This isn't really surprising considering Apple is around a YEAR behind even its own targeted release schedule for rolling out new technology, never mind falling behind the rest of competition.
People forget that Apple initially wanted to release iPhone 5 in October of 2011. Yield issues involving the 4" Retina Display among other problems caused Apple to delay the iPhone 5 release and introduce the iPhone 4S instead.
Releasing the iPhone 5S in March/April 2013 gives Apple an opportunity get back on track to its own targeted schedule and release iPhone 6 in October 2013.
iPhone 5S will use the rest of the 4" Retina Display inventory while iPhone 6 will introduce a new 5" screen and adopt the CinemaScope aspect ratio of 2.35:1.
Though the iPhone 6 will share the same 4.87" x 2.3" height and width dimensions of iPhone 5, it will feature a reduction of the bezel thickness on the top and bottom of the phone, allowing for the extension of the screen.
The "Home" bottom will be designed and re-sized to accommodate this change.
The iPad Mini 2 will be launched at the same time with a "Retina Display" of 1536x1152 with 245 PPI, A6 chip and 1GB RAM. Keep in mind that it WON'T have the full-sized iPad's resolution of 2048x1536. That is being saved for iPad Mini 3 to be released in 2014.
Note the "quick" turnaround for releasing iPad Mini 2 in March/April 2013 serves two purposes.
One, it allows Apple to not only catch up, but SURPASS its competitors in display supremacy for the 7" tablet class. Note that the iPad Mini 2's 245 PPI will be the highest offered, taking the crown away from the NOOK HD which has a 1440x900 screen and 243 PPI.
If Apple waited until November 2013 to release the Retina version of the iPad Mini, the product line would have fallen behind its competitors for more than a YEAR, and would have been TWO generations behind the competition when the second generation of Nexus 7 was released in summer 2013.
Secondly, Apple wants to separate the release schedules of the iPad Mini and the full-sized iPad. Keeping the release dates for both products the same will invariably increase the cannibalization of the two product lines.
By separating the launch dates by six months, Apple will be able to increase the tempo of planned obsolescence in the iPad lines without obliquely doing so like when it released iPad 4 just seven months after iPad 3.
While the iPad Mini will never exceed the CPU and processing capabilities of the full-sized iPad, Apple could give it advantages elsewhere, like the stereo speakers found in the Mini that's not available in any model of the full-sized iPad.
It will also allow Apple to respond quicker to new developments in technology, where a six month product refresh allows it to maintain a competitive edge as opposed to an annual update, which leaves its products vulnerable of being made obsolete by its competition for nine months out of that year.
People forget that Apple initially wanted to release iPhone 5 in October of 2011. Yield issues involving the 4" Retina Display among other problems caused Apple to delay the iPhone 5 release and introduce the iPhone 4S instead.
Releasing the iPhone 5S in March/April 2013 gives Apple an opportunity get back on track to its own targeted schedule and release iPhone 6 in October 2013.
iPhone 5S will use the rest of the 4" Retina Display inventory while iPhone 6 will introduce a new 5" screen and adopt the CinemaScope aspect ratio of 2.35:1.
Though the iPhone 6 will share the same 4.87" x 2.3" height and width dimensions of iPhone 5, it will feature a reduction of the bezel thickness on the top and bottom of the phone, allowing for the extension of the screen.
The "Home" bottom will be designed and re-sized to accommodate this change.
The iPad Mini 2 will be launched at the same time with a "Retina Display" of 1536x1152 with 245 PPI, A6 chip and 1GB RAM. Keep in mind that it WON'T have the full-sized iPad's resolution of 2048x1536. That is being saved for iPad Mini 3 to be released in 2014.
Note the "quick" turnaround for releasing iPad Mini 2 in March/April 2013 serves two purposes.
One, it allows Apple to not only catch up, but SURPASS its competitors in display supremacy for the 7" tablet class. Note that the iPad Mini 2's 245 PPI will be the highest offered, taking the crown away from the NOOK HD which has a 1440x900 screen and 243 PPI.
If Apple waited until November 2013 to release the Retina version of the iPad Mini, the product line would have fallen behind its competitors for more than a YEAR, and would have been TWO generations behind the competition when the second generation of Nexus 7 was released in summer 2013.
Secondly, Apple wants to separate the release schedules of the iPad Mini and the full-sized iPad. Keeping the release dates for both products the same will invariably increase the cannibalization of the two product lines.
By separating the launch dates by six months, Apple will be able to increase the tempo of planned obsolescence in the iPad lines without obliquely doing so like when it released iPad 4 just seven months after iPad 3.
While the iPad Mini will never exceed the CPU and processing capabilities of the full-sized iPad, Apple could give it advantages elsewhere, like the stereo speakers found in the Mini that's not available in any model of the full-sized iPad.
It will also allow Apple to respond quicker to new developments in technology, where a six month product refresh allows it to maintain a competitive edge as opposed to an annual update, which leaves its products vulnerable of being made obsolete by its competition for nine months out of that year.