Apple reveals iPad NZ pricing

Maybe we should all jus relax, because it's just a tablet.

But given you've clicked into this story, NBR takes it you're interested in the New Zealand pricing for its third-generation tablet, known as "iPad" and released this Friday:

It is (scroll down for features-at-glance):

Wi-Fi

• $729 16GB
• $879 32GB
• $1029 64GB

Wi-Fi + 4G

• $929 16GB
• $1079 32GB
• $1228 64GB

And as previously announced, Apple is keeping on the iPad 2 (or at least its 16GB version) as a budget model priced at:

• $579 Wi-fi
• $779 Wi-fi plus 3G

Shipping is free with all models.

In Australia, online shipping times for the new iPad have now dropped to one to two weeks (down from an initial two to three weeks). The estimated ship time for the iPad two in Australia and NZ is one to three days.

There are no 4G (or "LTE") networks in New Zealand, and won't be during the product life time of the new iPad. The tablet will step-down to 3G speed here.

Apple says the new iPad will be available from 8am this Friday through its website, and via authorised resellers.

While Telecom and Vodafone are the official iPhone carriers, Apple has different agreements in place for the iPad.

No NZ phone company will directly sell the tablet through its website.

Vodafone offers dedicated iPad plans; Telecom and 2degrees sell Micro-SIM cards that can be used with an iPad.

Telecom chief marketing officer Jason Paris said yesterday that his company's Gen-i services wing can supply iPads directly to corporate clients (as it did with the iPhone before Telecom became an official carrier).

Yesterday, The Warehouse said it would sell the new iPad online today - but given it will sell at $799 for the 16GB Wi-Fi model, some Apple fans may prefer to wait a day for the official launch.

New iPad at a glance
Apple's third-generation tablet - simply called "iPad" - features a so-called "retina display", boosting screen resolution to 2048 by 1536 pixels (the iPad 2 is 1024 by 768; a high definition widescreen TV has a 1920 x 1080 display, and HD movies and TV shows are formated to that resolution). Apple is billing it as the sharpest definition on the market.

The iPad 2's dual core processor is upgraded to a dual core with quad-core graphics, the better to service the higher resolution graphics.

The rear camera's resolution hs been bumped up to 5 megapixels - still a step down from the 8 megapixels boasted by the iPhone 4S and many high-end Google Android devices.

There is a new microphone button (accompanying the arrival of Siri-style voice command and dictation software to the iPad couple with iOS 5.1 - although Siri itself was not mentioned). But otherwise the size and shape of the new iPad closely resembles the iPad 2. It's marginally (0.6mm) thicker and 50g heavier.

The nw iPadvsupports superfast LTE/4G mobile data - a boon to people living in some areas of the US but irrelevant to New Zealand where Telecom, Vodafone and 2degrees operate 3G networks, and are unlikely to begin any upgrades within 18 months, if that. 4G service in Australia is not comptiable with the frequency used by the new iPad.