SAN JOSE -
Apple is revealing a smaller, $329 version of its hit iPad tablet computer, with a screen that's about two-thirds the size of the full-size model.
Apple starts taking orders for the new model on Friday Oct. 26 and will ship Nov. 2, said marketing chief Phil Schiller at an event in San Jose, Calif.
Apple's stock dropped after the company unveiled the Mini. The Mini's price starts at $329, higher than what most analysts had expected.
It weighs 0.68 pounds, half as much as the full-size iPad, and is as thin as a pencil,
The screen resolution is 1024 by 768 pixels, the same as the iPad 2 and a quarter of the resolution of the third-generation iPad.
Company watchers have for a year been expecting the company to release a smaller iPad to counter cheaper tablets like Amazon.com Inc.'s Kindle Fire, which retails for $159.
Apple also introduced a new 13-inch MacBook Pro laptop that has a "Retina" display, with four times the resolution of the previous model.
The new model follows a 15-inch MacBook Pro with a Retina display introduced this summer, and will start at $1,699. Apple's marketing chief Phil Schiller said it will go on sale immediately.
The old MacBook Pro will still be sold, starting at $1,199.
The new model dispenses with an optical drive and a traditional hard drive. Instead, it uses solid-state "flash" memory. This makes it 20 percent thinner and at 3.75 pounds, nearly a pound lighter than the previous model.
Apple Inc.'s shares are down 1.8 percent to $622.34 in afternoon trading. The stock is down 12 percent from the all-time high of $705.07 touched on Sept. 21.
Amazon's stock, meanwhile, is up less than 1 percent to $235.27. Shares of Google Inc., another tablet competitor, also inch up less than 1 percent, to $682.92.
(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
All content © Copyright 2000 - 2013 WorldNow and WTHR. For more information on this site, please read our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.
