Apple introduces iPad mini (S$448 – S$878), Fourth Generation iPad (S$658 – S$1,088), iMac and Mac mini (S$1,088 – S$2,788), as well as 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display (S$2,388 – S$2,788) at San Jose, California. All prices include GST.
As rumoured, Apple has introduced the iPad mini, with a 7.9-inch (1024 x 768 pixels) non-Retina display and 7.2mm thick.
It is a quarter thinner than the Fourth Generation iPad and thinner than a pencil, according to Apple CEO, Tim Cook.
The Fourth Generation iPad is an update that includes a new A6X CPU, a 720p FaceTime HD camera, additional LTE carrier support and faster Wi-Fi.
Externally, the only difference is the 9-pin Lightning connector which replaces the old 30-pin jack.
The Wi-Fi only version of the two tablets will be available in 34 countries from 2 November and can be pre-ordered in 26 countries from 26 October. Singapore is in both lists.
The Wi-Fi + Cellular versions will only start shipping “a couple of weeks after the Wi-Fi models”, according to Apple.
Many expected the iPad mini to be priced to compete with 7-inch tablets such as Amazon’s Kindle Fire HD and Google’s Nexus 7, both of which start at US$199.
However, the iPad mini will start at US$329 instead.
Apple has also updated its Mac mini and iMacs (21.5 and 27-inch).
The later is particularly stunning with its razor-thin all-in-one form factor that has excited the tech community.
It comes with a new storage option called Fusion Drive – which combines 128GB of flash with a standard 1TB or 3TB hard drive.
The Mac mini is available today, while the 21.5-inch iMac and 27-inch iMac will be available in November and December respectively through the Apple Online Store.
Philip Schiller – Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing – also unveiled a new 13-inch MacBook Pro that is 20 percent thinner than its predecessor and weighs nearly half a kilogram lighter.
Starting at S$2,388, the new notebook has a 2.5GHz Intel processor, a high-resolution Retina display with more than 4 million pixels, and a solid-state flash drive instead of a spinning hard disk.
The 13-inch MacBook Pro is available from today through the Apple Online Store.
In the other big tech event for this week, Microsoft is releasing its Windows 8 cross-platform operating system for General Availability this Friday on 26 October.