Apple iPad Air 2 & iPad Mini 3 to sell at starting prices of Rs 35,900 and Rs 28,900

NEW DELHI: Apple's latest iPads, the iPad Air 2 and iPad Mini 3, will sell in India at starting price of Rs 35,900 and Rs 28,900 respectively. Apple has not yet announced a date for the launch of its newest iPads in India.

While for iPad Air 2 the Indian prices are Rs 35,900 (16GB), Rs 42,900 (64GB) and Rs 49,900 (128GB), the iPad Mini 3 will sell at Rs 28,900 (16GB), Rs 35,900 (64GB) and Rs 42,900 (128GB).

The iPad 2 Air, which is 6.1mm thick will for the first time be available in golden finish colour. The iPad Air 2 also has a TouchID, similar to that in the newer iPhones.

Other features in the iPad Air 2 include ultrafast wireless and improved retina display. Apple's Phil Schiller said that the iPad Air 2 is 18% thinner than the iPad Air. "There's an anti-reflective coating on the glass, reducing reflections by 56%," Schiller claimed. "The iPad Air 2 has 180x the graphics performance of the original iPad," Schiller said.

The new iPad Air 2 runs on a 2nd generation 64-bit A8X processor chip. "It's a whole new generation chip," Schiller said. The iPad Air 2 will have a battery life of 10 hours, according to Apple. A new version of the Replay app will be available for free by October end, said Apple.

Talking about the camera, Schiller said, "The iPad is the best viewfinder for composing your photos and videos." The iPad Air 2 has an 8MP iSight camera (1.12 micron pixels, f2.4). The iPad Air 2 also has a new facetime HD camera. According to Apple, it boasts of a new sensor, larger f/2.2 aperture, improved face detection, burst selfies, single-shot HDR photos and HDR videos.

On the other hand, the iPad Mini 3 has a 7.9-inch retina display and boasts of a 5MP iSight camera. It allows for 1080p HD video recording. The device has an HD FaceTime camera. It comes in colours of silver, gray and gold. The lineup now reads iPad Mini, iPad Mini 2, iPad Mini 3, iPad Air and iPad Air 2. The pre-orders will begin from October 17.

Introducing the latest devices, Apple CEO Tim Cook said, "The technology is jam packed in this incredibly thin and light package." "What do you do when you make the best tablet in the world? How do you make it better?" he reflected. Cook also claimed that 225 million iPads have been sold till now.