Apple today took the stage to reveal its latest, speedier iPad tablets.  The new 9.7-inch iPad Air is 20 percent thinner and 60 percent lighter, and the Air includes Apple’s new faster 64-bit A7 processor, also found in the new iPhone 5S.  And as expected, Apple also updated the 7.9-inch iPad Mini with the A7 processor and a Retina display.

The new iPad Air

The new iPad Air is now the thinnest 9.7-inch tablet on the market at 7.5mm (0.29 inches); its bezel (the frame around the display) is 43 percent smaller, and the tablet weighs only 1 pound versus 1.4 pounds for the previous iPad.  With its new 64-bit A7 chip and M7 motion processor, Apple claims the iPad Air has four times the processing power and eight times the graphics power.

For wireless connectivity, the new Air has dual Wi-Fi antennas to support Multiple-In-Multiple-Out (MIMO) technology, which can potentially double your Wi-Fi speeds.  And cellular models now support more LTE networks worldwide than the previous iPads.

The iPad Air’s other features are nothing new.  It has the same Retina display as the 3rd and 4th gen iPads, the same 5-megapixel camera on back, a slightly darker grey backplate, and a 10-hour minimum battery life.  Look for it November 1st starting at $499 (€470) for the 16GB, Wi-Fi version.

Apple is also selling iPad Smart Covers ($39) in blue, green, yellow, red and black; and dyed leather Smart Cases ($69 for iPad Air, $79 for iPad Mini) in pale yellow, light blue, pink, brown and black.

For more great hands-on first impression reviews of the iPad Air, head over to Ars Technica, Engadget, Laptop Mag, The Verge, and CNET’s comparison with Microsoft Surface 2 and Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1.

New iPad Mini with Retina display

The new, 2nd gen version of the iPad Mini now matches its larger iPad brother with a resolution of 2,048×1,536, or 326 pixels per inch– double that of the first iPad Mini introduced this past Spring. Apple’s Retina display is also found on the last few iPhones and the MacBook Pro.  The iPad Mini is also the same thickness as the iPad Air.

But that extra clarity and speed comes at a price — the new iPad Mini starts at $399 for the 16GB, Wi-Fi version, up from the original’s $329 price tag.  If you don’t care about better resolution or speed, you’ll be able to buy the first-gen iPad Mini for $299 when the new iPad Mini becomes available in November.

All new iPads will come with free subscriptions to Apple’s new iWork Beta service, which lets you share and work on files in the Pages, Keynote, and Numbers apps. Apple says the iWork service will be free for buyers of all new Macs and iOS devices, presumably including the latest iPhones.

To see more hands-on first impression reviews of the new second-gen iPad Mini, check out Ars Technica, Engadget, Slashgear, The Verge, and CNET’s comparison with Google’s Nexus 7 and Amazon’s new Kindle Fire HDX 7.

Old iPad 2 now $399

Instead of discontinuing the now two-year-old iPad 2, Apple is promoting the 2nd gen model at a lower $399 price.  With used iPad 2 tablets going for as little as $200 on eBay, Apple is clearly not targeting gullible individual buyers but rather institutions like schools, which can receive volume discounts and don’t care about the latest features.  But would-be iPad 2 buyers should note that Apple’s new iOS 7 tends to run slower on their old tablet, compared to iOS 5 or 6.

Apple discontinued the 3rd-gen iPad (2012) when it introduced the slightly upgraded 4th gen model this past Spring, but kept 2011’s iPad 2 as its entry-level model.  We expect Apple to discontinue the 4th gen iPad too, as it tries to steer individual buyers to the new model.

T-Mobile offers free data with iPad or other tablets

T-Mobile (USA) took advantage of the iPad announcement to make news of its own: the carrier is offering 200MB of free data each month for any T-Mobile-compatible tablet, whether you’re actually a T-Mobile customer or not.  T-Mobile is also letting you buy any tablet it offers–including the new iPad Air and iPad Mini–with no money down, letting you pay in monthly installments.  Of course, the carrier is hoping that you’ll get hooked on using your tablet outside of Wi-Fi zones, and buy more data.  So far, AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon have declined to match the offer.