Apple told the world via its cryptic invite that it had a 'little more to show us' and after unveiling a 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display, a 4th generation iPad and a slender 27-inch iMac, we finally got a glmpse at the Apple iPad Mini.

Primed to go head-to-head with the Google Nexus 7 and Amazon Kindle Fire HD, we take a look at the ten features that could convince you to open up the wallet for a smaller Apple tablet.

Build and design

Easy enough to hold in one hand according to Cook, Schiller and company, the iPad Mini is made from aluminium and glass which should make it comfortable to grip and at just 0.68lbs is as light as a pad of paper. At 7.2mm thin it’s also as considerably more slender than its larger 9.7-inch iPad compatriot and as Apple so vividly put it, as thin as a pencil.

Screen

The rumours suggested a 7.85-inch display and it ended up actually being a slightly larger 7.9-inches mirroring the 9.7-inches of the current model (see what they did there?). It’s also an LED Multi-Touch display (with IPS technology for wide viewing angles) as opposed to a Retina display like the new iPad and iPad 4th generation while the 1024x768 resolution with 163 ppi is the same screen quality as the iPad 2. The extra screen estate should mean 67% more room than 7-inch tablet devices to browse and watch videos

Processor

It’s not quite the A6X nestled inside the new iPad 4^th generation, but the iPad Mini gets the same A5 processor packed in the iPad 2 and iPhone 4S. The dualcore architecture should make it still suitably zippy, but it’s not quite the quadcore that the Nexus 7 is rocking.

iSight camera

Bringing it line with the iPhone 4S in the snapping department, the iPad Mini has a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera, with backside illumination for low lit photography. It also packs a front-facing FaceTime HD camera for high resolution video chats and can shoot also 1080p HD video with image stabilization to keep things steady.

Smart cover

Just like the new iPad and iPad 2, the iPad Mini will get its own version of the Smart Cover which will come in pink, green, blue, light grey and dark grey shades. Expect to pay £35 to protect your 7.9-inch tablet officially.

Lightning port

Just as Apple did with the iPhone 5, the iPad Mini gets the Lightning connector treatment adding the slimmer charging port that is 80% smaller than the previous cable and keeps the overall design more compact. Apple will provide adapters to hook up 30-pin accessories and support SD, VGA and HDMI outputs.

Connectivity

Apple claims that the dual band 802.11n Wi-Fi on board will deliver perform twice as good as previous iPad models, while LTE compatibility on top of the standard 3G support means its primed for 4G as well.

Battery life

The iPad Mini should make it through the day with Apple promising 10 hours of battery life before you have to hook that Lightning connector up again, which is good news considering the comprehensive tech on board.

UK Price

So how much is the iPad Mini going to cost you?  Kicking off with the 16GB Wi-Fi only model, those looking to snap up the smaller iPad will need to part with £269 with those requiring 32GB or 64GB of internal storage having to splurge £349 and £429 respectively.

On the Wi-Fi + 3G front, wannabe iPad Mini owners looking to access the web at will need to part with £369, £449 or £529 depending on their choice of 16GB, 32GB or 64GB storage options.

UK Release date

The iPad Mini UK release date is slated for November 2^nd and will available in black and white shades but you can get your pre-orders in from October 26^th, the very same day that a certain Windows 8 launches.Get your cash ready people...

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