Hasta La Gadget!

With the new design and new hardware of the iPad Air, we guess it makes more sense for older iPad users to upgrade to it, rather than upgrade from the iPad 3 to the iPad 4. The good news is that if you plan to get rid of your old iPad and perhaps use the money and get a new one, or perhaps something else entirely, Target has announced that they are accepting trade-ins for older iPads. All you’d have to do is head on over to Target’s trade-in website and locate a Target mobility store where you will bring in your iPad for appraisal. The value you get will depend on the condition it is in, but other than that you can look forward to a minimum of $200 in the form of a Target gift card.

The gift card can be used towards a new iPad which does shave the price off considerably, or like we said, if you have something else you’d rather get, you can always use the Target gift card towards something else in the store. Of course there are other places where you can get trade-ins for your old iPad, such as Gazelle and Nextworth, but if your local Target is more convenient, that’s always an option for you.

Target Offering $200 For Your Old iPad original content from Ubergizmo.

Apple has released its iPad Air, and while we don’t yet know how many it sold during opening weekend (it’s likely waiting to reveal launch numbers until the iPad mini with Retina display goes on sale), we do know that it seems to be enjoying strong adoption rates. The cost of building this latest iPad should help Apple’s product margins, too, if a teardown by analyst firm IHS iSuppli (via AllThingsD) is any indication.

IHS regularly makes a point of trying to backwards engineer the cost of building a brand-new Apple device by tearing them down and looking at what goes into one. This year, it estimates that Apple’s iPad Air runs between $274 and $361, for the $499 16GB Wi-Fi only model at the low end, and the $929 128GB Wi-Fi + LTE version at the top.

As usual, margins are higher the further up the chain you go, but what’s remarkable about this device is that it actually costs an estimated $40 or so less than the third-generation iPad did (IHS didn’t revise its figures for the fourth-generation iPad release) when it first launched, at every price point and model. That’s despite featuring a much more expensive display and touchscreen assembly that combines some layers to result in a a thinner overall package. Measurement for the touchscreen assembly is now at 1.8 mm, which is down from 2.23 mm on previous versions.

There are savings in other areas, however, since the display requires fewer LED units (36 vs. 84 before) to power the screen, and that’s mostly because apart from the screen, many of the components are held over from older versions. The A7 is actually cheaper than the A5 was back in March when the iPad 3 launched, and the cellular array used in the iPad covers all LTE frequencies in the U.S., which means cheaper manufacturing costs overall since it only needs to make one version.

Apple eking out more margin on the iPad Air could result in huge upside for it going into a busy holiday season, especially if numbers prove as strong as early evidence suggests they could be. The iPad mini, too, might enjoy a boost to profit for Apple, given that it also uses the A7 and appears to share a lot of componentry in common both with the full-sized iPad Air and with its predecessor.

Apple currently uses sapphire in its products, namely in the lens for its iOS cameras, and recently as a layer over its home button on the iPhone 5s to help prevent scratches. Based on patents and rumors, it has been suggested that Apple might have more use for sapphire in the future and now according to an announcement made by the Arizona Governor, Jan Brewer, it looks like those rumors might actually be true. Brewer has announced that Apple will be opening a manufacturing facility in Mesa, Arizona, which will handle advanced sapphire manufacturing.

According to Brewer, “Apple is indisputably one of the world’s most innovative companies and I’m thrilled to welcome them to Arizona […] Apple will have an incredibly positive economic impact for Arizona and its decision to locate here speaks volumes about the friendly, pro-business climate we have been creating these past four years. Their investment in renewable energy will also be greening our power grid, and creating significant new solar and geothermal power sources for the state.” This move is also in line with Tim Cook’s plan which is to bring back some of the company’s outsourced manufacturing jobs to the US, with this particular facility expected to bring at least 2,000 new jobs to the state of Arizona and the US.

Apple To Open Advanced Sapphire Manufacturing Facility In Arizona original content from Ubergizmo.

If you’ve been thinking of upgrading up a new iPad Air, or if your old iPad is just gathering dust, Target is offering a rare opportunity to get decent trade-in value for ancient hardware.

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Apple has long been rumored to be working on an iPad with a larger display, certainly larger than the 9.7 display size it has kept constant ever since the original iPad was launched back in 2010. The company obviously hasn’t even dropped a hint about this change and when exactly might it take place. Over the past few months we have heard rumors that Apple is testing a 12.9 inch iPad, one that’s likely to be released next year. A recent report suggests that the tablet has now entered testing phase at Foxconn, and that its expected as early as March 2014.

A grain of salt if definitely advised with this rumor, seeing as how we have yet to see any definitive proof of such a tablet being worked on. We saw a number of iPad Air components and casings leak before its official announcement, and quite a lot of those leaked parts turned out to be real. Perhaps we might start to see some parts of the rumored 12.9 inch iPad as well, maybe then one can form a notion that Apple is likely to release such an iPad. For now, it seems that the company might simply be experimenting with a number of display sizes for its popular tablet, experiments that in no way change the display size of the iPad it releases next year.

12.9 Inch iPad Reportedly Enters Testing Phase At Foxconn original content from Ubergizmo.