iPad mini

For the first time since the tablet launched in early November, estimated shipping times for Apple’s (AAPL) iPad mini have fallen to one week as supply finally begins to catch up with demand. The iPad mini launched on November 2nd and was met with heavy consumer demand — while Apple failed to break down sales by model, the company announced that it sold more than 3 million iPad and iPad mini tablets combined during their first weened of availability. Shipping times for new orders placed on Apple’s website have remained lengthy since early November but as of Thursday, estimates are down to one week for all Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi + Cellular models, ensuring that deliveries will arrive in time for Christmas. BGR reviewed the iPad mini last month and called it Apple’s best tablet yet.

Immediately following its launch earlier this month, Apple’s (AAPL) iPad mini ran into a problem that many iOS devices have faced in the past: Apple can’t build enough of them. The company sold more than 3 million iPad mini and fourth-generation iPad tablets combined during their first weekend of availability. The tablet has seemingly seen steady demand since then, and new orders placed on Apple’s website still take two weeks to ship. Citing unnamed industry sources, Digitimes on Friday reported that Apple’s iPad mini supply woes may soon come to an end as the company seeks a third display panel manufacturer to offset difficulties that AU Optronics continues to face. As a result of AUO’s yield issues, iPad mini shipments this year are estimated to fall to between 6 million and 8 million units from Apple’s purported initial goal of 10 million units.

In what has been called one of the dumbest crimes in recent history, a worker at John F. Kennedy airport has been accused of being the “less-than-master-mind” behind last week’s iPad mini heist. Renel Rene Richardson allegedly made suspicious comments to co-workers regarding the whereabouts of a forklift and the arrival of Apple’s (AAPL) cargo, The New York Post reported. Richardson is said to have acted as a lookout while two accomplices accessed a storage building containing thousands of iPad minis. The duo allegedly used the airport’s own forklift to load two pallets containing the devices into their vehicle, however they were confronted by an airport employee and were forced to flee the scene of the crime, leaving three additional pallets untouched. The incident took place in the same cargo building as the 1978 Lufthansa heist, which was featured predominately in the movie Goodfellas. It is unclear if the stolen iPads have been recovered at this point.

Apple’s (AAPL) iPad mini appears to be selling quite well, even with an “inferior” non-Retina display and two-year old guts. While the Wi-Fi model has been out since November 2nd and U.S. customers just started getting their LTE models last week, those living abroad are seeing shipping times for preordered LTE iPad minis slip from late November to December, according to SlashGear and Macworld.uk. But, not all models are seeing delays reports SlashGear. The tech blog says it believes the entry-level 16GB iPad mini with LTE is seeing short supply whereas the 32GB LTE iPad mini is still showing a delivery date by the end of November. More →

Apple’s (AAPL) iPad mini might be “pixel-poor,” but sales have already reached into the millions. Apple released the Wi-Fi version of its new tiny tablet earlier this month and the LTE-enabled model was said to follow at a later date. Many who preordered the tablet began receiving their orders on Thursday and Sprint (S) announced just after midnight on Friday morning that the iPad mini Wi-Fi + LTE is now available for sale in a number of its retail stores around the country. The tablet will likely be available in Apple Stores as well beginning today, along with other carrier stores and Best Buy (BBY) stores. It is unclear how much inventory will be available at launch and new orders placed on Apple’s website will ship within two weeks. BGR reviewed the iPad mini earlier this month and called it Apple’s best iPad yet.

Look, it’s kind of like Blue Steel versus Magnum, but there are two visible differences between Apple’s (AAPL) Wi-Fi-only iPad mini and the new iPad mini Wi-Fi + LTE. For starters, there’s the antenna cover at the top and while Apple decided not to go with a white plastic cover on previous white iPad models, this time it pulled the trigger — white on white on aluminum. Also notably different is the SIM card slot, but besides that, these two units feel identical. Verizon’s LTE network works beautifully with the iPad mini, delivering the amazingly quick performance we’ve come to expect, and the rest has been covered at length. There are some comparison photos of the iPad mini Wi-Fi and the new Wi-Fi + LTE model in our hands-on gallery, so make sure to check those out. BGR’s full review of the iPad mini can be found here. More →

Shortly before midnight on Monday two criminals accessed a cargo building in John F. Kennedy airport and managed to steal $1.5 million worth of iPad minis. According to The New York Post, the pair used the airport’s own forklift to load two pallets containing the Apple (AAPL) tablets into their vehicle. The criminals promptly fled the scene after being confronted by an airport employee with three additional pallets left untouched. As of Wednesday night, the duo were still at large and police are now suspecting the criminals had help from an insider. The more than 3,500 stolen iPad mini devices came from a shipping company known as Cargo Airport Services and had just arrived from China. The incident took place in the same cargo building as the 1978 Lufthansa heist where a group of criminals ran off with $5 million in cash and nearly $900,000 worth of jewelry, a haul that when adjusted for inflation totals more than $21 million.