Apple has just started rolling out its latest iOS 7.1 update with performance improvements, design tweaks, and more. This is the first major update we’ve seen since iOS 7 made its debut last September, and it’s available on iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
Your iPad Mini is slim, clean and beautiful, and we’re sure you want to keep it that way. If you’re looking for extreme protection without the bulk, Spigen’s Tough Armor has changed the game in protective cases.
The iPad Mini Tough Armor Bundle lets your iPhone’s hardware keep up with its shiny new iOS 7 software. This bundle of iPad Mini goodness comes with the Tough Armor case, the Crystal Screen Protector, and the Kuel C10L Sync and Charge Cable to make sure your smartphone is protected and charged at all times. And all for the low price of just $54.99.
The fine folks at Twelve South have brought the popular SurfacePad case to the iPad mini. The cover is made from Napa leather, and it bends to form a viewing stand or typing wedge.
One of the coolest design aspects of the new SurfacePad is how the iPad mini is held in place when upright. Instead of resting the iPad in little leather notches like most bendable cases, the edges of the iPad are secured by invisible magnets.
If you have a soft spot for beautiful book bound notebooks like the famous Oxford Black n’ Red, then you’re going to love the SLIMS for iPad mini from BUKcase. Made using traditional book binding techniques, it’s almost identical at first glance — but when you open it up you find its pages have been replaced by a handmade wooden frame that lovingly cradles your iPad mini.
SLIMS by BUKcase Category: Cases Works With: iPad mini Price: £30 ($50)
Born in the U.K., and also available for the iPad Air, SLIMS isn’t just a protective case, but also a stand for typing and watching movies. It accommodates all of your iPad’s buttons, ports, and cameras — so you never need to take it out — and it has built-in magnets that automatically wake your device up and put it to sleep.
SLIMS comes in black with a grey, blue, or red interior, and BUKcase will even emboss your name on the front.
I’ve long been a fan of minimalist protection for my personal iPads, using a green Smart Cover for the non-retina iPad mini I still favor as my main reading and web surfing device.
Macleay Folio by Toffee Category: iPad Cases Works With: iPad mini, iPad mini with Retina Price: $49.95
When I got the Toffee case in the mail, however, I might have detected a bit of jealousy from the Smart Cover, which has gotten rather grimy and well-used over the past several months as I move the iPad mini from bag to bag, house to car seat, bag to coffee house table, and such.
The Macleay Folio comes in a very classy box, all recycled cardboard and slide out inner pieces. The folio itself peeks out through the clear front of the packaging with a classy style that promises a higher-class iPad mini experience. It’s ostensibly marketed for the iPad mini with Retina display, but as both models of iPad mini are essentially the same, the Folio will work with either.
I took some time with the Folio to figure out if the classiness was worth hiding my mini inside of.
Sure, those don’t all go together, but Twelve South’s new iPad Air and iPad mini stand looks like nothing you’ve seen before. It might as well find a place in a kitchen drawer, next to all the Pampered Chef gizmos you’ve got in there.
This new iPad stand — made for the iPad Air and iPad mini — is foldable, easy to use, and just plain sweet looking.
Cables wear out, get lost, and you never know when you’ll need another, so grab one of these to keep in the car, at the office, or tightly wound in its packaging until you call it up from the reserves.
Cult of Mac Deals has another great deal lined up for those of you who have been looking for that extra cable for your iPhone. And this Apple-approved Lightning cable is available at an amazing price…just $17.99!
The Cable Key is a seamless solution to all your power needs. This lightweight charger cable is there when you need it and out of the way when you don’t. The high-speed USB 2.0 connection ensures a quick charging session while allowing you to enjoy your device, uninterrupted.
Cult of Mac Deals has this little wonder for 62% off during this limited time offer – just $14.99!
STM's Dux iPad case is so new there aren't even any photos yet; you're looking at a CAD mock-up.
Just like the old Trapper Keeper, the STM Dux iPad case keeps all your notes (which are actually inside your iPad, safe within the Dux’s covers). You can plaster photos all over the inside of the clear plastic back. And it even has a little flip-open clasp that keeps the front cover from opening.
With Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Christmas, New Year and Chinese New Year all now firmly in our rear-view mirrors, Apple is focusing on the next big sales holiday of the year: Valentine’s Day.
Describing the iPad Air and iPad mini as “two ways to your valentine’s heart”, Apple has posted a new ad campaign on the main page of its online store — advising that users take advantage of Apple’s free custom engraving to “include a few love letters on any iPad”.
Smooth Leather Sleeve by Joli Originals Category: Cases Works With: iPad Price: $87 as tested
The biggest surprise about the Joli Originals iPad sleeve is how much I like it. I use my iPad just about as much as I use my iPhone, (which is a lot). Maybe more. And for this reason I prefer a case which I can flip open and get to the screen as soon as possible. In short, I have no time for iPad sleeves. And yet the Joli sleeve won me over.
When Apple unveiled the iPad Air back in October, they curiously decided to keep the iPad 2 around for another generation at a $399 price point… the exact same price as an entry-level iPad mini with Retina Display.
