AppleInsider Staff
Apple's diminutive iPad will also receive an update this week, the company announced Thursday, in the form of the iPad mini 3, which features a Touch ID fingerprint sensor and new gold color option starting at $399.
The company has also expanded the iPad mini lineup by continuing to offer the first-generation model, lacking a Retina display, for $249. And occupying the $299 space will be the iPad mini 2.
The entry-level iPad mini 3 will feature 16-gigabytes of storage for $399. Upgrading storage capacity in the iPad mini 3 will run $499 for 64 gigabytes, while 128 gigabytes will cost $599. In addition, a new gold color option will join silver and space gray, and LTE-capable models carry a $130 premium.
The home button of the iPad mini 3 now features a Touch ID fingerprint sensor Just like on the iPhone, it can be used to unlock the iPad, authorize iTunes and App Store purchases, and enable security with third-party apps.
Touch ID will also integrate with Apple Pay when shopping online on their tablet, allowing users to securely authorize purchases using their fingertip.
While the iPad Air 2 was updated with a beefier A8X processor and the M8 motion coprocessor, the CPU in this year's iPad mini 3 remains identical to the iPad mini 2: An A7 CPU coupled with the M7 motion chip.
Preorders for the iPad mini 3 and iPad Air 2 will begin on Friday, and the units will begin shipping next week.
Christine McKee
Chip Loder
Malcolm Owen
William Gallagher
68 Comments
Sticking with the A7?
no apple tv :|
was really hoping for an app store, official gaming, or an API for iOS devices to use it in a new way.
Wow a seriously boring event. Probably didn't event need to hold an event for this.
thats disappointing, Ill just pick up an mini retina now. Anyone know if they are keeping the 32GB versions?
no apple tv :|
was really hoping for an app store, official gaming, or an API for iOS devices to use it in a new way.
Maybe an app store will kill or mame their other products?
It seems that for a device that sells for $99, there's little overall profit there and they would prefer to keep it hamstrung.
Also, Apple probably thinks it's doing "good enough" in sales that they don't feel a threat from other TV box companies like Netflix and Amazon (and probably MS next).
The AppleTV could do a lot for a little, but why affect profits? AppleTV could be used as a $99 computer. Actually, you could run word processing software on an iPhone then beam it to AppleTV on a large display and have your portable computing there. Browsing as well.
Any theories as to why Apple doesn't want to do much with AppleTV (hardware/software or just software) platform?