iPad and iPhone had a baby

Apple delivered the goods.

Apple fanboys and fangirls around the world were hopelessly waiting for the arrival of Apple’s newest baby: iPad Mini. On Tuesday Oct. 23 Apple delivered the goods.

After years of speculation, and Steve Jobs critique of 7-inch tablets back in 2010, Apple finally made the decision to enter the small tablet segment of the market in the hopes to specifically garner more customers in what can only be the described as the need-more-than-an-iPhone-but-less-than-an-iPad bracket.

The tablet is 7.9 inches, so it’s larger than its main competitors the Kindle Fire and the Google Nexus, which have 7-inch screens exactly, and it features a much thinner bezel than its big brother the iPad. Internally, it is virtually identical to the previous iteration, the iPad 2—A5 CPU, 512MB of RAM, and the same GPU—but the lower introductory price of $329 and enhanced mobility make up for not having the latest A6 or A6X chips

Apple is touting it as a great device for reading and targeting students because its smaller size/weight makes it more comparable to a traditional paperback. Although the screen is not Retina quality, the fact that the iPad Mini has the same 1024x768 resolution as the iPad 2 on its smaller screen allows it to have a higher pixel density and still look undoubtedly sharp.

Finally, the iPad Mini comes in 16GB, 32GB, 64GB models, black/white color, or, and WiFi-only varieties and is available to order now but will be shipping in mid November.