iPad Air Headlines Apple Launch Event for Tablets, Notebooks, Desktops

by Chris Preimesberger

As one might imagine, Apple CEO Tim Cook was in a jovial mood Oct. 22 for the product launch.

Deciding not to continue convention by naming the tablet the iPad 5, Apple introduced the iPad Air to a round of applause from the audience. You can see the key features listed here. It weighs a mere 1 pound and is the thinnest tablet on the market—thus, the “air” designation.

The iPad Air features the 64-bit A7 processor, the same one running in the new iPhone 5. The M7 video processor is the most powerful one used yet in an Apple tablet, so it’s custom-designed for those who plan to watch a lot of television while on the move.

Apple fans are already used to its premium pricing scheme, so it won’t surprise anybody to hear that the iPad Air will cost $629 for a 16GB WiFi and cell-enabled tablet.

The 7.9-inch iPad Mini is getting its first upgrade following its introduction about a year ago. It, too, will pack the A7 chip and the improved video processor.

The Mini 2 (they’re not calling it the Mini Air) sports an upgraded Retina 2048 by 1536 display. No other tablet of this size features that kind of clarity.

With the advent of the new iPads, the iPad 2 gets a $100 price dropdown to $399 (for a 16GB WiFi and cell-enabled model), and the iPad Mini stays at $299. The iPad Air, with 16GB and WiFi only, goes for $499.

Apple’s newest Macbook Pro laptops now run on Intel’s lower-power Haswell processor that improves battery life and speed. The new laptops also support a 4K display—Sharp’s IGZO display panel with a resolution of 3840 by 2160 that enables longer battery life.

New product launches usually mean pricing changes. In these cases, the MacBook Air and Pro laptops range from just under $1,000 to $2,000, as shown here.

Apple has been busy upgrading the innards of its Mac Pro desktops with NAND flash. Read-write speeds are faster than ever—due to continued improvement in media quality by flash providers—and, as you can see in the specs, the storage capacity can now be installed to a whopping 1TB.