What you need to know about the iPad mini

Smaller than a standard iPad but noticeably bigger than a 7-inch Android tablet, it’s the most affordable iPad yet – but will it appeal to you? Here’s what you need to know.

1. Order and Released date

Apple will start accepting iPad mini orders on the October 26th. We expected the iPad mini to ship in plenty of time for Christmas, and Apple didn't disappoint: the Wi-Fi model will start shipping for delivery on November 2nd, with the LTE version coming along a few weeks later in late November.

2. Specs

3. Price

Prices are slightly higher than anticipated, but it’s still the cheapest iPad yet: the Wi-Fi version of the iPad mini starts at; 

$329 for 16GB 

$429 for 32GB  

$659 for 64GB

As you'd expect the mobile broadband version is more expensive: it’s; 

$459 for 16GB 

$559 for 32GB 

$659 for 64GB

Screen Size

Apple clearly believes that 7 inches is a little too small for a tablet: the iPad mini has a 7.9-inch backlit IPS display running at a resolution of 1024×768. That gives it the same resolution as an iPad 2, so while it isn't a retina display the smaller screen means it should look much sharper than the iPad 2.

The overall dimensions of the iPad mini are 200mm high, 134.7mm wide and 7.2mm deep, and the entire package weighs a titchy 308g.

By keeping the same screen resolution as the iPad 2, the iPad mini will be able to run iPad apps without any horrible rescaling or black bars – and as Phil Schiller showed far more often than was strictly necessary, it delivers significantly more screen real estate than a typical seven-inch device.

4. A5 Processor

While the fourth generation iPad gets an A6X processor, the iPad mini sports something a bit older: an A5, the same dual-core processor you’ll find in the iPad 2 and iPhone 4S.

That isn’t the very latest Apple processor, but as we know from our iPad 2 it’s more than capable of handling even the most demanding apps – and it doesn’t need an enormous battery to keep it running.

5. Colours

The iPad mini comes in a choice of white or black, although while the normal iPad has a plain metal back the iPad mini has iPhone 5-style silver and black back covers.

Perhaps we’ll see multi-coloured cases in next year’s inevitable second-gen model.

6. 4G LTE

Like the iPhone 5, the iPad mini has different versions for different LTE bands: model A1455 will do LTE bands 1, 3, 5, 13 and 25, and model A1454 will work on LTE bands 4 and 7. That means for U.K. users, its model A1455: band 3 is the 1800MHz frequency used by Everything Everywhere’s 4G LTE network.

7. Camera

The iPad mini has a front-facing 1.2MP camera for FaceTime calls and a 5MP rear-facing camera for still shooting and 1080p HD video recording, and that smaller case won’t look as silly when you try and shoot photos with it.

There’s no flash but the sensor has backside illumination and an f/2.4 aperture for low-light shooting.

8. Wireless

Both the Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi+Cellular versions of the iPad mini benefit from dual-band Wi-Fi, with support for 802.11a/b/g wireless and 802.11n on both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequency bands.

All iPad minis also get Bluetooth 4.0 for low-power connections to accessories and peripherals.

9. Battery

One of the best things about the iPad is its all-day battery life, and the iPad mini touts 10 hours of battery life from its 16.3-watt-hour lithium polymer battery.

On mobile data, Apple reckons you’ll get nine hours of web browsing.

10. Lightning Connector

the iPad mini has the same tiny Lightning connector as the iPhone 5 so you’ll need an adapter if your existing accessories expect a Dock connector.

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Apple iPad Mini to be Wi-Fi only.

The iPad Mini, the scaled-down tablet that everyone is expecting Apple to unveil next week, is now rumoured to be a Wi-Fi only model.

With a press invite thought to be hitting the in-boxes of media organisations around the world later today, the iPad Mini has been all but confirmed.

Apple has been as tight-lipped as usual, but some very convincing leaks have persuaded most in the tech world of the iPad Mini’s existence.

According to reports, Apple has decided against a 3G-enabled version of the iPad Mini, choosing instead to keep the low-cost tablet a Wi-Fi only model.

No 3G for Apple iPad Mini?

The Guardian newspaper has cited unnamed industry sources as saying they do not expect to see a 3G iPad Mini.

This will come as a disappointment to those hoping to get all the perks of an iPad without the price tag, but it is hardly a surprising decision.

Apple will want to keep costs down in order to compete with the likes of the Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire, and cutting out 3G allows them to do that.

Neither the Nexus 7 nor the Kindle Fire HD has 3G connectivity either, so Apple wouldn’t lose out on that front.

However, rumours abound that Google is considering a 3G-enabled Nexus 7 for release in the run-up to Christmas. While this would probably cost a bit more than the sub-£200 price tag we’ve seen so far, it would have a distinct advantage over its rivals.

Is Apple launching 4G iPad?

It seems that an iPad Mini isn’t the only tablet Apple is releasing in the coming weeks; reports suggest that it is preparing to launch a revised 9.7-inch iPad as well.

The new version of the iPad released earlier this year is rumoured to have super-fast 4G connectivity, and will be available exclusively on Everything Everywhere’s 4G network.

The updated tablet will also come with Apple’s new Lightning dock that first made an appearance on the iPhone 5 recently.

£35m funding for 5G research centre

Despite the fact that 4G mobile internet will only begin its roll out in a few weeks, those is the mobile industry are already keen to take mobile connectivity a step further, investing £35 million in a 5G Innovation Centre.

Mobile operators, infrastructure providers and the UK Research Partnership Investment Fund have come together to provide the capital needed to begin research into 5G, with the work already underway and headed by academics at Surrey University.

Is 5G connectivity needed?
Speaking to the BBC about the project, Prof Rahim Tafozolli, director of Surrey University’s Centre for Communications Systems Research, argued that 5G is needed in order for the mobile industry to cope with soaring rates of mobile data traffic. He said:

“The boundaries between mobile communication and the internet are blurring, so the fifth generation is internet on the move. 4G for us is old hat. We started working on 4G ten years ago. Being a university we have to be one step ahead of industry.

“It looks like every year the traffic is doubling. Unfortunately capacity is not doubling every year. We need to come up with technology, within the limited radio spectrum that we have, to accommodate this huge surge.”

How does 5G trump 4G?
According to Prof Tafozolli, 4G will be good for the next ten years, but we could see 5G introduced by 2020 as it is a more economical option than 4G.

“The cost of electricity of running the networks is very high,” he said.

“We are facing systems which are too expensive. We need something extremely energy efficient and cost efficient.”

Everything Everywhere (EE) has announced a launch date of 30 October for 4G LTE, which will initially roll out across ten major UK cities. Other network providers are due to roll-out their own 4G networks by spring next year.

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