Unboxing: Apple iPad mini with Retina Display (Verizon LTE)

Good news for all of you Apple tablet fans out there, the iPad mini with Retina Display is now available to purchase! Previously, the tablet was slated for a release “later in November.” However, the tablet went on sale Monday at midnight directly from the Apple store. This is a bit of a surprise move by the “Big A”, although there was much speculation for a Monday night release.

16GB and 32GB WiFi-only variants of the mini are estimated to show up on buyers’ front doors in one to three business days, while the beefier 64GB and 128GB models are expected in five to ten business days. Versions sporting LTE and other bands of mobile data are also thrown into the five to ten day window.

According to numerous analysts, the tablet will be in short supply at release. Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, alluded to possible shortages at Apple’s earnings conference call earlier in October. The very next day, it was speculated that Sharp may the one to point fingers at for the delay due to production yields of a 7.9 panel, according to a report by Digitimes.

The mini starts at a somewhat hefty $399 and can be ordered from Apple’s official website or through Apple’s Personal Pickup system exclusively at Apple brick and mortar stores across the country. Apple also said the carriers, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon, and some Apple resellers will carry the new bite-sixed iPad.

The iPad mini with Retina Display mends the biggest flaw of the first of its kind: the lack of a Retina display. It sports the same ultra-high 2048×1536 resolution found on the iPad Air and wields a crystal clear 326PPI. CPU-wise, it also matches its Air cousin with an A7 chip with 64-bit architecture and an M7 motion-dedicated coprocessor. The price is a bit high, starting at $399 and going up to $829, compared to its direct competitors. In Apple’s defense, however, this does have the same specs of the iPad Air, which starts at $499. You’re basically getting a shrunken-down Air here with the mini, and it is a big step up from last year’s iPad Mini which sported a lackluster 1024×768 resolution display and an A5 CPU, which is a couple generations old at this point.

The Nexus 7, Google’s Android-boasting small tablet flagship of the year, starts at $229 (which is, by the way, receiving its helping of Android 4.4 KitKat as of today). There is a huge price difference here and we’ll see how this turns out for Apple this holiday season in terms of sales.

Are you planning on buying an iPad mini with Retina Display? Maybe an Android or Windows 8 competitor, such as the Nexus 7? Let us know in the comments below!