Everyone's waiting for Apple to announce another three iPhones, but for now the company seems content with simply beefing up some of its current products.
The Cupertino giant announced on Tuesday that it's blowing the 64GB iPad out of the water by offering a new fourth generation version that tops out at 128GB. Sadly, this upgrade won't apply to the iPad mini.
The enhanced iPad isn't on sale yet, but it'll be available on Feb. 5. And it's going to be expensive. The base WiFi version will run you $799, while the cellular tablet will take a giant $929-sized bite out of your wallet. Considering that the only upgrade here is the memory, those price points seem rather high. As The Verge points out, the cellular version costs almost as much as the base Macbook Air model.
For what it's worth, Apple says it isn't really looking to target the average consumer here. It specifically mentions Fortune 500 companies using iPads to store 3D architectural AutoCAD files, X-rays, film edits, music tracks, project blueprints and more, and the new iPad offers a lot more space for this kind of storage.
"Our AutoCAD WS app for iOS was designed to give customers seamless access to their designs anywhere, anytime," said Amy Bunszel, vice president of AutoCAD products for Autodesk, in a statement. "These files are often large and highly detailed so having the thin and light iPad with its Multitouch display, integrated camera and all-day battery life, is a real advantage for iPad users to view, edit and share their AutoCAD data."
Just like other fourth-gen iPads, the 128GB model features a 9.7-inch Retina display, FaceTime, LTE network support, and will come pre-loaded with the new iOS 6.1 update.
"With more than 120 million iPads sold, it's clear that customers around the world love their iPads, and everyday they are finding more great reasons to work, learn and play on their iPads rather than their old PCs," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. "With twice the storage capacity and an unparalleled selection of over 300,000 native iPad apps, enterprises, educators and artists have even more reasons to use iPad for all their business and personal needs."
