Apple Announces That The Full Size iPad 4 is Now Available With 128GB of Storage

Apple has announced the full-size iPad with Retina display now comes in a 128GB capacity, which is double the previous maximum. From 5 February, the 128GB model will cost £639 with just Wi-Fi, or £739 with Wi-Fi + 4G.

It's a big expense, although considering the Wi-Fi-only 64GB model currently costs £559, 80 quid to double the storage doesn't seem too unreasonable.

For me, it's what Apple didn't announce that was more interesting: there was no 128GB iPad mini. With every upgrade Apple seems to be aiming to make the "iPad maxi" the "pro" version, introducing the mini as an everyday user's best choice.

The iPad mini is to the full-size iPad what the MacBook Air is to the MacBook Pro -- smaller, less expensive, more convenient, yet just as capable at handling what most people want an iPad for as its bigger brother; the iPad maxi (which I wouldn't be surprised if Apple ended up callng the iPad Pro in the future, once the iPad mini gets a Retina display) is the model for the creative professionals.

I can say with some confidence that a full-size iPad no longer has much use to me; the mini, on the other hand, has become something I value more than my phone. In fact, if push came to shove, I'd give up my phone for a week faster than I'd give up the iPad mini.

I put this to the test this year. The iPad mini allowed me to cover the whole of CES earlier this month without using any paper or turning my iPhone on. I didn't even take a notepad into the conference halls. Its size was just right to be carried around the show floor, acting as a writing device (Pages), a shorthand notepad (the GoodNotes app and a Bamboo Stylus), a dictaphone (SoundCloud) and a photo editor (iPhoto). Hell, it was even the camera as well on a couple of occasions. I never considered doing this with the main iPad because it was just that bit too big and I always needed two hands to use it.

But as a result of the iPad mini having become my go-to device for damn-near everything, a 128GB model is on my wish list. The 64GB model I use is already full and that's despite iTunes downgrading my lossless audio CD rips into 256Kbps AAC files. The rest is taken up with photos, a few RPG games (Baldur's Gate alone is about a 2GB install) and various other apps and media files.

A 128GB iPad mini won't happen until Apple can divide the mini and the "Pro" a bit more, and for that we'll have to wait for the next generation of both models. It will happen, but not for a few months yet. [WiredUK]

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