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nagromme

macrumors G5
May 2, 2002
12,546
1,196
I'm liking the mockups better than the iLounge description! Still enough side margin to rest a thumb and grip one-handed without frequent mistaken touches. Hope it's real. Looks like it... but then again it's also an obvious guess to make, if someone were to do a fake.

I don't like white (neat at first glance, but it reflects light and makes the screen seem dimmer). And I do not like the monotonous all-black scheme of the iPad Mini and iPhone 5. But for some reason, the all-black makes a Smart Cover look great to me. Red especially.


This looks really really good. However, it also means that there is not going to be a retina Mini.

There's no way Apple would do both an iPad 5 and a Mini that are so similar, the Mini being the low-end cheaper model, while having much higher DPI than the premium iPad 5. Not going to happen.

Consumers don't care about DPI numbers. Developers don't either: they care that the pixel dimensions (be they 1x or 2x) are the same. The iPhone and iPod Touch already have the same DPI as a retina Mini would, and yes, it's higher than an iPad, but they all look awesome. They all have a DPI appropriate to viewing distance. If the iPod Touch can have higher DPI than an iPad, then why can't a Mini (when cost/power/performance allow)?

So you may be certain Apple WILL offer a retina Mini, and that it WILL of necessity have higher DPI (but same pixel count) as the larger iPad. I tend to think it won't happen until next year, and it when it does happen, I expect a non-retina Mini to hang around on the low-end. (In fact, I think the Mini's current pricing was designed specifically to help retina happen... and then a non-retina Mini would be cheaper than any current Mini. Spring 2014? I'd love it sooner of course...)
 
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GreatDrok

macrumors 6502a
May 1, 2006
561
22
New Zealand
This looks really really good. However, it also means that there is not going to be a retina Mini.

There's no way Apple would do both an iPad 5 and a Mini that are so similar, the Mini being the low-end cheaper model, while having much higher DPI than the premium iPad 5. Not going to happen.

My thoughts exactly - insufficient space for the battery to handle a retina display in the mini so why not drop the 2 and just have the mini without retina and the 5 with it for a nice simple product choice? The mini looks crisper than the iPad 2 despite the same resolution and costs less. They can work on getting the power requirements down in a more leisurely fashion and put retina in the mini when it won't be super hot with short battery life.
 

nagromme

macrumors G5
May 2, 2002
12,546
1,196
Wanted to do my own math since the front page mockups varied so widely (in total height and bezel size).

I think the comparison mockup at Forbes looks right: same top/bottom bezel as the mini.

I calculate the alleged new shell to be 6.51” x 9.26”, so now .24" shorter and .8" narrower than the current model. (Just a best estimate.)

Or to image it as you hold a current iPad: shave 1/8" off the top and the bottom, and make the side margins less than half what they are now.

Based on that, my attached image is the current iPad, seen at exactly 100 pixels per inch. I've masked out the size of the new one leaving the screen unchanged. (Didn't bother rounding the corners or moving the home button--I just wanted to see the dimensions.)

Also, my image clearly shows the light-silver border that sometimes gets lost against a white background (which would make the current iPad seem smaller than it is). The next iPad presumably will have a black edge like the mini.

Assuming these dimensions and the same thickness as the mini, the current iPad is 52% larger by volume than this alleged next one. Maybe that's wishful thinking: the mini at .28" is WAY thinner than the .37" iPad. Those images make the next iPad look very close to that, though!

(PS I like the visual brand consistency you'd get from this: the iPhone, iPod, iPad and Mini would all have larger top/bottom bezels than side bezels. I've also always liked that the iPad treats portrait as the normal orientation! Best leverage for holding it in your hand, most similar to a book. Android devices don't seem to understand that goal.)
 

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rtr1985

macrumors 6502a
Sep 17, 2012
502
177
No way. Not a phone. For many people as well as practical applications, size matters. You'll just see varying sizes and implementations of the tablet concept.

Using Steve Jobs' analogy, I see it like this (roughly):
Desktops = trucks
Laptops = cars/crossovers (CR-V, etc)
Tablets = sub-compact cars, motorcycles, bikes
Smartphones = motorcycles, bikes (1-person vehicle)

Each has a useful application, but may not necessarily obviate the other.

The tablet is here to stay, until holographic displays beamed directly into your eye from a lapel-sized computer comes along. :p


iPhone is a small tablet. I basically said a powerful tablet will become your main computer that can run other devices. AirPlay is already blurring these lines. And, you size queens can have whatever number of different sized screens and tablets you want.
 
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Brien

macrumors 68040
Aug 11, 2008
3,665
1,282
I have some reservations about the thin bezel from usability perspective that will have to be put to rest once the device is out, but it sure looks great! Assuming it will be good deal lighter and maintain similar battery life, my iPad 4 will feel pretty abandoned as soon as the new one comes out!

