Apple's iPad mini event: everything you need to know

Apple debuted the long-rumored iPad mini this morning, and per the norm for recent Apple product launches, the device was largely what we'd suspected. One question that had remained open, however, was the pricing: with competition from the likes of the Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire HD, would Apple feel compelled to match those devices on their budget-minded $199 price? We now know the answer is no — the iPad mini starts at $329 for the 16GB model, with pricing ramping up from there.

It's a 60 percent premium over the tablet's most direct 7-inch competitors, and a number that likely boosts the iPad mini out of the realm of the casual impulse buy. So what is Apple up to exactly?

The pace of technology is relentless, and with the introduction of the slightly-upgraded 4th Generation iPad (also known as the iPad with Retina display), the 3rd Generation iPad has been discontinued. The Retina display-equipped model is only a bit over seven months old, and the primary difference between the two models is a Lightning port instead of the old 30-pin connector, and a new A6X processor with twice the graphics performance of the outgoing iPad.

While those who recently purchased the 3rd Generation iPad may be disappointed, new iPad purchasers get to take advantage of new lower pricing. The refurbished iPad now starts at $379 for the 16GB Wi-Fi model, while the top-end 64GB LTE model costs $679. Versions all the way up and down the spectrum are available, but the cheapest and most expensive refurbished 3rd Generation iPad cost $449 and $779, respectively, just yesterday. The other option for those looking for a cheap Apple tablet is the iPad 2, which Apple is still selling new starting at $399.

It's been only minutes since Apple's iPad mini event concluded, but you can relive it all right now by visiting the same events page that Apple used to broadcast the event live. You still need to use Safari 4 and OS X 10.6 or higher or an iOS device to watch the stream, but if you meet that criteria, you can see Tim Cook and company announce the 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro, new Mac mini, new iMac, 4th-generation iPad, and of course, the new iPad mini. Of course, once you are done watching the event, be sure to check out our hands-ons with the iPad mini, 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro and more!

Check out the replay of our live coverage right here:

It's not quite as thin as the Air, but Apple's new 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display is still quite svelte — and the display is as gorgeous as you'd expect. The resolution settings for the display are just like the larger MacBook Pro — but the maximum allowed resolution is 1680 x 1050, unlike the 1920 x 1080 setting offered on the 15-inch model. Still, 1680 x 1050 is a tremendous option on a display of this size, though at the "best for Retina" setting the screen offers an effective 1280 x 800. If you've been using a 15-inch MacBook Pro for the screen size, the 13-inch just got a ton more attractive.

We only had a limited amount of time to test performance, but the 13 only hit 50 percent CPU utilization when we played the 1080p Iron Man 3 trailer while simultaneously playing back a multitrack GarageBand file and scrolling around a 21-megapixel RAW file in Aperture. That's impressive — and very encouraging considering the relatively weak Intel HD 4000 integrated graphics. We'll see how it handles a more intense (and normal) workload when we get a review unit, but for now it appears Apple's done a fine job of using the available power here.

Apple's just-announced 4th generation iPad and new iPad mini with LTE will be headed to Sprint in addition to Verizon Wireless and AT&T. Apple has updated the chipset, camera, and Wi-Fi hardware in the 4th-generation iPad, but the company has also improved LTE support, which allows Sprint to carry the device.

This is the first time that Sprint has been able to offer Apple's iPad tablets with cellular connectivity on its network. There's no data pricing announced for either device, but Sprint says it will offer "a range of attractive data plans" in the coming weeks.

Apple's latest revision of the iPad is powered by a new and improved A6X processor. Describing the new chip as a "powerhouse," Phil Schiller revealed that the A6X offers double the performance of the A5X — used in the previous iPad with Retina display — in terms of both CPU processing and graphics. "The competition wasn't even close to us, and now we're just blowing past them some more," Schiller said. Indeed, the iPad received a notable boost in gaming prowess when the A5X debuted last year, and we're looking forward to seeing what sort of improvements the company's latest silicon can offer users of the newly-refreshed tablet.

Check out the replay of our live coverage right here:

The iPad mini has just been revealed by Apple at a special event in San Jose. Up on stage, Phil Schiller explains that this "isn't just a shrunken-down iPad, it's an entirely new design." The 7.9-inch iPad mini has a 1024 x 768 resolution, like the earlier-generation 9.7-inch iPad models, but is encased in an all-new 7.2mm-thick aluminum shell, which makes it 53 percent lighter and 23 percent thinner than the 4th-gen iPad.

Comparing the iPad mini against the Nexus 7, Phil points out that Apple's tablet is lighter and thinner than Google's slate in spite of having a display area that's a third larger. The Nexus 7 also has a bigger, plastic bezel around its screen whereas the iPad mini's bezel is made out of aluminum.

The Lightning port features a much smaller connector that can be used in any orientation. Of course, this also means that new iPad owners will have to replace all of their current accessories if they are upgrading from an older model. These changes are not a huge surprise — it was rumored last week that Apple would be doing just so.

