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Apple’s keynote megabus rolled into town, Tim Cook stood on the top-deck blaring out superlatives for the new iPad Mini; “powerhouse” fourth-gen iPad; super-thin iMac; super-fast Mac Mini; the 13-inch retina MacBook Pro, updated iBooks, and more. Sink your fanboi teeth into the meaty comments field, below, and let’s keep those wheels o’ chit-chat turning.
iPad Mini: Everything You Need to Know.
The iPad Mini is here. It’s a sleek, thin and light 7.85-inch tablet made of anodised aluminium and glass that follows the format reduction pioneered by Google and Amazon. Read More >
Apple’s Fourth-Generation iPad Is a Powerhouse with New A6X Chip.
As well as dumping a new iPad Mini on us, Apple also unveiled the fourth generation of its iPad, which they described as having “twice the performance and new features, at the same price.” Read More >
What You Need to Know About the New Fourth Generation iPad
Sure, today’s mostly about the iPad Mini, but Apple just announced a new fourth generation full sized iPad. It’s a lot the same, but some key things have changed. Here’s everything you’ll want to know about it. Read More >
13-Inch MacBook Pro Gets a Retina Display.
Great news for anyone who’s lusted after the gorgeous retina display on the MacBook Pro but has been hesitant to drop the best part of two-grand or make room for a 15-inch laptop. Read More >
Apple’s Mac Mini Finally Gets Some Love.
Apple’s smallest desktop, and server of choice for advanced home users, the Mac Mini, has finally been given some love. It’s basically a spec bump, but it’s been well over due. Read More >
Apple’s New iMacs Are Crazy Thin.
Apple has defied that assumption that the desktop is on the outs and dropped refreshed super-thin iMacs at its event. Read More >
What Is Apple’s Fusion Drive?
While introducing the new ridiculously thin iMac, Apple also revealed the new Fusion Drive. What is it? It’s a new storage system that supposedly combines the best of SSD and HDD. Read More >
Apple’s Got New Lightning Cables Now for Your Other Gadgets.
But however you feel about Apple’s dumb, expensive adapters, you’re going to need new cables at some point. Apple’s got them for you now. Read More >
There’s a New Version of iBooks with Synced Pages and Continuous Scrolling.
The latest version of iBooks is available to download from today, and features continuous scrolling, and its own iCloud-enabled version of Amazon’s Whispersync. Read More >
The iPad Mini’s Guts Are Basically an iPad 2.
Apple’s new iPad Mini is here, with all the attendant fawning. But strip away the smaller size, and what is it really? A tiny little iPad 2. Read More >
What Is Friction-Stir Welding?
To create the new iMac, Apple’s thinnest desktop yet, the designers used friction-stir welding to going the aluminium body. Unlike arc welding, the more standard way to fuse metal plates, a friction stir just needs a good rubbing — and a few thousand kilos of pressure — to stick together. Read More >
iPad Mini Hands-On: Not As Small As You Think
The brand new iPad Mini is pretty much everything we expected but how is it, like, in real life? Apple just let the tech world go hands on with the iPad Mini and most agree: it’s not as miniature as you’d think! Which is a good thing. Read More >
Watch Apple’s iPad Mini Video with All the Details on the New Tiny Tablet
Here’s Apple’s video breakdown of its new iPad Mini. It’s all the stuff you expect from an Apple video — white backgrounds, impressive engineering details, Jony Ive saying al-oo-min-ee-um — and gives you a pretty up close look at the new tablet. Read More >
So losing the graphics card is an upgrade?
Gah wrong thread, two articles with the same picture!
A lot of these were in need of an update and I think the new iMacs look great….but boy am I bitter at shelling out for an iPad that was replaced within 6 months!!
Yeah, I feel the same, but I’m not too bothered. My iPad 3 does everything I need it to do. The extra power would be good for games, but not worth the upgrade.
The iPad mini is $329.. . How much in £’s. will order Friday if it £200
Taking a stab in the dark – and seeing as we seem to pay a bit more in the UK – I would not be surprised to see this at £269 is…..no real proof, just my guess. Could be tempted myself though at £200 and sell my ‘Old’ 3rd gen ipad
£269, just confirmed!
Well that a no no then, would rather spend £400 on the iPad 4 and let the kids @ my iPad 3 instead!
Not a bad guess…..but will be sticking to my ‘old’ one at that price
Any guesses on next weeks lottery numbers?
Yep, but i’m not sharing….if I win you can have my old ipad
Yeaaah I think the 6 month renewal and the higher than anticipated price point for the Mini are going to annoy a lot of people.
