It was known to all that the iPad Mini, Apple’s recently announced challenger to all those 7 inch plus tablets would go on preorder sale on the Apple Store starting October 26. True to its promise, Apple updated its online store earlier today and users can now preorder the mini tablet from there. Each customer is restricted to two units and the store has detailed the pricing details of all the variants of the device.
Earlier during the day, the online Apple Store was closed as the case is after every major announcement and product release. It also displayed a message that read ““We’ll be back.”. When it came back online, it had the iPad Mini listed for preorder sale. The product is available in two color options – Black&Slate and White & Silver. All the six variants of the iPad Mini are available. These are the Wi-Fi only 16 GB, 32 GB and 64 GB variants and the Wi+3G/LTE 16 GB, 32 GB and 64 GB variants.
It was on October 23 that Apple announced the iPad Mini. Analysts who thought that the iPad Mini was a product that was created in response to similar sized Android based tablets, were in for a surprise when Apple announced the pricing for the same. With a base price of $329, the iPad Mini is substantially more expensive compared to other similarly sized tablets. The price for the top-of-the-line 64 GB Wi-Fi +LTE variant goes up to $659.
When Apple CEO Tim Cook was asked as to why finally Apple decided to jump on to the small screened tablets bandwagon when erstwhile CEO Steve Jobs was dead against any such product, he retorted
“The comments that I think you’re referencing are comments that Steve had made before about seven inch tablets. And, let me be clear, we would not make one of the seven inch tablets. We don’t think they’re good products, and we would never make one…The iPad mini is a fantastic product. It is not a compromised product like the seven inch tablets. It’s in a whole different league.”
So, are you preordering yours?