Tim Cook Announcing The Apple iPad Air

Apple Inc. has released new versions of its popular products this week, and despite the not-so-splashy announcements, at least the iPhone maker had fun with the launch event.

In today’s era of leaked images and real-time information dissemination, the shroud of secrecy surrounding upcoming Apple devices is little more than an invisible cloak. To lighten things up on launch day, Apple hired comedian Stephen Colbert as its “Chief of Secrecy” who comically jeered the company’s CEO Tim Cook to the audience’s delight.

“Get back to work!” ordered Colbert. “Do you know what I see when I look at my wrist? MY WRIST,” the comedian went on, teasing Apple for its September reveal of the Apple Watch that won’t be available until early 2015.

So what has Apple unveiled in its less than extravagant reveal?

Full specs on Apple’s new toys

iPad Air 2

The iPad Air 2 features a 9.7” Retina Display with a resolution of 2048×1536 at 256 pixels per inch. It has a fully laminated display and antireflective coating. The iPad Air 2 is thinner than the original iPad Air at only 6.1mm, and weighs about 30 grams less than its predecessor. It uses the new A8X chip with 64-bit architecture and M8 motion processor. Apple’s newest iPad also features Touch ID for an added layer of security.

For its camera, the iPad Air 2 still comes a 1.2MP FaceTime camera, but the iSight camera has been upgraded to 8MP, with a new burst mode and slo-mo video feature. The new iPad Air 2 also features a three-axis gyro, accelerometer, ambient light sensor, and barometer. It has a battery that last 10 hours of use on WiFi and 9 hours of use when on Cellular connection. Price starts at $499 for the WiFi only version, and $629 for the WiFi+Cellular version.

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iPad mini 3

iPad mini 3 now features Apple’s Touch ID and comes in three colors: space gray, silver and gold.

Aside from the Touch ID and new color options, no new features have been added. The iPad mini 3 still comes with a 7.9” Retina Display with a resolution of 2048×1536 at 326 ppi, an A7 chip with 64-bit architecture, M7 chip for motion processing, 1.2MP FaceTime camera and 5MP iSight camera. It uses a nano SIM, three-axis gyro, accelerometer, ambient light sensor, and a battery that lasts 10 hours of use on WiFi and 9 hours of use while on cellular connection. Price starts at $399 for the WiFi only model and $529 for the WiFi + Cellular model.

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Apple SIM

Both the iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3 WiFi + Cellular models will come pre-installed with an Apple SIM. The Apple SIM gives you the flexibility to choose from a variety of short-term data plans offered by select carriers in the U.S. and U.K. Participating carriers in the U.S. include AT&TCorp., Sprint Corp. and T-Mobile US Inc., and EE Ltd. from the U.K. This means users no longer have to physically replace SIM cards when they want to take advantage of another network’s short term data plan.

In the long run, more carriers from around the globe are expected to support Apple SIM, which means travellers can take advantage of short term data plans when abroad.

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Mac Mini

Described as “an affordable powerhouse that packs the entire Mac experience into a 7.7-inch-square frame,” this device is great for people with limited table space.  The basic model priced at $499 comes with a 1.4GHz dual-core Intel Core i5, a 500GB hard drive configurable to 1TB Fusiondrive, 4GB of 1600MHz LPDDR3 memory configurable to 8GB or 16GB, Intel HD Graphics 5000, and can support up to two displays with 2560×1600 pixels.

The newest Mac Mini has two Thunderbolt 2 ports, four USB 3 ports, SDXC card slot, Gigabit ethernet port, audio in port, headphone port, and IR receiver. It has 802.11ac Wi-Fi wireless networking, IEEE 802.11a/g/b/n compatible, Bluetooth 4.0, and 10/100/1000BASE-T Ethernet (RJ-45 connector) for communication. When you do buy the Mac mini, be sure you have a monitor, keyboard and mouse, as the $499 price is only for 7.7-inch CPU.

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27-inch iMac with Retina 5K display

This iMac boasts of a Retina 5K display but the look of the device itself is a bit tiring – nothing has changed in its design from previous years. Call it a case of Apple sticking with what works.

The iMac with Retina 5K display features a 27-inch Retina display with IPS technology with a 5120×2880 resolution, a 3.5GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 processor configurable to 4.0GHz quad-core Intel Core i7, 8GB (two 4GB) of 1600MHz DDR3 memory and four SO-DIMM slots that are user accessible and configurable to 16GB or 32GB.

The new iMac also comes with 1TB Fusion Drive configurable to 3TB Fusion Drive or 256GB, 512GB or 1TB of flash storage, and an AMD Radeon R9 M290X graphics processor with 2GB of GDDR5 memory configurable to AMD Radeon R9 M295X with 4GB of GDDR5 memory.

Other specs include a FaceTime HD camera, stereo speakers, dual mic, headphone port, SDXC card slot, four USB 3 ports, two Thunderbolt 2 ports, Gigabit ethernet, 802.11ac Wi-Fi wireless networking, IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n compatible, and Bluetooth 4.0 wireless technology. Price starts at $2,499 but at least it comes with Apple’s Wireless Keyboard and Magic Mouse.