By Graham K. Rogers

You would think Apple would learn. After the updates to Macs at the San José event, Apple had the audacity to roll out not only a new Mac mini, ensuring the small tablet market is now covered, but before that dared to suggest that a new iPad, six months after the Retina display model was released to great fanfare, was somehow a demonstration of how energised Cupertino is these days.

In Part 1 I suggested initially that Tim Cook tried to throw everyone off the scent by switching clothes and then sending Phil Schiller out to take the rap for Macs with no innovation. . . .

What the new Macs showed was that with a new use of technology for storing (or more particularly accessing) data on a computer, with a combined use of SSD and a traditional hard drive; plus the use of new industrial processes for manufacture of the devices; the argument that Apple is standing still falls flat.

An undercurrent could be noted in the attire. While Cook had never really appeared to be a jeans and black t-shirt man, at least in public, Jony Ive had switched to a lighter colour, v-necked t-shirt for the video he appeared in, although he is still as intense as ever. As the camera panned the front row of Apple execs, there was little black to be seen.

I ran the video a couple of times and did not hear Steve Jobs mentioned once. This and the change in dress-code signals to me that corporate Apple has begun to move on in more ways than one. It is only a few die-hards and (more particularly) the negative press who must score points that still hark back to Jobs as if he is somehow approving (or not) each move that Apple makes.

After the Macs were rolled out, Cook came back for a few moments and began to talk about the iPads with a couple of statistics, like 100 million sold so far. The last figure I can find for Samsung is 1.4 million, from June 2010 to June 2012. I wonder why there would be such differences. The Apple figure is also more than any other PC maker's sales. With more than 90% of Internet traffic via tablet computers, Cook has a simple explanation: people love their iPads. In that basic statement is a world of reasons that all the analytical rubbish put out has not really been able to grasp. Price is not the key.

Apple's CEO also highlighted the success the iPad has found in education -- at least in the USA -- with the creativity it allows and the access to thousands of textbooks, which the teachers and students apparently love. He gave a quick mention then to iBooks Author which was updated this week

The business world is also seeing a rapid takeup of iPads with 94% of Fortune 500 companies having the device and there are more and more uses of this flexible form of mobile computing: particularly in situations where the traditional PC would not (or could not) be used.

Then Cook dropped the hint of more to come: "We know we are just getting started." The Retina display iPad was the fastest selling of all and "we are not taking our foot off the gas." That soon became clear in a way that had not been expected by most.

Schiller returned and began with the surprise announcement of a new iPad -- a 6-month model turnaround -- and the much anticipated iPad mini.

The new iPad was totally unexpected by most and there was dead silence as he outlined the use of the A6X processor (the 3rd generation iPad has A5X) and its other features.

For me, the most notable (after the updated processor) was the Lightning connector, which makes sense -- all of the latest iOS devices have this -- so there is a consolidation here. The Facetime camera was upgraded as were Wi-Fi and LTE coverage: a list of carriers was shown on a slide. Schiller also outlined the updated Lightning connectors for SD, USB, HDMI and VGA, so the update must have been in the works for a while. It is a pity that Apple's long-term planning like this is not matched by some of the carriers and retail outlets it has to work with in many countries.

There had been some hints about this updated iPad, but these were prety much dismissed as background chatter. After all, Apple had always kept to a product cycle of around 12 months, although this unfortunately did lead to a mini-Osborne effect as customers tried to anticipate the next generation of a device.

With the pricing for the 16 GB version the same as the third generation, some of the older models are still in the pipeline and I saw postings Friday evening on local sites indicating that the iPad was being offered at discounts immediately. Confusingly, the iPad 2 is the only model shown on the Apple online store for Thailand.

Audience reaction at the San Jose event was polite. Muted. Looking inside the device there were clear technical improvements and users will be happy with these. There was, however, a question hanging in the air: why so soon? But Apple played this up and even CEO Tim Cook lauded the "fastest turnaround in history": it clearly was a deliberate evolution. Not that the third generation iPad is no good (mine still works exactly the same as it has for the last few months) but the 4th generation is better and Apple is pleased to go this route.

There was little time to dwell on this as Schiller pushed the ideas forward, "What else can we do?" as the display rotated and the mini answer was revealed, this time to genuine applause.

The audience was told that this is not simply a shrunken iPad but a redesigned product. Looking at the details as the image moved across the screen, it was clear that camera lens and buttons are different. Schiller again mentioned manufacturing processes: as with the Macs (the iMac in particular) there are new techniques in use.

The real device looked even better when the audience saw it. At 7.2mm thick, 200mm (7.87") high, and a weight of 308g (0.68 lbs), it is small enough to be held in the hand, although the screen size is a little larger at 7.9" than many smaller tablet devices, which some critics immediately forgot or ignored. With a resolution of 1024 x 768 like the original iPad, all of the software runs on the iPad mini with no need for any changes: further across the board integration of devices with services.

Image used with permission from Apple

Schiller ran a brief comparison with the current iPad and the iPad mini then outlined a number of apps that work well on the new device, before switching to a back to back comparison that used a Google Nexus tablet, which was not actually named in the presentation.

This was Apple marketing and politics in action: playing down the Android device, starting with the plastic construction. The Nexus is thicker and heavier even though it has a smaller display. A comparison of browser use emphasised some of the viewing differences, particularly evident in landscape mode. This was taken further with what Phil Schiller described as scaled up phone apps for the Nexus compared with the iPad specific apps that Apple customers can access.

Inside, there is the A5 processor and a 5MP camera as well as faster Wi-Fi and the Lightning connector. Other details were revealed in the video that showed the interior (it is almost all battery) and the way edges are designed, using a similar manufacturing process for the glass edges that was seen for the iPhone 5.

The pricing was debated much over the next day or so, with some saying it was too high compared with the Android devices; but then it isn't an Android device. It is probably pitched just right. Cupertino would not select a price range randomly.

This part of the presentation ended with an advertisement - a piano duet between an iPad and an iPad mini - before Phil Schiller handed back to Tim Cook who reprised the announcements and the year in which, he said, Apple had kept its promise on innovation:

• Mountain Lion
• iOS 6
• iPods - nano and iPod touch
• iPhone 5 (A6 processor)
• MacBook Pro with Retina display: 13" and 15"
• iMac (including the new Fusion Drive)
• iPad (Generation 3 and now 4)
• iPad mini

That seems to be a range that few companies match and with its move to in-house processors, there are hopes that Apple may extend the use of these to computers, making it less reliant on any other company's product cycle.

As was seen in the product announcements, Apple is keen to use new technologies and solutions, keeping it ahead of other manufacturers. Steve Jobs was not mentioned at all which indicates that the company is not resting on its laurels. While Jobs built the company, he built it to last. He selected Cook as the head of a team that runs things and is totally energized towards developments for the future.

Apple is still skating to where the puck will be, not where it was.

See also: Part 1 - The New Macs

Graham K. Rogers teaches at the Faculty of Engineering, Mahidol University in Thailand. He wrote in the Bangkok Post, Database supplement on IT subjects. For the last seven years of Database he wrote a column on Apple and Macs.