Personally? I’m going to keep being a ‘dinosaur’ with 2 year old products like my iPad 2 and iPhone 4. Not going to bother upgrading till I’m literally forced to due to them ceasing to work altogether, thank you very much.
While everything was certainly yet another step in the right direction, those iMacs. Just, wow.
Even with the strange bulbous back? All the photos on Apple.com seem to somehow not show that
Of course there is going to be a bump, otherwise you end up with the specs of the iPad in a Mac.
It looks beautiful, compared to the old one.
I think you just notice it more as the edge is so thin. I have an iMac 27″ I use for work and watch movies in and the curve is also there.
The new design doesn’t seem to offer any practical advantages, the SD slot has moved to the back, and it’s lost the optical drive. would happily live with the extra thickness in return for more usability.
I have to admit that I’m not bothered by the lack of optical drive. I very rarely use mine. However there is still the option of plugging in an external drive (Apple or any other brand), bit of a pain though if you use one a lot.
Here’s a good profile shot:
http://images.apple.com/imac/design/images/evolution_today_2x.jpg
It’s actually quite nice to look at after you get used to it.
First world problems! Ordered a Mac Mini for work this morning.
More of an iPod Touch xl than iPad Mini. I’ve held off buying an iPad, as I own an iPod, and the software is too similar to justify the cost. This is wear a nexus has come in handy, as it can help me with different things, and I can use an iPod for what it was made for, music and games. An iPad mini is even worse. Running on the same software, I just don’t understand why anyone would buy something for £269 that you can get for £120?
You really don’t see why people would buy an iPad mini over a Nexus? What about people who buy iPads over other similar sized tablets, do you get that?
i dont, the only thing the iPad has going for it is general aesthetics and screen. No-one can argue against the fact that it is the sexiest looking tablet on the market. However, why would you want a better screen? the only people that would really benefit are gamers, photo editors, film editors, all of which wont be doing the bulk of their work on a 10″ screen
What about build quality, apps store, third-party support and ecosystem? The screen makes reading text much easier so there’s less of a need to pinch and zoom when reading website or any other activity with text (so that would be everyone who uses a tablet). I’m a designer and I use mine to showcase my portfolio and designs to clients, the retina (I hate using that term) screen is a huge improvement for that.
The mini is quite clearly a poor product in hardware terms (the worst Apple have released in a long time), it will be interesting if the quality of the aesthetics/ecosystem blind people and the tech press to that.
It’s essentially an imac without the screen, and a good “budget” option. It’s also perfect if you would rather use your own choice of screen then apples, but don’t want to spend the mega money on a mac pro.
Most impressive thing for me was the iMac, which do look amazing for the specs that they have. I really wanted to like the mac mini but the graphics card lets it down!
The iPad mini initially looked impressive but the Android bashing was a bit tasteless considering real estate, and not taking into account that the N7 has a higher resolution. I also expected more meatier specs for the iPad mini, but I’m sure it’ll sell like hoecakes no less.
HOTCAKES…but hoecakes might be just as appropriate :-/
I don’t know, I was quite liking the hoecakes
Hoecakes are a real thing http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/hoecakes-recipe/index.html how well they sell, I don’t know.
there comparisons between the Nexus 7 and the mini made me smirk
I always figure anyone using that many figures to justify something, is hiding something.
also, they are comparing like for like, where a product costs less there are going to be differences, the nexus 7 can hardly be classed as feeling cheap, i managed to have a play and a fondle on one last sunday, and was very impressed with its build.
also they seemed to brag that the screen real estate was built to beat the size of the nexus when realistically it was the only real size they could use whilst keeping it compatible with current iPad apps
so thats what i got from that
however, the iPad does look nicely built and i will sell by the bucket load.
iPad 3 owners must be livid, their products have devalued a lot quicker
I am glad i am not amongst them
iPad mini – specs meh, the price a deal-breaker for many depending on how the conversion rates go.
iPad – decent iterative upgrade I suppose.
Lightning connector – cha-ching, they are going to make so much money from selling people those dongly things.
Mac Pro 13″ – disappointed by the graphics chip.
iMac – disappointed again, because they should have named the Fusion Drive the Flux Capacitor instead.
Mac mini – not a bad way if you want a cheap Mac.
Anyone else utterly bowled over by the presence of a “new iPad” (what do we call the old new iPad, now?!) As an owner of the first “new iPad”, I’m pretty surprised they refreshed that line so quickly. But I don’t feel I’m missing out much. (I don’t use my iPad for gaming, so the extra power isn’t that necessary really. Nor do I use it for FaceTime much, either…)
As a gamer I would be excited… except touch controls for most of the games are lacking.
