With its curved, iPhone 6-like body, thick top and bottom bezels at the front that are enough to land a jumbo jet, and hardware home button that also houses a Touch ID module. There's also the archaic Lightning port, making this one of the last iPads to feature Apple's proprietary standard.

We marked October 22 on the calendar and canceled our appointments. We were almost certain that Apple would hold its second fall keynote on that day and unveil new Macs and iPads. But then, just when we were expecting an invitation, Cupertino sent us instead a press release with details of the 7th-gen iPad mini… and nothing else.

Following a three-year silence, Apple has finally unveiled its seventh-generation iPad mini. While the new tablet doesn’t hold many surprises, it’s a welcome update for those folks who have been waiting for a more modern version of Apple’s smallest iPad.