introduced this past April. Both
of those processors are faster than the A5 CPU in the iPad mini, too. That
makes the 9.7-inch model better for hardcore gaming and more CPU-intensive
content consumption.
There's
a lot more to consider, too, but we're getting ahead of ourselves. Instead,
here's a spec comparison between the iPad mini and the 4th-generation iPad with
Retina Display.
Pre-orders
for the iPad mini and the iPad (4th Generation) start Friday, October 26th,
with the Wi-Fi-only versions hitting Apple Stores on November 2nd, 2012 at 8am.
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