I did think that it was one of their better products shown though.
I do feel for the people who bought the “new” iPad six months ago.
I feel for the guy who bought the 100 millionth iPad…
That made me laugh maniacally for some reason.
Nah, that’s what Apple were doing when he bought it.
I don’t think the extra grunt in the iPad 4 will benefit anyone but gamers. iPad 3 was a good upgrade, but the difference between that and the 4 is too slight for most. I still use my iPad 2 often and it does the job on all counts.
i wonder if thats real overall 2 x power or 2 x power on certain selective processes.
does anyone actually really use facetime? <– that could be an artcle of its own
I use FaceTime several times a week to catch up with my family in the states, or when dad-in-law is in the Caribbean and Scandinavia. It’s very convenient!
I don’t particularly feel that I am missing out on much with the upgrade – I don’t use it for gaming either, so no particular need for the upgrade – it’s just annoying spending that sort of money on a version that no longer exists, I’m gobsmacked how long it lasted.
Kinda makes me wonder whether they rushed the previous new iPad just to meet an expected deadline and keep them relevant in 2012 tablets until they could bring this one out.
Was the new iPad (the first one!) the iPhone 4S of iPads, then?
Essentially yes, except for the fact that they gave over a year between 4 and 4s so were only screwing over consumers on an annual basis.
Overall, I’m impressed and satisfied. 13-inch MBP looks superb. The Mac Mini is something I couldn’t really care less about, but the iMac… My goodness, that looks good.
Not sure about iBooks – continuous scrolling isn’t my thing (although you can switch it off) – but I’m a Kindle man anyway. I’ll still download it, as it’s free.
The iPad + Retina seems decent. I mean, it’s basically the third generation with a new chip and the ability to support more networks, but it’s still a good upgrade – especially with EE also being announced today. Could the old one run on EE? Anyway. I’ll get onto the biggie. The iPad mini. It looks brilliant! Design wise, that is. Specs-wise, it isn’t much to boast about, with its A5 chip, but it does seem like it could be a great little device. No Retina was kind of to be expected, but it would have been nice to see. But the 5MP camera is a nice addition, because you won’t actually look like an idiot holding a tablet in one hand and taking a picture, whereas you do with a two handed tablet.
Things I don’t like? Pricing. All of today’s prices seem pretty expensive, and unfortunately, it looks like I won’t be getting a Retina Mac or a thin iMac. The Mini is relatively expensive, but hopefully prices will drop next year, as they’ll probably use the A6 chip then, and the iPod touch will hopefully drop as well, to give the Mini some room.
Also, I don’t like the look of the new iPad. I know, it’s only an update, and not a completely new device, but it would have been nice to give the big brother the iPhone 5 chamfers and revised colour scheme. In addition, they should have announced colour Minis. But I guess they’ll turn up next year now.
I probably won’t be buying any of this, but I have some Christmas present ideas for my family sorted this year – for a change (I’ll get my brother the iPad with Retina, if I can afford it I’ll get my Dad a mini too).
Looks like a pretty comprehensive range overhaul, with little in the way of price increases. Good stuff!
I don’t see why anybody will be too unhappy having bought an iPad3, as it still does what it did when they bought the thing, and they all knew it wouldn’t stay long forever…
None of it makes we want to change any of my current Apple stuff, as it’s all working way beyond expectations!
Introducing the new iPad Mini, now with blatant inbuilt obsolescence.
I’m not impressed with the iPad Mini. Nor am I impressed with the spec bump in the new iPad proper. I’m going to hazard a guess that the iPhone 6 will contain that very same A6X chip that’s been fettled with and rebadged A7. And the iPad Mini 2 will have some variant of A6.
It’s all getting a little too predictable.
The new iMac does warrant closer inspection. I’d like it to be even thinner next year, with a lovely touch screen and fancy stand with bendy hinge so I can use it as big tablet; A drool worthy prospect which should have happened today.
meh…
I admit I’m a fanboy, but I like the look of the new iMacs. The rest of the line-up is impressive, but not really moving the leaps and bounds that people might have hoped.
I’ll probably shell out on an iMac in the near future.
So much ‘Meh’ so little time..
“What’s Your Opinion On Apple’s Bounty This Week?”
It’s the taste of paradise.
