Are You Buying an iPad Mini?

Well, in case you have been under a rock and haven't heard, the iPad Mini was announced the other day by Apple. With great fan fair, they rolled out not only the iPad Mini but they also announced another new iPad.  The 4th generation iPad follows the New iPad which was released just this spring.

There has been some rumors that some Apple stores are accepting returns of the New iPad for the newest 4th generation iPad release. Typically, you have up to 14 days to return your iPad if you are not satisfied with it. Some stores have extended this to 30 days in light of the surprise debut of the 4th generation iPad.

Some questions many of the app developers and users have had are what are some of the specs of the Mini and Newest iPad. Do they have a GPS? Is the screen resolution different?  What processor do they have?

Many of the specs for the iPad Mini look very similar to the iPad 2. Most noticeable is the smaller size at 7.9 inches instead of the 9.5 inches. The screen resolution remains the same as the iPad 2 at 1024x768, however the pixel density has been improved to 163ppi.

The weight of the Mini is less than half that of it's full size counterparts at just under 11 ounces.  The cameras, both front and back facing are improved and video can be taken in full 1080HD.  The processor of the Mini is the A5 dual core which is not as powerful as the new 4th Gen full sized iPad with the new A6 processor. The dual band WiFi on both the mini and the 4 generation iPads should improve connection speeds.

The other obvious addition is the 4G LTE cellular service that will improve your download time over the previous 3G models.  The specs on the Apple site also confirm that there is no GPS on the WiFi only versions of the Mini and the 4 gen iPads.  GPS is only available on the 3G and 4G models.

The Mini appears to have a few less feature and power when compared to the 4th Gen iPad. The addition of the A6 processors, more memory and the retina display give the advantage to the 4th Gen.

So which one are you buying? I think I will stick with my iPad 2 until it is now longer supported.  The rate at which Apple keeps pushing these things out, that may be next month.

~~~Sail On~~~~ /)

Mark