Apple’s iPad Air will be gracing South African shores by the end of next week according to an announcement from the company’s local distributor, Core Group.

The tablet has been priced in advance of the release next week and the Air will be starting at a recommended retail price of R6,000 for the base 16GB model of Apple’s tablet. The 32GB, 64GB and 128GB models of the WiFi-only Air will cost R7,400, R8,700 and R10,000 respectively.

The WiFi+3G edition of Apple’s new Air tablet starts at R7,800 for 16GB, scaling up to R9000 for the 32GB Air and R10,000 and R11,500 for the 64GB and 128GB models respectively.

Core’s executive director Rutger-Jan van Spaandonk said in the announcement statement “We are thrilled to announce the launch of iPad Air in South Africa. iPad created an entirely new mobile computing experience, and the new iPad Air is another big leap ahead. Once you hold one in your hand you will understand what a tremendous advancement this is.”

Core hasn’t issued details of the iPad mini with Retina display just yet, that one is still on our waiting list.