Yesterday was a busy day for Apple’s media team. After issuing a press release about the Red iPhone 7 and changes in iPhone SE line-up, they announced updates to yet another product category – iPads.
The New “iPad”
The latest iPad (called just ‘iPad’) is meant to replace the 3-year old iPad Air 2. It’s practically an identical device with 9.7-inch Retina screen, Touch ID, etc. Only the processor has been updated from A8X to the 64-bit A9 chip. Apart from that, everything under the hood remains the same.
The main selling point of the new iPad is its cost. The starting model (32GB Wifi Only) is priced at 329 USD in the US and will be available from 24 March. In India, it will cost Rs. 28,900 and is expected to hit the shelves in April.
“New customers and anyone looking to upgrade will love this new iPad for use at home, in school, and for work, with its gorgeous Retina display, our powerful A9 chip, and access to the more than 1.3 million apps designed specifically for it,” said Apple’s Phil Schiller.
If you haven’t been impressed by the new iPad yet, here’s the real bummer. The new model is actually thicker and heavier than iPad Air 2. Compared to the 6.1mm thickness and 437 grams weight of the older model, the new iPad is 7.5mm thick and weighs 469 grams. Yes, it’s not a big difference, but worth noting nonetheless.
iPad Mini 4
We hate to break it to iPad Mini fans, but the update to Mini 4 is disappointing. In fact, there’s hardly any change other than increasing the storage on the base model from 32GB to 128GB. Everything else remains the same, including the price. And with the new iPad priced so competitively, it makes no sense whatsoever to pick the outdated iPad Mini 4.
What’s your opinion about these iPad updates? Are the subtle changes enough to fulfil your requirements? Or, do you feel shortchanged like us? Let us know in the comments section.