iPad Mini 3 Gets a ‘Shy’ Launch, Has the Same A7 Chip as 2013 Model

The iPad Air 2 was obviously the star of tonight’s show as the iPad Mini 3 didn’t receive too much show time. We wonder what could this mean – could Apple be planning to ditch it as the iPhone 6 Plus is a potential threat of cannibalizing sales or the company is busy working on the elusive 12.9-inch iPad Pro?

Anyway, the third-generation iPad Mini will come in Silver, Space Gray, and Gold color options. It will feature the same 7.9-inch with Retina display screen, a smaller 5MP iSight camera, 1080p video recording, FaceTime HD camera, the latest WiFi standard as on the iPad Air 2 and the Touch ID fingerprint reader.

Prices start at $399 for the 16GB version, $499 for the 64GB one and $599 for the 128 GB model – all WiFi only. WiFi + Cellular versions add $130 each. The iPad Mini 3 is shipping by the end of next week, with pre-orders starting tomorrow.
With the iPad mini 3 moniker, Apple is thus dropping the distinction between the original iPad mini and last year’s mini with Retina. The tablet features the same A8 system-on-a-chip as the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus and not the more powerful A8X in the new iPad Air 2.
Update – the iPad Mini 3 actually runs on the same A7 processor as found in the last year’s model. We didn’t see this coming.

These are all the details we know for now, but we’ll update this with more info as we the official webpage goes live – we’ll make sure to dig in and try to find out why Apple ignored the iPad Mini 3 at the event.
After realizing that, indeed, the new gold color option and Touch ID are the single new features, my personal guess is that Apple is just as happy with sales of its previous models, as well. You see, with this company, it’s all about profit margins. So, I guess you can go ahead and buy slightly older, but cheaper iPad Mini models.

iPad Mini 3 Price in India

In India, iPad mini 3 starts at Rs.28,900 for WiFi only model with 16GB storage. 64GB model costs Rs.35,900, and the 128GB model costs Rs.42,900. As for the WiFi + cellular models are concerned, the 16GB version starts at Rs.38,900, 64GB will cost Rs.45,900 and the 128GB will set you back by Rs.52,900. No word on availability though.