A very brief history of the iPad Mini

A very brief history of the iPad Mini
Image: Apple
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Happy 30-minute anniversary, iPad Mini! Here’s what we know about you so far, which turns out to not be substantially different from what the rumormongers had proposed.

  • $329 for the base model
  • The screen is 8″ diagonally, which means it has 49% more pixels than its closest competitors, Google’s Nexus 7, Amazon’s Kindle Fire HD, and the bazillions of generic 7″, Android-powered tablets that are being produced in China these days.
  • The display is higher resolution than the iPad 2, but not as high as that of the iPad 3*
  • You can get it in any color you like, as long as that color is black or white.
  • It has a “lightning” port that renders all previous connectors useless.
  • It has a 5 megapixel rear-facing camera, the same resolution as the camera in the iPhone 4.
  • Because of the slim bezel around the edge of the iPad Mini, it looks much more like a big iPod touch than a small iPad.
  • It’s thin and light, so you can hold it comfortably in one hand while reading, watching, etc.
  • The base model has 16 gigabytes of storage and a dual-core A5 processor, the same as in the iPhone 4S and the iPad 2.

*A screen resolution of 1,024 × 768 would be the same as that of the original iPad and iPad 2 but squeezed into a smaller, 8″ diagonal screen, which gives it almost the same effective resolution as every iPhone and iPod Touch before the retina display was added to the iPhone 4.

Unfortunately for shareholders, Apple stock has not done so well in those 30 minutes. Shares of AAPL started to sell off after it was announced that the iPad Mini would go for $329 a pop.

Shares of Apple seem to have sold off after investors heard that the iPad Mini would cost $329. Factset
Shares of Apple seem to have sold off after investors heard that the iPad Mini would cost $329. Factset