The iOS family tree: the fourth-gen Retina Display iPad (left) now has company with the iPad Mini (middle). One has a 9.7-inch display, the other has a 7.9-inch display. For comparison, the fifth-gen iPod Touch, with a 4-inch display, sits on the far right.
It's no thicker than before, and weighs the same. There's one key telltale difference: the tinier Lightning connector on the bottom, which replaces the 30-pin connector.
Yes, the Mini is smaller, but the larger iPad has the Retina Display.
The 1.2-megapixel front-facing FaceTime HD camera is new. It won't make your jaw drop, but it makes FaceTime calls and self-portraits look a little better. And it takes 720p video.
Games look improved thanks to a speedier A6X processor. There aren't many A6X-optimized games yet, but the improved graphics should make Retina Display games look smoother across the board.
The Lightning cable works just like the one for the iPhone 5, iPod Touch, and all other Lightning-enable devices. The cord is easier to plug in, but the connector requires new cables for video-out and camera-photo-importing functions.
How similar is the fourth-gen iPad to the third-gen? Here are both 2012 models, side-by-side. I dare you to guess which is which.
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