The new iPad Mini with Retina display has arrived on our desks, still warm from its release yesterday. This latest update brings significant new features and beefier spec, but what are the newest, most exciting, features?
The screen: It’s the star turn here as, just like its bigger 9.7 inch brother, this has been given the Retina display treatment, which means a more vivid 2048×1536 resolution and a pixel-obliterating 326 pixels-per-inch. Expect text to be sharper and images more defined than ever before. What we saw in a demo at Apple HQ today was enough to impress, but we’ll wait for a full review to deliver a verdict.
The power: At the heart of the iPad Mini is the very same A7 chip found in the iPhone 5S. This brings some serious processing power, which we were privy to today where native apps took advantage of the impressive 64-bit architecture. On first impression, graphics on games such as Epoch looked great, while VJay impressively ran two 1080p videos at the same time without a hint of a struggle. For GarageBand jammers, now you can run 32 tracks of audio simultaneously in one of your creations.
MIMO: This stands for Multiple Input Multiple Output. It basically means that it allows multiple wi-fi streams whizzing into your iPad Mini so internet speed has the potential to reach a claimed 300 Mbps. Speedy stuff.
More memory: Like the recently launched iPad Air, this comes with plenty of storage size options ranging from 16GB through to 32GB, 64GB and a whopping 128GB. The standard iPad Mini only comes in 16GB.
Dual microphones:Â While this doesn’t sound ground-breaking, those two little pits at the back of the device are there to improve voice clarity – a welcome addition to the many people who use their iPad for Skype calls.
Size and weight:Â The introduction of the Retina display and power to support it means a slight increase in both depth and weight. The 0.3mm in depth is pretty insignificant but the extra 23g in weight could be noticeable.
While these are under-the-hood upgrades they are all significant updates to the Mini range, and on paper keep it a heavyweight in the table market.
Prices start at $399 for a 16GB wi-fi only model and go up to $829 for a 128GB wi-fi and cellular model.
This article originally appeared on News.com.au.