iPad Mini Specs

The iPad Mini specs, introduced by Apple at a press conference on October 23, are available to all now that the device is announced. The iPad Mini is Apple’s newest mobile device and enters the company into the small form factor tablet device market. The iPad Mini is set to go toe-to-toe against established competition, specifically the Google Nexus 7, the Kindle Fire HD and the upcoming Nook HD among many others. Although these other tablets are in the 7″ space, we know that the iPad Mini isn’t in that space since its size puts it into a slightly different and larger screen size tablet category. The iPad Mini specs do state that it’s a 7.85″ tablet which is a deliberate choice from Apple because the math states the iPad Mini specs for the screen size shares the exact same size of user interface elements as the iPhone. This translates to the belief that an existing iPad app designed for the 9.7″ screen will work fine on the iPad Mini screen without any modification to the application.

Before the event took place many media outlets were reporting much of the same rumored information about the iPad Mini Specs. Prior to the announcement, most believed that the guts of the device would be more similar to the iPad 2 as opposed to the Retina Display iPad 3. Most thought that the iPad Mini would have an A5 processor, 512MB of RAM and the same GPU as the iPad 2. Before the press conference, most expected that the iPad Mini Specs forced Apple to price point the device well above the competition into a different category altogether, starting at $329. This is a stark contrast, and epic fail according to some media folk, to the competition that starts at just $199, which represents a price 60% higher than what the rest are pricing their devices at in the market. According to various rumors sites such as MacRumors.com and 9to5Mac, the pricing for the iPad Mini starts at $329 for an entry-level WiFi model and goes up to $429 and $529 for bigger capacities.

Let’s take a look at the iPad Mini Specs to see just what Apple is offering with their latest iPad product.

iPad Mini Specs

Apple CEO Tim Cook stated at the press conference is that this isn’t just a shrunken down iPad, but a device unique onto itself. The iPad Mini is 7.2mm thick which is 25% thinner than the normal full-sized iPad. It weighs just 0.68 lbs which is 53% lighter than the normal version. This new device is available in both black and white aluminum versions, similar to the iPhone 5.

The display of the iPad Mini is not Retina Display worthy, although it is (as expected) 7.9″ in size and runs at 1024×768 which is the same resolution as the iPad 2. Furthermore, using a screen of this size and resolution means no adaption requirements for apps to work over on the iPad Mini.

Apple made a point to note that the iPad Mini, as compared to an Android tablet is built of metal instead of plastic and has a bigger 7.9″ display as opposed to the Android’s 7″ screen – although to many consumers, pointing out a bigger sized screen in a product with “Mini” in its name seems counter-intuitive. Nevertheless, this tablet shows what Apple purports to be 49% more of a webpage on the vertical aspect, while there is 67% “more shown” from a horizontal perspective.

The iPad Mini is powered by an A5 processor, has a front-facing FaceTime HD camera and has a 5MP iSight camera on the back of the unit. It does utilize the new Lightning connector and is estimated to have a 10-hour battery life. Those units that support cellular service will leverage LTE connectivity.

The iPad Mini Specs at the time of release state that the price point of the unit will start at $329 for a 16GB WiFi model and $459 for a 16GB LTE model.