As expected, Apple has finally announced the iPad Mini. In essence, the iPad mini is reminiscent of the 3rd Gen iPad; but smaller and with an iPhone 5-esque form factor. 
iPad Mini.I will not bore with a lot of stuff about the new iPad but I’ll give you a rundown of what I like about it instead:
- It’s 7.9 inches, no retina display but the same resolution compared to the New iPad
- It has the A5 processor.
- 10 hours of battery life with moderate usage; longer if you only use it as decoration
- It’s “every inch an iPad”
- I find this not too innovative, but worth buying considering its price which starts at $329 or roughly arround PhP13,500 – PhP15,000 if becomes available here in the Philippines.
- This might officially becomes available in the Philippines on November 25. Telcos (Globe and Smart) might start offering it together with the iPhone 5 by then too.
4th Gen iPad. Unsurprisingly, Apple also announced the 4th Generation iPad, which phases out the current iPad model. If you are thinking of replacing your 3rd Gen New iPad with the 4th Gen New iPad, the you might want to reconsider your thoughts? If speed and new connector don’t matter to you, then stay away from it. Look at the iPad Mini instead. [stextbox id=”alert”]My recommendation: DON’T BUY[/stextbox] Here’s a detailed comparison among all iPads for your reference. 
New iMac. What’s even more interesting is the new iMac? I totally thought that replacing our old iMac would be a great idea. It’s slimmer and with a new and faster processor. It’s perfect if you want to become productive! It isn’t portable though. They also introduced a new drive which basically optimizes application usage and file storage. Think of it as a hybrid hard drive – a fusion of SSD or Solid-State drive (just like your flash drive, but way way faster) and HDD or hard disk drive (yeah, the one with rotating disk inside). These drives are totally separated but work harmoniously together. Price of the entry-level iMac starts at $1299 or around PhP56k to PhP60k here in the Philippines. [stextbox id=”info”]My recommendation: BUY[/stextbox] 
New Mac Mini. Another Mac that is worth looking at is the New Mac Mini. If you do not own a Mac, but you are considering to buy one, then getting the Mac Mini would be perfect for you. This entry-level Mac is only $599 -PhP28,990 here in the Philippines. It comes in different flavors: 2.5 Dual-core , 2.3 Quad-Core and server variants. 
[stextbox id=”info”]My recommendation: BUY[/stextbox] 13″ Macbook Pro with Retina Display. The little brother of the recently announced 15″ Macbook Pro was finally announced earlier. It’s amazingly thinner than the previous 13″ Macbook Pro and with stunning Retina Display. Price starts at $1,699 or PhP 82,990 here in the Philippines. [Buy now.] 
[stextbox id=”info”]My recommendation: BUY[/stextbox] Gallery
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I don’t want to be quite cerebral here. Making lots of moolah is now more important for Apple. Being one of the most valued companies in the US, the timing of the announcement and release of their devices – mostly iterations – are hooked up to the projected stock price of Apple before the year ends, which should be about more than $700/share.
1. Significant increase when the New iPad was announced in February.
2. Slight increase when the iPhone 5 was announced in September
3. Stocks are expected to rise very significantly before December brought about by combined sales of all devices during Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Christmas Season.
With all these new devices that Apple announced, I don’t see any shadow of doubt that Apple will emerge as the ultimate winner. We very well know that Apple charges higher premium when it comes to pricing their devices compared to Android devices. That’s a given. But at the end of the day, we all have to be mindful of the things we purchase. Do you really need it? If you’re buying because you just want it, then by all means, signify your interest to buy an Apple Stock because that would totally be a win-win situation.
Let’s spark up the discussion. What do you think of Apple’s new devices? Are you going to buy one?
Giancarlo Viterbo is a Filipino Technology Journalist, blogger and Editor of gadgetpilipinas.net, He is also a Geek, Dad and a Husband. He knows a lot about washing the dishes, doing some errands and following instructions from his boss on his day job. Follow him on twitter: @gianviterbo and @gadgetpilipinas.
