Apple Unveils iPad Mini

Apple got the oohs and aahs it was looking for at its product unveiling event today. Here's the skinny on its latest gadgets, with some help from the liveblogs at CNBC and Bloomberg:

• First up was the Mac line refresh, starting with a 13-inch iteration of the MacBook Pro with Retina Display. It's 20% thinner than the previous generation, and almost a pound lighter. It's $1,699, or $500 cheaper than the 15-inch MacBook Pro.
• There was also an update of the Mac Mini, as expected, updating the internal hardware of the tiny desktop. There's also a new version specifically set up to be used as a server.
• The crowd let out an audible gasp at the sight of the new iMac. The new design is frankly stunning, with an edge that's just 5mm thin. It also includes a snazzy new feature that Apple is calling the "fusion drive," a combination of a flash drive and a hard drive that Apple promises is nearly as fast as a flash drive, while boasting up to three terabytes of storage. They'll start at $1,299.
• Then came the headliners: the iPad line. First up was the fourth generation of the main iPad, which looks much the same as previous editions, but it includes an A6X processor that Apple says will give it double the CPU and graphic performance. It will also have Apple's new lightning connector, LTE support, and an upgraded camera. They'll cost the same as the current iPads ($499).
• But the star of the show, of course, was the iPad Mini—yes, that's the actual name. "It is every inch an iPad," Phil Schiller promised. As expected it has a 7.9-inch screen, but it isn't Retina Display—it has the same resolution as the original iPad. It weighs just 0.68 lb, and is 7.2mm thick.
• iPad apps will run on the machine right out of the box, without developers having to adapt them—which Schiller touted as a big advantage over Android 7-inch tablets running "stretched out phone apps."
• That wasn't the only smack Schiller talked either. "Others have tried to make tablets smaller than the iPad. They have failed miserably," he said, pointing out that the mini's screen is a third larger than the Nexus, yet it's lighter, and in Apple's opinion easier to hold thanks to the thinner side bezel.
• The mini will start at $329, again as expected.

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