Apple Starts Sales of LTE iPad Air and iPad mini with Retina display in China

[RaduTyrsina]

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Apple has recently started exploring new markets, especially turning its attentions to such countries as China, Brazil, India, Russia and others. After having finally inked the iPhone deal with China Mobile, Apple now announced that they have started selling the TD-LTE equipped iPad Air and iPad mini with Retina display models in China through the same China Mobile carrier. The new iPad models are compatible with the TD-SCDMA wireless standard, and will join Apple's cellular-capable offerings for more common protocols like GSM/EDGE, HSPA+ and DC-HSDPA.

The debut marks the first tablet offering from Apple on China Mobile's somewhat rare TD-LTE network. Previous reports pointed to an inevitable agreement to bring the popular iPad lineup to the carrier after the two companies struck a similar deal for the iPhone. Underscoring China Mobile's importance to Apple's growth model, the company is launching what amounts to bespoke iPad Air and Retina iPad mini versions with specialized RF chips to accommodate the TD-LTE protocol alongside GSM, UMTS and TD-SCDMA.

The iPad versions that Apple is putting up on sale in China are slightly different than what it sells in the rest of the world, as these have been modified with specialized RF chips to accommodate the TD-LTE protocol alongside GSM, UMTS and TD-SCDMA. Here are the price tags that the models will carry:

• iPad Air with WLAN + Cellular supporting TD-LTE - 4,488 RMB (about US$577) for 16GB , 5,188 RMB (US$834) for 32GB, 5,888 RMB (US$947) for 64GB model and 6,588 RMB (US$1059) for the 128GB one
• iPad mini with Retina display WLAN + Cellular models supporting TD-LTE - 3,788 RMB (US$609) for the 16GB model, 4,488 RMB (US$721) for 32GB, 5,188 RMB (US$834) for 64GB and 5,888 RMB (US$947) for the 128GB version.

Source: AppleInsider