The pros and cons of the iPad mini and 13 inch MacBook Pro

Guest Post by: Kyle Durham

So after months of Liron trying to convince me that my love for all things Apple makes no sense, he decided to concede and ask me to write a post as a guest on his blog.

The last 2 or 3 weeks have been a very interesting time in all things tech as we had the launch of products by Apple, Google and Microsoft. My focus for this blog post is a report on and a basic analysis of the 23 October 2012 launch event of Apple. Covering the launch of the iPad Mini and the 13-Inch Macbook Pro with Retina Display 13

iPad Mini

This device has been expected ever since the launch of the original iPad in 2010 and although the revelation that Steve Jobs believed that a tablet screen should never be less than 10 inches suppressed the rumors they soon started to flair up after the iPad 3 (The new iPad) launch. The device is seen as Apple’s answer to the likes of the Google Nexus 7 and other popular 7-inch tablets. So below is a summary of the pros and cons based on the launch event.

Pros:

• Battery Life – Apple has stated that the iPad Mini has a battery life of 10 hours and some reviews have managed around 12 Hours of battery life from the iPad Mini
• Software/Apps – Apple is very proud of the collection of Apps available to the iPad Mini (in excess of 275 000) and due to the aspect ratio of the screen being kept the same as the bigger iPad the iPad Mini can run all of the iPad apps available in the iOS App Store.

Cons:

• Price – The iPad Mini has largely been criticized for being overpriced in comparison to its competition and in the South African market I don’t believe this will be any different.
• Specifications – The iPad Mini consists mainly of the same internals of the iPad 2 (Namely: An A5 Processor and 512mb of Ram) and although the iPad 2 is no slouch some may believe that this fact could limit the performance of the device in the future but for that we will have to wait and see.

Alternatives: Google Nexus 7 or Amazon Kindle Fire HD

13-Inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display.

In June 2012 Apple launched the highest resolution notebook display in the world when it launched the 15-inch model of the retina display. As the 13-inch MacBook Pro is Apple’s best selling notebook model it wasn’t at all surprising to see the introduction of this model.

Pros:

• The Retina Display – Marketed as the 2^nd highest resolution display ever to be included in a notebook computer (the 1^st position belongs to the 15-inch model) this display is amazing (excuse the cliché).
• Battery Life – The Retina MacBook Pro sports the same 7 hours battery life of all the other MacBook Pro models and this can be a lifesaver if you need long hours of battery life.
• Flash Storage – In essence flash storage reduces the time it takes to read/write data on one’s computer and from experience it makes a huge difference to the overall experience of using the device.

Cons:

• The Specifications – The 13-Inch Retina MacBook Pro includes only dual-core Intel Core i5 and Core i7 processors and also omits the inclusion of discrete graphics, although this might not be felt by the average user some power users might be left wanting.
• The Price – Although the pricing for the 13-Inch Retina MacBook Pro hasn’t been launched in South Africa, the increase in the pricing over the non-retina display equipped 13-Inch MacBook Pro in the US market indicates that it could be priced rather high.

So in conclusion, Apple has not surprised or let us down with the launch of these devices. It however is clear that Apple is focusing on evolutionary changes in its lineups and not making revolutionary changes for now.

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About Kyle:

I am currently studying BCom Accounting Sciences at the University of Pretoria and have had a passion for everything tech since the age of 10. I did Information Technology as a subject in High School and it has further developed my passion and interest in the technology business.

Twitter: @KyleDurh / E-Mail: [email protected]