First came the iPod, then the iPhone and now Apple is set to conquer the mobile electronics industry with the Apple iPad. Announced last night, Steve Jobs touted it as “better than a laptop, better than a smartphone”. So does this mean it is better than the iPhone 3GS? :p Read on for specs and the full price list.
Features :
- Processor: 1GHz Apple A4
- Operating System: iPhone OS 3.2
- Storage: 16GB, 32GB or 64GB flash drive
- Size: 9.56 (H) x 7.47 (W) x 0.5 (D) inch
- Weight: 1.5 pounds (680 gram) for iPad WiFi, 1.6 pounds (730 gram) for iPad 3G
- Display: 1024×768 pixels
- Wireless connection: WiFi, Bluetooth, 3G (Additional payment needed)
- Battery: up to 10 hours of web surfing, video watching, music playback
- Input/Output: Dock connector, 3.5mm headphone jack, build-in speaker, microphone, SIM tray (iPad 3G only)
Here’s an estimate of the prices from the press release based on a currency conversion rate of 3.43.
Wifi only:
• $499: 16GB (estimated at RM1714)
• $599: 32GB (estimated at RM2057)
• $699: 64GB (estimated at RM2400)Wifi + 3G:
• $629: 16GB ( estimated at RM2160)
• $729: 32GB (estimated at RM2500)
• $829: 64GB (estimated at RM2848)
Now lets take a look at previous prices of Apple product in Malaysia. The iPhone 3GS was announced in the US at $199 for the 16GB and $299 for the 32GB. This translates to RM684 and RM1027 respectively but the RRP for the iPhone 3GS in Malaysia is RM2490 for the 16GB and RM2990 32GB model respectively, which is almost 10-12 times in exchange rate.
The 2.4GHz MacBook retails in the US starting at $999 and is available in Malaysia for RM3299 so the exchange rate is around 3.3x. If the iPad is better than the iPhone but is less of a MacBook so this means the exchange rate should be around 6.65x. So does this mean this is what the price will be in Malaysia?
Wifi only:
• $499: 16GB (estimated at minimum RM3318?)
• $599: 32GB (estimated at minimum RM3983?)
• $699: 64GB (estimated at minimum RM4648?)Wifi + 3G:
• $629: 16GB ( estimated at minimum RM4183?)
• $729: 32GB (estimated at minimum RM4848?)
• $829: 64GB (estimated at minimum RM5513?)
This is of course just an estimate but there are other things to consider like economics of scale, import duty etc. I’m sure when it arrives at our shores Maxis, Digi or Celcom will whip up something to make the price of the gadget more attractive.
Apple will ship all the iPads in 60 days—the end of March—to America, and just the Wi-Fi models internationally. It wouldn’t be another 6 months till we will get our hands on it. In an unofficial statement, Machines representatives quoted the August/September 2010 time frame for any retail models to appear in Malaysia. If you really are itching to get one of these that bad, I guess you’ll just have to source them from the states yourself. Its cheaper ;)
