Well, Apple has done it again… They have messed with my upgrade cycle.  I had decided that I would be on a 1 year cycle for iPad upgrades, and they put out a new 4th Gen iPad before the year is up. The new A6x chip and the Lightning adapter are the things that will make me want to do the upgrade.  I currently have the 64gb AT&T LTE version, and it has been amazing for me.  I have no desire to upgrade to the iPad mini.  I had an iPad 2 and the retina display on my current iPad is too good to go back to 1024×768.  Had I never had the iPad 3, then perhaps it would be worthwhile, but I can’t go back.

I do believe that the size and design of the mini will be attractive to a lot of people.  The new back design matches the design of the new iPhone 5, and that does look really cool.

But this isn’t the only announcement Apple made today.  The new iMac looks really sexy! Deceptively slim at the edges.  Not to happy that Apple continues to get rid of the DVD drive, but understand their approach and reasoning.

As far at the specs, they are a nice refresh from the development machine I picked up last year, and the addition of the hybrid (AKA Fusion) drive, and the great way that Mountain Lion will automatically manage your apps for the best performance is a great addition.  If this would be your development machine, I can see it improving compile times dramatically.

The new 13″ MacBook Pro is a great upgrade for many and the Mac Mini, was refreshed nicely.

Was nice that Apple live-streamed the entire event.  Guess I will have to order a new iPad soon.

Quick update.. Apple has posted the video already for those who would like to watch the announcement.