After unveiling its latest installment in the iPad family, the iPad Mini with Retina Display, Apple was vague on the exact release date for the new smaller version of its flagship tablet. Now the company has announced that the new iPad Mini with Retina Display will be available starting today at the online Apple Store. The tablet, which sports a 7.9-inch display has a leg up over its full-sized counterpart thanks to its significantly better screen resolution.
According to ABC News, the 2048 x 1536 resolution display is a lot better for making photos, video and text appear much more crisp and sharper than previous versions of the iPad. The tablet starts at $399 rather than the $329 cost of the original iPad Mini, which Apple is still keeping available on shelves for a marked down price of $299.
Unfortunately for those who were hoping to simply swing by the Apple Store after work and pick up the new Retina Display iPad Mini, the device is not available for walk-ins. However, you can order from the Apple Store online and then request an in-store pickup. So, you might be able to skip out of your local Apple store with the new iPad Mini. In addition the devices will be sold through AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless and select authorized Apple retailers.
The four iPads available from Apple go up against stiff competition this holiday season as Microsoft's Surface 2, Amazon's Kindle Fire HDX and Google's Nexus 7 are all being touted by their respective companies as better alternatives to the iPad. However, Apple seems unphased by the competition as CEO Tim Cook has said he expects this to be an "iPad Christmas."
"We continue to view the tablet market as 'huge.' We see it as a large opportunity for us. We are not solely focused on unit share, as we've said many times, but on usage and customer satisfaction and other things that are very important to us," Cook said last month on the company's earnings call.
