Tablet buyer's guide: New iPads, Surface and Lumia

Apple isn't the only company to make big announcements this week. Microsoft, refusing to surrender to the iPad, introduced its new Surface 2 and Surface 2 Pro, and Nokia, soon to be under Microsoft, made some noise with the Lumia 2520. Here's a roundup of the newest tablets headed to the market:

Apple's iPad Air

As expected, the new 9.7-inch iPad is thinner and lighter than earlier models, and comes in space gray and silver (what, no gold?). Although it doesn't boast the champagne hue of the iPhone 5s, it does sport the same A7 processing chip and M7 coprocessor. Also missing is the fingerprint sensor rumored to be included with the new iPad. It starts at $499 for a 16GB, Wi-Fi only model. Interestingly, Apple is keeping the iPad 2 around, selling that for $399. It will be available Nov. 1.

FIRST TAKE: iPad Air steals show with familiar feel

Apple's iPad Mini with Retina display

Apple's smaller tablet gets a big screen boost with the addition of a Retina display. The 7.9-inch device features 2048 x 1536 resolution and the A7 chip, along with 10 hours of battery life. It starts at $399 and will be available later in November, with the original iPad Mini to be available at $299.

STORY: 5 key announcements from Apple's iPad event

Nokia's Lumia 2520

Nokia's connected Windows tablet — it is LTE-capable along with Wi-Fi — is called the Lumia 2520. It sports a 10.1-inch HD display, a 6.7 megapixel camera, and Zeiss optics that Nokia says is a first for a tablet, promising excellent pictures even when shot in low light. Nokia claims the 2520 can reach an 80% charge in one hour and says its integrated HERE Maps app makes the 2520 the only tablet with true offline maps. U.S. availability comes later in the year on AT&T, at an expected price of $499. Verizon also has confirmed it will be carrying the 2520 this quarter.

Microsoft Surface 2

Surface 2 runs Windows RT 8.1 and ranges from $449 to $549. The latest hardware sports amped up processing power, longer battery life, improved cameras, and a step up in screen quality to a 10.6-inch Full HD 1080p multi-touch display. Surface 2 also gets a single USB 3.0 port — it was a 2.0 port last time. At 1.5 pounds, it's a shade thinner and lighter than its predecessor. The biggest cosmetic change is that Surface 2 now comes in an Apple-like magnesium silver color compared to the dark titanium hue of the original.

Microsoft Surface Pro 2 

The 2-pound Pro 2, pretty heavy and bulky for a tablet, weighs the same and is practically a dead ringer for the first Pro. It runs Windows 8.1 Pro and fetches between $899 and $1,799. If you're going to splurge on the pricier Pro model, which can handle older software but doesn't deliver as long a battery, you're not only comparing Surface Pro to other tablets, but to a wide range of excellent laptops, a comparison Surface Pro is not always going to win.

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The key to an energy-efficient future: USB everywhere

We already use USB cords to charge smartphones and tablets but they could soon let us charge more high-powered devices as well. The Economist has written a lengthy report about the potential of USB cables to deliver an energy-efficient alternative to standard power cords once the new USB Power Delivery (PD) standard is ready for primetime next year. USB PD will give USB cables a major power boost of up to 100 watts and will let users power their laptops, low-voltage LED lightbulbs and even some desktop computers.

What makes USB PD such a potential game-changer, writes The Economist, is that it can “carry direct current and also data,” meaning that it “can help set priorities between devices that are providing power and those that are consuming it,” which should go a long way toward consuming power more efficiently. The first USB PD devices are expected to trickle into the market in 2014, although the technology likely won’t be widely adopted in consumer electronics until 2015.

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Apple's new iPad mini: How much better is it than last year's model?

On Tuesday, Apple announced the updates to this year's iPad mini. The biggest spec upgrades for the mini are the new Retina display on the 7.9 inch display and the new A7 64-bit processor, bringing both up to the level of the iPhone 5s and new iPad Air.

Apple now has an iOS device in each size category that runs its 64-bit version of iOS 7, something pundits think may be important in future app or software development.

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A member of the media holds the new iPad mini with Retnia display during an Apple event in San Francisco, California …

So, how much of an upgrade is the new iPad mini over its predecessor? Besides the better screen and better processor, the new mini packs most of the same hardware as last year's model. It's even a touch heavier and thicker.

The new iPad mini with Retina display will start at $399 (16 GB) and the original iPad mini will remain on sale, starting at $299 (16 GB).

Take a look at our chart below comparing the new iPad mini with last year's model.

Apple iPad mini comparison

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Apple's iPad mini (right) and iPad mini with Retina Display (left)

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What's New on the Apple MacBook Pro

As part of the many, many product announcementsmade during today's Apple event, Apple unveiled two new models in the MacBook pro lineup.

The 13- and 15-inch MacBook Pro laptops—now standard with Retina display—just got a high-octane refresh, with new hardware, a slew of software optimizations, and a price cut across the board.

All New Hardware
The MacBook Pro 13-inch is getting a hardware update, improving upon the MacBook Pro 13-inch (Retina Display) with fourth-generation Haswell Intel Core processors and more. Storage is shifting to PCIe based flash, bumping up the overall speed as much as 60 percent. Taking advantage of the improved efficiency of Intel's Haswell processors over the previous Ivy Bridge, battery life is also improved. Apple claims up to 9 hours of use, but when Apple promised similar battery life on the MacBook Air laptops last June, it actually lasted even longer in our tests.

