While the main highlight of Apple’s iPad presentation today was the iPad Pro, the iPad mini 4 was also quietly announced. Unlike last year’s very incremental upgrade, the mini 4 is a much more substantial upgrade. Apple said it is now more closely equipped to the iPad Air 2.
Although Apple claims that the iPad mini 4 packs “the power and performance of the iPad Air 2” into a smaller device, it’s not quite the same. Instead of an A8X chip found inside the iPad Air 2, the mini 4 has an A8 processor instead, which isn’t as capable. That being said, it is much more powerful than its predecessors. It also comes equipped with an 8MP rear camera now.
Other than that, the iPad mini 4 only weighs about 295g, while the WiFi version of the mini 3 weighs slightly more at 330g. It is also slightly thinner than its predecessors, which is a given. As the mini 4 wasn’t exactly given much attention during the presentation, it’s probably safe to assume these are all the differences that the new iPad mini 4 brings. Its other hardware should be the same as its predecessor – such as a 7.9-inch Retina display.
While these upgrades may seem minimal, it’s a substantial one in comparison to last year’s model; it’s probably why the mini 3 has been discontinued (you can’t find it in Apple Malaysia’s website anymore). As usual, no word yet on the local availability of this tablet. As for retail price, it starts at US$399, which is about RM1,725.
