For a long time Apple refrained from creating a small-screen tablet, but it’s no longer content with dominating only the large-screen tablet market: it wants the lot. But has it compromised on quality to create the mini, or is it possible that great things really do come in small packages? Apple has stuck to its usual pricing structure for its fourth-generation iPad, which starts at £399 and goes up to £659. Meanwhile, the iPad mini starts at a more affordable £269 for the most basic model, which extends to £529.
There are no prizes for guessing that the iPad mini is smaller and lighter than the iPad. The former measures 135x200mm, and the latter 186x241mm. The mini is also thinner and lighter, at 7.2mm and 308g versus 9.4mm and 652g. The full-size iPad takes Apple’s tried-and-tested 9.7in IPS panel. Swap around the numbers and you get the mini’s screen size: 7.9in. Both sport a 4:3 aspect ratio, but differ in their resolution. Whereas the big iPad has a Retina-quality 2048x1536 screen, the mini matches that of the iPad 2 with 1024x768 pixels. The full-size iPad’s 264ppi pixel density is more impressive than the mini’s 163ppi. Apple tends to share very little information on its processors, but the iPad takes its latest 1.39GHz A6X dual-core chip with quad-core graphics, and the mini runs the iPad 2’s 1GHz A5.
As is always the case with iPads, both are available with 16-, 32- or 64GB of storage, and neither has an expansion slot. The cameras in use by the iPad and iPad mini are identical. You get a 1.2Mp front-facing FaceTime HD (720p) camera, and a 5Mp rear-facing iSight snapper that can also capture full-HD (1080p) video. Connectivity specifi cations are like for like between these iPads. Both use Apple’s new Lightning connector, and both support dual-band 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0.
The iPad and iPad mini also offer the same support for 3G or 4G LTE connectivity in the UK, although its offered via a Micro-SIM in the fourthgeneration iPad and a Nano-SIM in the mini. The similarities continue with the battery life. Apple claims a 10-hour battery life for each of its iPads when surfing the web over Wi-Fi.
Source.Tablet World UK.Edition.3.2013
