South African distributor Core Group announced that the Apple iPad with Retina display tablet and the smaller iPad mini will be made available in South Africa this weekend.
The fourth generation iPad, which utilises the Retina display, will be available at R5 199 for the entry-level 16 GB unit, while the 32 GB unit will be R6 399. The ultimate iPad, with 64 GB of storage, will retail for R7 399.
The entry-level 16 GB mini with Wi-Fi will be available for R3 399, while the mid-range unit with 32 GB will retail for R4 499. The biggest unit, with 64 GB of storage, will R5 499.
The prices are slightly more expensive for the models that have Wi-Fi and mobile 3G, as the 16 GB entry-level unit will retail for R4 799, the 32 GB unit will set users back R5 899, while the most expensive unit is the 64 GB for R6 999.
While the units will only be made available this weekend, the devices have sold more than three million units in the first three days when it launched in the US almost a month ago – double the previous first weekend’s milestone of 1.5 million Wi-Fi only models sold for the third generation iPad in March.
Apple’s latest mobile phone, the iPhone 5, will also be made available in South Africa on 14 December, a number of months after it launched in the US. Countries such as Botswana, Cameroon, Egypt, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Morocco, Niger and Senegal will only receive the phone on 21 December.
Charlie Fripp – Consumer Tech editor
