I was in the Apple Store Exeter on Sunday morning and listening to various people deciding whether to buy an iPad Air or iPad Mini with Retina Display.

They were using the current iPads as a gauge to try and decide which new iPad to buy. If you recall the new iPads are identical in feature set and specification from cameras, screens and processors. So these potential customers asked the Apple staff for some guidance.

Now forget for one moment if you are a geek, how would you differentiate the difference? How would you sell the differences? So after showing the screen sharpness it was difficult even with the current iPad Mini to really show any major difference with the full size iPad. In fact due to the better whiteness and backlight, the Mini screen looked better. So at the end of the day the only thing that mattered was physical size of the iPad. Everything else was irrelevant to an average person. And as the physical size of the Air would be slightly smaller, this makes this task even harder. The Apple staff couldn’t really give any major reasons to pick one over the over. They just said you have a 14 day return period if you are unhappy with it.

The final decision by these average buyers was to go for the Air. The larger size screen would make viewing and typing on the screen a little easier. And that was all that counted in the end.

Apple announced a new iPad Air and iPad Mini Retina. But prior to the announcement there were many rumours of the features one might expect from these new iPads. So what didn’t make the cut?

The obvious omission was TouchID as featured on the iPhone 5S. To be honest a fingerprint scanner on the home button may not have been as natural to use as it is on a phone. But nonetheless it was missing.

Colours. Unlike the iPhone 5C which is available in many colours there were no new finishes. In fact what happened to a gold iPad. I wonder how people who bought a gold iPhone feel now, hoping they would get a gold iPad too? Have you been affected by this?

I do have a gold 5S and therefore won’t be able to have a matching finish of the new iPads.

Cameras. The new iPhones have 8mp cameras. The new iPads only have 5mp.

These are the most obvious omissions. Do you feel anything else should have been included?

I do think with all the software Apple is providing with iOS 7 and new devices the combined hardware and software experience will be unrivalled.

Apple has made it know to All Things Digital, that it will hold an event on 22nd October announce the new updated iPads. There will also be a slot for the new Mac Pro and OS X Mavericks.

The fifth generation iPad is expected to feature a thinner, lighter design akin to the iPad mini’s, and run Apple’s new 64-bit A7 chip. The fifth generation iPad is expected to feature a thinner, lighter design akin to the iPad mini’s and an improved camera. It will run Apple’s new 64-bit A7 chip. The second-generation iPad mini will be upgraded with a retina display and also see the A7 incorporated into its innards.