In theory, Apple’s idea here seems to have been to price the vintage iPad 2 at a sub-$400 price point so as to have a cheaper 9.7-inch tablet available for educational institutions, budget shoppers and the like. But it looks like no one’s really all that interested, with only one customer in twenty opting to buy an iPad 2 in the latest quarter. Despite this, though, average price of a purchased iPad fell for the second year in a row.
Having relaunched the iPhone 4 to help grow market share in India, new reports are now suggesting that Apple is also slashing the price of its 2012 iPad mini in an effort to make inroads in India’s mid-range tablet market.
If you thought that turning the iPad into a laptop by putting it in a case with a hinged keyboard on the bottom was ridiculous, then you’re going to love/hate the ClamCase Pro mini, which turns Apple’s littlest iPad into a tiny MacBook Air. Because why not right?
During the NFL playoff game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Carolina Panthers today, Apple has posted a new advertisement for the iPad, emphasing their tablet’s creative powers and the iPad’s ability to inspire and create.
The tagline is “What will your verse be?” The notion is that all of human life is a poem, and our individual lines are a verse in that poem. Depending on your own predisposition, you’ll likely either find it a little sappy and breathless or moving, but either way, Apple is right that far from just being for media consumers, the iPad is a profound creator’s device which can be used for filming, writing, 3D prototyping, and more.
There’s also a new Your Verse microsite, explaining the uses depicted in the commercial in greater detail. What do you think? How are you using your iPad to write your verse?
In news to be filed under L for “late to the party” Staples is finally selling the iPad Air and iPad Mini on its physical store shelves.
Phone up your local Staples, and you’ll hear a message informing you that the iPad is available both online and in the chain’s brick-and-mortar outlets. Prior to this, the tablets were only available through Staples’ online ordering service.
Acer has today announced two new Android-powered tablets that it will introduce at CES in Las Vegas next week, one of which is a $180 iPad mini clone. It’s called the Iconia A1-830 and it sports a “premium aluminum” chassis that houses a 7.9-inch display, a 1.6GHz Intel Atom processor, and 1GB of RAM.
Acer also announced the Iconia B1-720, an entry-level device with a $129 price tag that looks a lot like the 2012 Nexus 7, and has a 7-inch display and a 1.3GHz dual-core processor.
Mobile AirDesk by Slate Category: Portable laptop desk Works With: MacBook, iPad mini, iPhone Price: $129.99
Back when the Mobile AirDesk was just a Kickstarter gleam in the eye of design entrepreneur Nathan Mummert, Cult of Macfeatured this project as one we were keeping our eyes on.
Since then, the concept has been funded 5x over by eager future-owners — raising $110,000 in just 15 days — and gone into full scale production.
Supplies of the iPad mini with Retina Display has been severely constrained ever since it launched on November 12th. Even though it was Within hours of the device becoming available, online orders shot up to 2 weeks delivery times, and for weeks, the best way to get an iPad mini with Retina Display quick was to try your luck at your local Apple Store.
Just in time for Christmas, though, Cupertino has managed to loosen up supply constraints, guaranteeing that if you order an iPad mini with Retina Display right now, you will receive it after it ships in 1-3 business days. That means if you need a last-minute gift idea, you can order an iPad mini with Retina Display now and get it in time for Christmas Eve. Cool beans!
Hacking the iPhone 5c probably cost the FBI more than $1 million. Photo: Apple
Black Friday produced a number of awesome deals for the iPhone 5c, but Walmart is looking to offer its biggest price cut yet on the 5c as part of its upcoming Christmas sale.
Starting Friday, December 12, the retailer plans to sell the iPhone 5c for $27 with a two year contract from AT&T or Verizon. Walmart is also going to offer the iPhone 5c for $127 with a two year contract.
Unlike LifeProof‘s iPad Air case, Pelican’s new ProGear Vault iPad Air case isn’t waterproof. Also unlike LifeProof’s iPad Air case, the ProGear Vault iPad Air case actually exists, now (since LifeProof’s iPad Air case isn’t here yet, we’re obviously assuming it’ll be as fully waterproof as all the other LifeProof cases).
While Android may be running away with the lion’s share of the smartphone market, there’s still no doubt about what rules the roost when it comes to tablets. New data from InfoScout reveals that roughly 40% of iPads sold on Black Friday were purchased by Android smartphone users.
Lego accessories have been popular for Apple products for a while now, and now that trend continues with Belkin’s new Lego iPad mini Case — which comes with an official grid of Lego studs on the back.
iPad Mini with Retina Display by Apple Category: iPad Works With: Your hands Price: $400+
What’s this? A review of the Retina iPad mini almost a month after launch? That’s right. And although I haven’t been using my new mini for that long, I’ve been using for more than the two or three hours logged by most of the folks who “reviewed” it on launch.
So if you are wondering if the new mini is noticeably heavier than the old one, or if it takes all night to charge it, or whether an iPad even needs LTE, then read on.
Apple is doing all it can to grow in India. Illustration: Cult of Mac
Breaking with the tradition of Friday launches in India — and despite rumors that it would take place on November 29 — Apple has announced that customers in India will be able to buy the iPad Air and iPad mini with Retina Display as of Saturday, December 7.