Globe Telecom has announced it is now offering the iPad Air with Wi-Fi + Cellular and iPad mini with Retina display with Wi-Fi + Cellular.
The iPad Air 16GB is available for as low as P1,624 monthly at Plan 499 with P1,125 monthly cashout over a 24-month contract period, which already includes 85 hours of LTE surfing, 20 hours more than its competitor’s offer. Meanwhile, the 32GB variant is available for as low as P1,790 monthly at Plan 499 with P1,291 monthly cashout over a 24-month contract period, also bundled with 85 hours of LTE surfing.
On the other hand, the iPad mini with Retina display 16GB is offered at P1,499 monthly at Plan 499 with P1,000 monthly cashout over a 24-month contract period, complete with 85 hours of LTE surfing, while the 32GB variant is available at P1,665 monthly at Plan 499 with P1,166 monthly cashout over a 24-month contract period also bundled with 85 hours of LTE surfing.
iPad Air
Globe’s announcement came several hours after Smart Communication, Inc.’s December 16 launch of the company’s data plans for the new iPads. Globe had previously planned for a December 19 launch.
At Smart, the 16GB versions of both the iPad Air and iPad Mini with Retina display are available for Php1,499 a month under a two-year contract. On the other hand, the 32GB versions of both iPads are available for Php1,699. There is a one-time fee of Php1,000 for those getting the iPad Mini with Retina display regardless of capacity, while the iPad Air has a one-time fee of Php5,000.
All plans come with 65 hours of surfing (LTE/HSPA+/3G) and Anti Bill Shock. The new iPads are not yet available under prepaid.
Features
The Wi-Fi+Cellular models come with expanded LTE coverage to accommodate even more LTE networks worldwide, while continuing to deliver comprehensive support for other fast cellular technology around the world (DC-HSDPA, HSPA+), all in a single model.
The iPad Air weighs just one pound and is 20 percent thinner and 28 percent lighter than the fourth generation iPad, and with a 43 percent narrower bezel. On the other hand, the iPad mini with Retina display brings all the pixels from the 9.7-inch iPad to a 7.9-inch screen.
The new iPads feature the Apple-designed A7 chip with 64-bit desktop-class architecture, ultrafast wireless with faster built-in Wi-Fi and expanded LTE cellular connectivity, and the newly-designed iOS 7.
iPad Mini with Retina display
Apple says the new power-efficient A7 chip allows the battery to be even smaller, helping reduce the overall volume by 24 percent from the previous generation while doubling its performance and maintaining its up to 10-hour battery life.
The new iPad mini with Retina display packs all the 3.1 million pixels (2048-by-1536 resolution) of iPad Air into its 7.9-inch Multi-Touch display, for a pixel density of 326 pixels per inch. The 7.9-inch Retina display of iPad mini is 35 percent larger than screens on 7-inch tablets, and is the only small tablet to deliver the full iPad experience, now with Retina quality. Movies play at full 1080p HD-resolution.
The new iPads also feature the M7 motion coprocessor that gathers data from the accelerometer, gyroscope and compass to offload work from the A7 for improved power efficiency.
Both iPads feature two antennas to support Multiple-In-Multiple-Out (MIMO) technology, bringing twice the Wi-Fi performance to iPad Air and iPad mini with Retina display at a blazingly fast data rate up to 300 Mbps.
