Apple releases iPad mini to New Zealand

New Zealand become the first country in the world to get their hands on Apple's new iPad mini, released before any other nation this morning.

Being the first nation with an Apple retailer to wake up, buyers across the country had the chance to benefit from a significant time zone advantage by picking up the small-sized tablet from 8am this morning.

The product went on sale a full 20 hours before Apple's hometown of San Francisco, with a company spokesperson saying yesterday:

“I don’t know who will have what (products) where in New Zealand but the retailers will certainly be able to open their doors so people can come in and touch and play straight away,” said Fiona Martin, Apple spokesperson.

Released last week, the iPad mini design is 23% thinner and 53% lighter than the third generation iPad.

Branded as “every inch an iPad, yet in a revolutionary design you can hold in one hand”, the device will compete directly with similar sized tablets from Google and Amazon as companies battle it out for a marketshare.

The iPad mini with Wi-Fi models will be available in black & slate or white & silver for a recommended retail price of NZ$479 for the 16GB model, $629 for the 32GB model and $779 for the 64GB model.

Coming with Wi-Fi + Cellular, the device will start shipping a couple of weeks after the Wi-Fi models, offered for a recommended retail price of $680 for the 16GB model, $829 for the 32GB model and $979 for the 64GB model.

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