New iPads are coming. That's right, iPads. While it was all but assured that Apple would reveal a new 7.9 inch iPad Mini at its San Jose keynote, the electronics giant surprised attendees with a fourth-generation full-sized iPad, just seven months after the device's third iteration hit shelves.
TechRadar reports the fourth-generation iPad packs in a Retina display and an A6X processor, which Apple claims "doubles the performance" of CPU-heavy tasks. It has a ten-hour battery life and the iPhone 5's new lightning connector, replacing the old Apple-standard 30-pin connectors. It starts at $499 for the 16GB version, the former price of the "new" (now old and seemingly disappeared from Apple's website) iPad.
The iPad mini starts at $329 for its 16gb version, boasting a significantly thinner and lighter design than its full-sized sibling. The screen has a 1024x768 resolution, the same as the iPad 2, in a smaller and thus more pixel-dense display.
Both of the new units will be available for pre-order on Oct. 26, with the Wi-Fi models shipping first on November 2 and 3G enabled units landing about two weeks later.
Apple CEO Tim Cook revealed early on in the exhibition that more than 100 million iPads have been sold since the product line was introduced two and a half years ago.