Apple is also expanding the iPad's LTE support, with new compatibility with Sprint's LTE network in the US and EE's network in the UK. The iPad's FaceTime camera has also been updated to an HD unit for improved video conferencing.

As part of its radically-redesigned new iMac, Apple announced a new hybrid "fusion drive" for both the iMac and Mac mini. This drive combines a 128GB flash storage drive with a 1TB or 3TB HDD, and Apple claims that performance is nearly equal that of a standard flash drive. It manages everything in the background — by default, all of your Mac's apps are stored on the SSD, but as you use the computer it learns what you use the most and moves those apps to the SSD to increase performance. Phil Schiller said that an Aperture photo import using the fusion drive was nearly as fast as that when using a standard flash drive. For anyone frustrated with the speed of their standard hard drive, this will hopefully provide a speedy but spacious alternative. Of course, this hybrid drive technology isn't new — in a lot of ways, Apple's new "fusion drive" sounds a lot like this OCZ hybrid drive (and other similar drives), which also has a 1TB HDD as well as 128GB of flash storage.

Check out the replay of our live coverage right here:

At its event in California, Apple has just announced that it has sold 100 million iPads — a milestone the company reached just two and a half years after launching the original iPad. The company may have been saving up to drop the big number, since it has stayed quiet on actual "record" sales numbers in the past, but there's still no indication of how the sales are distributed across the several iPad models. Tim Cook says that the company's tablet "has attracted a lot of attention," and that "the iPad accounts for 91 percent of web traffic." He's also sharing good news across the board today: Cook says that Apple "sold more products in the June quarter than any PC manufacturer sold in their entire PC line."

Check out the replay of our live coverage right here:

At Apple's event today in San Jose, California, the company refreshed most of its lineup of Mac computers, including the iMac, which Phil Schiller called the "flagship of the product line." The eighth model is insanely thin, though it's still unmistakably an iMac. "There's an entire computer in there," Phil Schiller said as he pointed to the iMac's tiny 5mm edge. Apple used a technique called friction stir welding to create the new machine, which it says has much less reflection than previous displays.

Apple has just announced an updated version of its oft-overlooked Mac mini with an Ivy Bridge processor, starting at $599. It's the first Mac mini update since mid-2011, when the optical drive was dropped, and it's a fairly incremental one. The cheapest model will include a 2.5Ghz dual-core i5 processor, with 4GB of RAM and a 500GB hard drive. Above that, there's also a $999 server version, which will incorporate a 2.3GHz quad-core i7 processor and two 1TB drives.

The new minis include the same HD 4000 integrated graphics as the 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro, and there appears to be no option to include dedicated graphics as you could in previous generations. However, it will be possible to use the new hybrid "fusion drive," which combines an HDD with 128GB of flash storage. Both models will be shipping later today, and details have gone up on Apple's site.

Apple has confirmed the rumors, and has announced a new 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display. The model shares many of the same features first introduced in the 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro, including a redesigned, slimmer chassis that omits the optical drive found in previous MacBook Pros. The chassis is 20 percent thinner than the previous 13-inch MacBook Pro that it replaces. The highlight feature is undoubtedly the 13.3-inch screen, and it should impress thanks to its 227 pixels per inch and 2560 x 1600 screen resolution. Just like its 15-inch sibling, the screen has four times as many pixels as the non-Retina machine it replaces (which came in at decidedly subpar 1280 x 800). The IPS panel is said to have a 178-degree viewing angle, 75 percent reduced reflection, 29 percent higher contrast ratio, and 300 nits brightness.

At its event in California today, Apple announced a new version of iBooks, bringing a number of improvements to the app, including continuous scrolling. The new version also includes better integration with iCloud, and enhanced sharing functionality, including the ability to tap and share a book passage to Facebook or Twitter. The app now supports over 40 languages — Apple demonstrated Korean, Chinese, and Japanese options on stage. It's the first major update since Apple introduced iBooks 2 back in January, which brought new features like 3D imaging, embedded video, and multitouch gestures.

Apple has also updated its iBooks Author app, adding in new templates, and allowing publishers to update their books. Apple says authors can use their own fonts, drop mathematical expressions into books, and utilize multitouch widgets. The company says there are now 2,500 classrooms using iBooks textbooks in the US. Both the new version of iBooks and iBooks Author are available today.

It's only been about a month since we last got together for an Apple product announcement, but the company has more numbers to share with us. The big news is that 200 million devices are now running iOS 6, just over a month after the launch of the new OS. Apple CEO Tim Cook also touted three million new iPods sold since they were released in the last few weeks. As we heard earlier, the iPhone 5 sold more than five million phones in the first weekend — Cook said this was the fastest-selling phone in history, period.

He also talked about some iCloud features, noting that 125 million documents were placed in the cloud — and a whopping 300 million iMessages have been sent, 28,000 per second. From the App Store, Cook said that there are now 275,000 iPad-designed apps, and customers have now downloaded 35 billion apps from the store, paying $6.5 billion out to developers. Cook also gave some iBooks stats, not something we hear from Apple terribly often. There are now 1.5 million books available in the store, with 400 million books downloaded since the launch of the store in April of 2010.