iPad 4 and mini in SA

The new tablet format from Apple, the iPad mini, will arrive in South Africa within days, while the iPad 4 will be available tomorrow, writes ARTHUR GOLDSTUCK.

The Core Group announced shortly after midnight today that the latest iPad, commonly known as the iPad 4 and now branded ‚”iPad with Retina Display (4th generation)‚”, had arrived in South Africa and will be in stores this weekend.

It also confirmed that the arrival of the new tablet format from Apple, the iPad mini, was imminent, and it should be in stores within days.

The iPad mini, which features a 7.9-inch Multi-Touch display and a claimed 10 hours of battery life, will be the most competitively priced brand-name tablet in the 7-8‚” format in South Africa.

Pricing starts at R3 399 for a 16GB version with WiFi, which trounces its nearest rivals among international brand names. The Huawei 7‚” MediaPad retails at around R4300, and the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 at R4600. The Samsung P1000 7‚” Galaxy Tab can be had for about the same price as the iPad mini, but is more than a year old.

A 32GB iPad mini with Wi-Fi will retail at R4499, while the 64GB edition comes in at R5499. The versions that connect via both Wi-Fi and Cellular (3G for now, 4G later), will cost R4799 for 16GB, R5899 for 32GB and R6999 for 64GB.

The fourth generation iPad, which features a 9.7‚” Retina display and a new Apple-designed A6X chip, starts at R5199 for the 16GB Wi-Fi version and tops out at R8599 for a 64GB Wi-Fi and Cellular version.

In the United States, the pricing of the iPad mini at launch was seen as a disappointment – starting at $329 instead of the rumoured $249. However, this was largely based on the perceived need to compete on pricing with equivalent-sized Amazon Kindle Fire and Google Nexus 7. Neither of these devices is expected to be available in South African retail stores in the near future, but can be obtained online, and the iPad mini pricing will see it virtually owning its category among name brands in this country.

As a result, it is expected that the iPad mini will almost instantly become South Africa’s best-selling tablet in the 7-8‚” format, particularly once it is offered on contracts through the mobile networks, banks and other resellers.

Full pricing for the iPad 4 and iPad mini, along with outlets where it is available, can be seen at http://www.core.co.za/secondary.html.

* Follow Arthur on Twitter on @art2gee