New Apple iPads were unveiled on Thursday, the iPad Air 2 and the iPad Mini 3.
According to The Verge, the new iPad Air "looks almost exactly the same as the original iPad Air, although it's a bit thinner, has an optically-bonded display, a much-improved camera, a new A8X processor, and a TouchID sensor in the home button."
Translation: It's an incrementally improved version of the first iPad Air — with a fingerprint sensor.
Similarly, the new iPad Mini 3 was met with a collective "meh" by the tech and financial sectors, as it was also improved incrementally and fitted with a fingerprint sensor.
Both models will go on sale October 24. The Air starts at $500, and the Mini starts at $400. Previous versions of both models have been discounted $100 or more along with the new release.
The New York Times reported that, "The [fingerprint] technology is used to log into the iPad in place of a typed passcode. It can also be used to make in-app purchases with Apple’s new mobile payments system, Apple Pay, which will be available Monday." Apple Pay allows users to digitize their plastic credit cards, and store them in their iPhone or iPad.
Financial analysts concluded that the ultimate fate of the iPad is uncertain, as tablet sales have leveled off recently.
"The iPad has normalized because it’s mature. It’s not going to go back to 180 percent growth, but it is still growing," said Ben Bajarin, a consumer technology analyst for Creative Strategies. He said the previous growth of the category "was just crazy."
Along with the new iPads, Apple unveiled new, improved versions of its desktop computers, the iMac and the Mac Mini. On the software side of things, it released the new version of its desktop operating system, OS X Yosemite, which includes new features to more seamlessly integrate the mobile operating system found on the iPhone and iPad.
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