Apple announces the new iPad Mini starting at $329.Apple and Microsoft rolled out quite a few new products this week in a push to promote their latest devices before the holiday season swings into full gear.
Here's a quick recap of what the companies launched, how much each item costs and when the products will be available.
Apple
—iPad Mini
The long-awaited iPad mini was finally revealed on Tuesday at an event in San Jose, California. (Read More: Apple Sells Out of White iPad Minis During Pre-Orders)
The smaller iPad features a 7.9-inch display screen, forward-facing and backward-facing cameras, 10 hours of battery life and a dual-core A5 chip, which allows for a faster response time and a longer battery-life.
Like the full-size iPad, the iPad mini is available as Wi-Fi, or as both Wi-Fi and cellular enabled and is available in either black or white.
Prices start at $329 for a 16GB Wi-Fi enabled model and goes up to $529 for the 64GB Wi-Fi version.
For the iPad mini that is both Wi-Fi enabled and supports cellular data networks, prices range from $459 to $659.
The mobile device became available for pre-order early Friday morning and is scheduled to ship Nov. 2, although the ship date for the white Wi-Fi enabled models has been pushed back another week because the original supply sold out during pre-order.
—Fourth Generation iPad
Apple also released a newer version of its full size iPad on Tuesday. (Read More: Apple May Let You Swap iPad 3 for New Model)
Like the third generation iPad, which was released in March, the The fourth generation iPad features retina display and 10 hours of battery life. The company has discontinued the third generation iPad, however, and is only selling the iPad mini, the iPad 2, and the latest fourth generation model with Retina display.
The latest full-size version has an A6X chip, which provides double the processing power of the third generation iPad, and a FaceTime HD camera.
Pricing for the device ranges from $499 for a 16GB Wi-Fi enabled model to $699 for a 64GB Wi-Fi enabled model.
For the iPad that supports both Wi-Fi and cellular data networks, prices range from $629 to $829.
-13-Inch Macbook Pro with Retina Display
Tablets weren't the only products Apple showed off though Tuesday. The tech giant also introduced a smaller version of the MacBook Pro with Retina Display. (Read More:Enough iPad Mini, Apple's Macs Will Also Boost Revenue )
The new 13-inch model is 0.75 inches thin and weighs 3.57 lbs., making it 20 percent thinner and almost a pound lighter than the 13-inch model MacBook Pro without Retina display.
Among other features it has a FaceTime HD camera, dual microphones, improved speakers, Bluetooth 4.0 and two Thunderbolt and two USB 3.0 ports so that users can connect multiple devices and displays to the computer.
Inside the latest model are 2.5 GHz Intel Core i5 processors, 8GB of 1600 MHz memory, and up to 768GB of flash storage.
The device begins pricing at $1,699 for the model that has 128GB flash storage, and became available for purchase on Tuesday.
-iMac
Along with the new MacBook Pro, Apple also introduced a redesigned iMac that is much thinner than its predecessor and has more processing power.
The new display screen reduces reflection by 75 percent while maintaining high-quality resolution. As for what's inside the machine, the iMac has a third generation quad-core Intel Core i5 processors, which can be upgraded to Core i7, providing up to 60 percent faster performance.
It also features a new storage option called a Fusion Drive which allows the machine to have the speed of a flash drive and storage capacity of hard drive.
It is available in two screen sizes, a 21.5-inch model and a 27-inch model.
Pricing for the computer begins at $1,299 for a 21.5-inch iMac and goes up to $1,999 for a 27-inch iMac. Apple will begin to sell the new desktop computer in November.
Microsoft
—Windows 8
Microsoft executives showed off the company's upgraded operating system Windows 8 at an event in New York City Thursday. (Read More: Microsoft Officially Unveils Windows 8)
The new OS is unlike any other upgrade because it was designed for a touch-interface, however, a version of it works on non-touch computing devices as well.
The Windows 8 became available Friday and it costs $39.99 (until Jan. 31) to upgrade an existing Windows PC to the latest Windows 8 OS. the computer, however, must currently run on one of the following versions of Windows: Windows 8 Preview, Windows 7, Windows Vista or Windows XP.
—Surface Tablet
Microsoft also showed off its tablet device Thursday. The new tablet runs on a version of Windows 8 OS and comes installed with Windows Office software suite. (Read More: Here's Why Surface Beats Apple's iPad: Ballmer)
The Surface has a display screen that is 10.6-inches and comes in a 32GB model and a 64GB model.
The tablet became available Friday and costs $499 for a 32GB model and $599 for a 32GB model with a black touch cover.
It features HD cameras on the back and the front, two microphones, stereo speakers and eight hours of battery life.
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