Regarding the iPad situation, they’ve just gone and made the iPad (full size) debacle far more confusing… at least with the 2/3 comparisons you could look to see whether it had a shite camera and then conclude ‘oh it’s the second one then’. Does the 4 look any different from the 3? Mini looks pretty snazzy though and the iMacs look sweeeet.
I’m a bit anti-apple but even I have to admit those iMacs look stunning
How can the iPad mini fit in pockets? I’m a pretty big guy and 7″ tablets just fit in my jeans/coat pocket and are a squeeze with a thin case.
The iPad Mini is much wider than other 7″ tablets so I fail to see how it’ll fit in pockets, thus defying the point of portability, thus being pointless compared to a full screen sized iPad.
I’m sure you could fit it in jacket/coat pockets. I would hardly be able to fit a Note 2 in my jeans pockets, but a coat or jacket would work well, especially since the iPad mini is very light, you would hardley notice it.
When I see Mini I see Apple’s fear. Drastic change in their strategy forced by competition I guess, which is good for consumers. iMac looks good but slimming,polishing and increasing ppi are expected new features of Apple now. Of course comes with one major feature that other competing products lacks: “Premium price for less features”.
I was hoping the price for the mini would be closer to £200 so I could get some for my children for Xmas . If the price is £269 then i will have to look elsewhere. For not much more I can get 2 Kindle fire HD’s
Opinions, opinions, opinions.
The iPad Mini looks great and I would be incredibly interested – had a 16GB model hit a £220 price point. Even an 8GB capacity for £200 would have been near enough an instant buy to be used to read journals. At £269, it is far far too costly against a lower capacity Nexus 7, at least for my needs.
I am horrified with the 13 inch MacBook Pro. An Intel HD4000? Trying to crank out all of those pixels natively and then trying to be pushed as a photoshop machine? No. The price would have been right – had the machine been given a dedicated GPU. Certainly, it doesn’t appear to be a design demand that can’t be met. We have seen ultrabooks packing Nvidia 640M graphics cards and something like this should have been bestowed upon the MacBook Pro.
Mac Mini? A similar opinion. A major step back in terms of the graphics card.
iMac? The 21.5 inch model looks glorious. A potential next desktop… in a few years time.
I thought it was rather amusing when they compared the apps on the iPad Mini vs the Nexus but (for obvious reasons) they neglected to mention the elephant in the room (Google Maps). Made me smile.
Came to this article expecting the usual, got the usual, apple staying precisely on course it seems.
Iterative updates that improve little and still don’t justify the immense cost, downgrades of hardware pitched as upgrades and more cashing in with adapters for a proprietary port configuration.
I’m still proudly not an owner of anything newer than a 2nd gen ipod touch, which, because I’ve ignored all update messages, still works, and I still get the same “apple experience” using it as I would a device bought today, because they haven’t changed the OS in years! Makes me wonder if I’m the only one that still enjoys discovering the nuances of a new device’s OS.
I am surprised they still have made no mention of iTunes 8.
Where to start…
Okay new mini iPad, this is purely for the iSheep out there. It’s the iPad 2 shrunk with a hefty price tag based on the other options ie. Nexus 7, fire HD.
The 4th Gen iPad, now before I start on a huge rant as I was mugged into buying the 3rd Gen ‘throw away’ model. It is obvious this was what the 3rd Gen should have been but the share holders needed a stop gap.
New Macbook 13″, just too damn expensive!! Great bit of tech but not worth the extra for a retina display (soon to be seen on all laptops).
Mini, now this was interesting a budget (in apple terms) pc with a little grunt. I may replace my Apple TV with this baby.
iMac, this is my problem with this device, first adding slim edges works great on aerodynamics especially the decreased drag when you launch the new imac from a high building but you really have to be thick to buy a desktop purely because the edge is thin! I own the late 2009 iMac with i7 SSD + HDD or FUSION drive as Apple would call it, nothing in the new range is significantly better. Before people start ranting about graphics, I have an xBox for games and my iMac works great with After Effects and Final Cut just fine in glorious HD.
Did I miss anything??? Oh yes…
iPrat, or more commonly known as Tim Cook (ie the accountant). This model of CEO is terrible with limited upgrade potential and virtually no interactive user features, it will be obsolete within a very short period and will cause massive damage to the interfaced devices (Apple inc). Primarily designed to please share holders and milk the customers, initially on boot up it achieves the set goals but then fails to instil any drive or innovation.
Thats is then folks, oh one more thing, I wish to bid farewell to apple after many years of loyal business and 20+ grand less in the bank I have finally decided to go back to Windows, with a little Nexus 10 thrown in.
Meh… That is all.