The iPad Mini and Apple's other surprises

(Anyone think it looks a lot like the Galaxy Note? Also - these slogans are getting ridiculously bad)

A friend of mine (and big Apple fan) said - before the launch - that he believed the iPad Mini was pointless. I didn't agree. I believe a 7" tablet does hold a practical and financial benefit to a consumer and Apple offering a cheaper alternative to the iPad for consumers is the right move. If you've got an iPad you don't need the Mini but for many, the iPad Mini should be the affordable option. However - £269 at the cheapest end!? What were they thinking? Many consumers were waiting around for the iPad Mini before buying the Nexus 7 and I would assume that they had expected a more competitively priced option - perhaps up to £200. It smells of Apple just grinding out another £70 because of the label. In my opinion consumers willing to spend £269 should seriously consider go the whole way and just buy an old iPad 2/3. It seems the investors agree. Kevin Cook from Yahoo Finance summarised

"But when the slide of pricing schemes for the iPad Mini were shown, the stock dropped hard and fast, trading from above $629 down to $622 in only 3 minutes on over 800,000 shares."

What is good is that we now have a direct comparison and competition to the Nexus 7 which I said we needed before it could be judged properly.

(Source: http://ow.ly/eIR8d)

So the Google Nexus 7 has more power, an HD screen and a quad-core processor - all for cheaper. Okay, the iPad Mini has a bigger screen, offers more storage (at about £100 quid an upgrade) and is a bit lighter but still; is that worth the hike in cost? That's up to you to decide I guess.
     We all know it'll sell, and it'll sell well, but, in a straight up comparison with the Nexus 7 - it loses in my opinion.

Anyway what else did Apple announce? Controversially Apple have unveiled a new 4th gen. iPad which also ceases all production of 'the new iPad' which was just 6 months old. This has angered many consumers who, after investing a lot of money, have now seen a newer model soon after their purchase. Now with any other company this wouldn't necessarily be seen as controversial but because of Apple's 18 month 'cycle' this is peculiar. So what does the iPad 4 boast? Apple is shouting about the new iPad having retina display...even though the iPad 3 did as well... The processor is apparently twice as fast without affecting battery-life, 4G is now for everyone and the cameras have improved. All round, good improvements.

Apple also announced an impressive new 13" MacBook Pro (good specs but for a whopping price) and a beautiful new iMac (it really is beautiful):

Lots of excitement! Next up Microsoft take the stage on Friday....


As always, thoughts and criticisms encouraged! If you enjoyed my blog or want to follow for more debates, please do so!