Apple announces new iPad with 9.7-inch display; starts at Rs 28,900

Now, along with a Red iPhone, Apple has updated its 9.7-inch iPad with a brighter Retina display, better processor and performance while bringing down the price. The 9.7-inch is Apple’s most popular size for the iPad. There are some changes, but none big enough to warrant an event.

Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing, said the iPad is the world’s most popular tablet and customers love the 9.7-inch display for “everything from watching TV and movies, to surfing the web, making FaceTime calls, and enjoying photos”.

“New customers and anyone looking to upgrade will love this new iPad for use at home, in school, and for work, with its gorgeous Retina display, our powerful A9 chip, and access to the more than 1.3 million apps designed specifically for it,” he said.

While the Retina display will come with over 3.1 million pixels, the thin aluminium unibody enclosure will continue. The iPad will be powered by Apple’s A9 chip with 64‑bit architecture and comes with all-day battery life. Apple is promising 10 hours of battery life on WiFi, and around 9 hours of life for browsing the web on Cellular.

There is a new Apple SIM feature which the company claims “makes it even easier to connect to wireless data plans from the device” in more than 140 countries. Apple’s new iPad comes with 8MP rear camera and 1.2MP front FaceTime camera. Apple hasn’t added OIS or brought the Live Photos feature to the new iPad for now.

The new iPad Pad comes in silver, gold and space gray and option and will be available in India from April. The price for the new iPad is Rs 28,900 for the 32GB with Wi-Fi model and Rs 39,900 for the 32GB Wi-Fi + Cellular model.

It will available to order beginning Friday, March 24, from Apple.com in the US and more than 20 countries and regions, including Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK. The US price is starting at $329.

Polyurethane Smart Covers for iPad will also be available at Rs 3,700 in charcoal grey, white, midnight blue, pink sand and (RED) at Apple Authorised Resellers. Finally, the iPad mini 4 now comes at Rs 34,900 for the 128GB Wi-Fi model and Rs 45,900 for the 128GB Wi-Fi + Cellular model with Apple giving this a storage upgrade.