Apple brings back iPad Air, updates iPad Mini

In this May 31, 2018 file photo a customer enters the Apple store in New York. Apple on Monday, March 18, 2019, unveiled a new iPad that's thinner and slightly larger than its current entry-level tablet. (AP photo)
In this May 31, 2018 file photo a customer enters the Apple store in New York. Apple on Monday, March 18, 2019, unveiled a new iPad that's thinner and slightly larger than its current entry-level tablet. (AP photo)

SAN FRANCISCO: Apple Inc debuted a new mid-tier iPad with a larger screen and introduced the first iPad mini update since 2015.

The announcements Monday come a week before the company rolls out a media and entertainment bundle designed to compete with Netflix Inc.

The company debuted a new iPad Air with a 10.5-inch screen, bringing back a model that was phased out when Apple launched the iPad Pro a few years ago. That screen size is larger than the 9.7-inch, $329 (10,400 baht) model designed for education that Apple launched last year.

The iPad mini, a device that some consumers have been seeking an upgrade for, continues to use a 7.9-inch screen. The larger iPad introduced on Monday supports the company's Smart Keyboard, while both new devices work with the Apple Pencil stylus and include a faster A12 processor, a step up from the A10 chip used in last year's education model.

The new models still use a home button with fingerprint scanner rather than facial recognition like on the more expensive versions. The new iPad mini models will still start at $399 (12,600 baht), while the 10.5-inch iPad Air starts at $499 (15,800 baht). They're available to order online now and in stores next week, Apple said.

Like every version of the iPad since the first in 2010, the latest models come in configurations that connect to either just WiFi or cellular networks as well. The cellular iPad mini costs $529 (16,700 baht), while the cellular iPad Air costs $629 (19,900 baht). Both iPads come in 64GB and 256GB storage capacity options.

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Vocabulary

  • bundle: a number of things tied or wrapped together - มัดหรือห่อ
  • configuration (noun): an arrangement of the parts of something or a group of things; the form or shape that this arrangement produces - รูปทรง, ตำแหน่ง, ,การจัดเรียงหมู่
  • consumer: someone who buys and uses goods and services - ผู้บริโภค
  • debut: to introduce a product or service to the public for the first time - วางตลาดหรือเปิดตัวสินค้า
  • device (noun): a machine or piece of equipment that does a particular job - อุปกรณ์ เครื่องมือ เครื่องจักร
  • facial recognition (noun): a computer application capable of identifying or verifying a person from a digital image or a video frame -
  • phase out (verb): to slowly reduce and stop some activity, in several "phases" - ค่อยๆเลิก, ค่อยๆยุติ
  • rolls out: to introduce something new; to introduce a new product or service; launch - เปิดตัว, เริ่มนำ
  • scanner: something that looks at or reads something by quickly passing over it -
  • stylus (noun): a special pen used to write text or draw an image on a special computer screen - สไตลัส, ปากกาป้อนข้อมูลทางหน้าจอ

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