The MacBook Pro 15-inch, which also now comes standard with Retina display like the previous Apple MacBook Pro 15-inch (Retina Display), features an Intel Core i7 quad-core processor utilizing Intel's Crystalwell architecture, paired with 8GB of RAM, and Intel's Iris Pro graphics—Intel's much touted gaming- and professional-grade integrated graphics. Where the 13-inch model comes standard with 128GB of flash storage, the 15-inch doubles it to 256GB.

Despite the new hardware and capability, the laptops are thinner and lighter. The MacBook Pro 13-inch has slimmed down to 0.71-inch thick and weighs 3.46 pounds. Both models of the MacBook Pro are getting the latest connectivity and ports, with Thunderbolt 2 and 802.11ac Wi-Fi. Thunderbolt 2 doubles the speed of Thunderbolt—which already outpaced USB 3.0 several times over.

Software, Too
OS X Mavericks also includes numerous tweaks and optimizations to squeeze even better performance out of the hardware. Improved power efficiency means that the battery life is stretched an hour or more, even compared to an identically equipped system. Memory gets a bump with new compression schemes and dynamic space allocation, which Apple claims can fit "6GB of data onto 4GB of RAM."

Graphics also get a boost, with Intel's Iris and Iris Pro integrated graphics. Dynamic graphics memory allocation also offers better and more flexible performance than the static memory allocation used in the past. Switching to OpenCL takes advantage of this extra graphics hardware even for non-visual tasks, using the hardware for parallel computing. Apple claims that with OpenCL acceleration, you'll see 1.8x increases in performance for most tasks, and up to 2x for imaging tasks.

And last, but not least, all new Macs will now come with all of the iLife (including iPhoto, iMovie, and GarageBand) and iWork (including Pages, Numbers, and Keynote) apps for free.

What's Gone
What isn't in the new MacBook Pro? The optical drive—which had already been dropped from the Retina-equipped models—is nowhere to be found. If you still have software and media on CD or DVD, you'll need to pick up Apple USB SuperDrive.

And though all of the new MacBook Pro offerings come with Retina display, there is one hold out for standard 720p - the 13-inch MacBook Pro with Ivy Bridge. Don't expect it to hang around much longer, with a new low price of $1,199, it looks like it's priced to sell out old inventory.

Pricing and Availability
The MacBook Pro 13-inch, now with Retina display, is available today starting at $1,299 with a 2.4GHz Intel Core i5 Haswell processor, 4GB of RAM, Iris Graphics, and 128GB solid state drive. The MacBook Pro 15-inch, also with Retina, now starts at $1,999 with a fourth-generation Intel Core i7 quad-core 2.0GHz processor, 8GB of RAM, integrated Iris Pro graphics, and 256GB solid-state drive.

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How to Download OS X Mavericks for Free

Apple has officially released its latest operating system, OS X Mavericks for free. Mac users can install it immediately. Here's what you need to know and how to get it.

About MavericksMavericks is version 10.9 of Apple OS X. At first glance, it closely resembles the previous version,Mountain Lion, but comes with hundreds of small improvements that add up to a significantly upgraded operating system.

For example, you can now reply to an iMessage right from the notification of a new incoming message, rather than open up the iMessage app. Safari has similar improvements—new functions and features that let you stay in your current window while getting relevant information or related tasks done. More importantly for laptop users, Mavericks contains a number of improvements that extend battery life and improve memory. It's impressive to see these kinds of improvements at the software level.

Apple OS X 10.9 Mavericks (for Mac)

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Is Your Mac Compatible?In a nutshell, your Mac is likely compatible if you are running Snow Leopard (OS X 10.6 ) or later. Here's Apple's list of compatible machines:

• iMac (mid 2007 or newer)
• MacBook (late 2008 aluminum, or early 2009 or newer)
• MacBook Pro (mid/late 2007 or newer)
• MacBook Air (late 2008 or newer)
• Mac mini (early 2009 or newer)
• Mac Pro (early 2008 or newer)
• Xserve (early 2009)

From Snow Leopard, Lion, and Mountain Lion, you'll be able to upgrade to Mavericks in one click—no stepped upgrading required.

If you have an iMac or MacBook Pro from 2007 or later, you should be fine, although people with older machines may want to first clean up and optimize their machines slightly, especially if they've become sluggish over the years. I recommend running a cleanup utility, such as CCleaner, which is free and what I use at home. You might also verify or repair the disk (Applications > Utilities > Disk Utilities). And finally, though this may seem like rudimentary advice, transfer huge files (videos, very large photos and PDFs) to an external hard drive or another place to get them off your Mac.

Before You Download...Before you install a whole new operating system, take a few minutes to prepare so that your update will go smoothly.

Save, Quit, Backup. Save any work you have open, and then quit the applications you were using. Backup your data. Please. Really? Okay, if I can't convince you to back up your entire machine, how about just backing up your most important data?

Update (or Remove) Apps. Check for app updates, and run the ones you need exceptMavericks for now. These updates will appear in the Mac App Store. Even better, if you see any programs in the updates list that you don't use any more, uninstall them. It's more efficient to do a little clean up before you install the new OS than after.

Install Apple OS X MavericksGo back to the App Store icon, and now install Mavericks. Don't futz around with your machine while it's updating. On the first day of release, it will probably take more time to update the operating system than if you wait a day, due to the crush of other users trying to update, too.

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