Apple announces new Macs and iPads

The iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3 are now available in gold color. The iPad Air 2 has an improved camera, and both devices have Touch ID sensors.

Courtesy of Apple

The iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3 are now available in gold color. The iPad Air 2 has an improved camera, and both devices have Touch ID sensors.

Apple Inc. announced the iPad Air 2, iPad mini 3, an iMac with a Retina 5K display and a new Mac mini on Oct. 16. The Cupertino-based company also released OS X Yosemite, a new version of its Mac operating system, for download.

Both the iPad Air 2 and the iPad mini 3 include a Touch ID fingerprint sensor, which can unlock the device and authorize transactions with the iTunes Store and apps that support Apple’s new payment service, Apple Pay.

The WiFi-only iPad Air 2 has a thickness of 0.24 inches and a weight of 0.96 pounds, a reduction from the 0.29 inch thickness and one pound weight of the iPad Air. The iPad Air 2 has several other improvements, including a new A8X processor and improved cameras. Its eight megapixel rear-facing camera supports burst photos and slow motion videos, as well as panoramas, which the iPad Air, iPad mini 3 and iPad mini 2 also support.

Ethan Ma (12) said that the improved camera would likely not have a large impact.

“I think most people who are going to take pictures from an iPad are usually not that concerned with quality,” Ethan said. “They’re probably just going to take selfies.”

The new iMac, available today, has improved processors and a 5120 by 2880 pixel display, which Apple calls “Retina 5K.”

Shreya Neogi (10) did not find the iMac’s announcement significant.

“It doesn’t really affect me because I don’t use the desktop as much because I’m using my laptop all day,” Shreya said. “I’m not really a Mac person, so I don’t really care.”

The new Mac mini has a reduced price of $499 and performance improvements.

OS X Yosemite, which has a new appearance and features, is available as a free download. The new iMac starts at a price of $2,499. The iPad Air 2 price starts at $499, and the iPad mini 3 price starts at $399. The iPad Air and iPad mini 2 prices have dropped to $399 and $299, respectively.

On Oct. 20, Apple will release Apple Pay, a mobile payments service for iPhone. The new iPads will support Apple Pay for in-app orders, but not for in-store transactions.

Apple KeynotePraveen Batra