Now all we are missing is the 4.5 - 5" version of the same design. Bring on the phablet Apple! That would be one sexy iOS family.

Man, I hope so. It'd really make sense, especially if they're killing off the 4/4S in lieu of the cheaper iPhone. That way they would cover the range in 2" increments:
4" iPhone, 6" phablet, 8" iPad Mini, 10" iPad.

I'm crossing my fingers that they'll offer a bigger phone someday - got to play with a Note 2, it's awesome.

----------

I want to know if this opens the door for a Black MacBook Pro/Air

I was thinking that too - if they can get the scratching issues taken care of, I could see them offering them in black. Up until last year they never anodized anything except the shuffle/nano/classic.
 

nagromme

macrumors G5
May 2, 2002
12,546
1,196
If this is the next iPad, and if it's exactly as thin as the mini (too good to be true?) then the Nexus 7 (with a screen an inch smaller than a mini) is about 90% of the volume of the next full-size iPad!

15.11 cu. in. for the Nexus, about 16.88 cu. in. for this new iPad.
 

MattInOz

macrumors 68030
Jan 19, 2006
2,760
0
Sydney
Consumers don't care about DPI numbers. Developers don't either: they care that the pixel dimensions (be they 1x or 2x) are the same. The iPhone and iPod Touch already have the same DPI as a retina Mini would, and yes, it's higher than an iPad, but they all look awesome. They all have a DPI appropriate to viewing distance. If the iPod Touch can have higher DPI than an iPad, then why can't a Mini (when cost/power/performance allow)?

Well AutoLayout will have been in developers hands for at least 12months before this is released. Expecting iOS7 to have more carrots for developers to more over to using it (yes and iron out some bugs). I wouldn't be surprised to see them also use an iPad 9.7 maybe plus a bit update with 326dpi screen as a big stick.
 

Aidan5806

macrumors 6502
Feb 20, 2012
312
0
What kind of guarantee do you offer? How can you know for sure what Apple is going to do with it?

While I can't guarantee apple will go through with this design, I can promise you that the casing presented in the image is of the same material that the ipad mini right next to it is also made of.
 

nagromme

macrumors G5
May 2, 2002
12,546
1,196
It occurs to me that for those who use a keyboard case or a Surface-style keyboard screen-cover (there are are several for iPad), it's for the best that the top/bottom not shrink too much: that would mean smaller physical keys or else a case significantly wider than the device (which would not be as appealing a product).
 

SandboxGeneral

Moderator emeritus
Sep 8, 2010
26,482
10,051
Detroit
While I can't guarantee apple will go through with this design, I can promise you that the casing presented in the image is of the same material that the ipad mini right next to it is also made of.

I think that unless you work on the iPad development team, you cannot in good faith make guarantees or promises on what the backing of the iPad will or will not be made of.

Now rather had you said "I think" the backing will not be a non-slip one and instead be like the iPad Mini, it would be a completely different conversation.

At this point, I give it a 50/50 chance of being non-slip or not. I have no idea what Apple plans for their products.
 

jv96

macrumors newbie
Sep 1, 2010
3
0
Actually, they showed two versions, one with RGB and one without.

If you buy one and it doesn't have a big big sign saying "RGB with real colours!!! For the very first time in any tablet (made by Samsung)", then it's Pentile.

Only amoled displays have a pentile. The nexus 10 has a RGB display. It's not Amoled.
 
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WLS

macrumors 65816
Jul 10, 2008
1,288
109
This looks really really good. However, it also means that there is not going to be a retina Mini.

There's no way Apple would do both an iPad 5 and a Mini that are so similar, the Mini being the low-end cheaper model, while having much higher DPI than the premium iPad 5. Not going to happen.

Agree. The big news is going to be the redesign of the full size iPad. It doesn't leave much for the mini to change except to go to an in cell display and an even thinner design. I can't see a retina version this year either, especially since the new iPad will be dimensionally smaller on all sides and lighter it seems an easier choice for those who want retina to just go with that.
 

Aidan5806

macrumors 6502
Feb 20, 2012
312
0
I think that unless you work on the iPad development team, you cannot in good faith make guarantees or promises on what the backing of the iPad will or will not be made of.

Now rather had you said "I think" the backing will not be a non-slip one and instead be like the iPad Mini, it would be a completely different conversation.

At this point, I give it a 50/50 chance of being non-slip or not. I have no idea what Apple plans for their products.

I'm not promising what it will or won't be. I am only referring to this image, simply because the similarity is blatantly obvious.
 

rhaezorblue

macrumors 6502
Sep 18, 2012
426
328
So I seem to recall part leaks around this time in 2012 before the iPad 3 was released in March. I am really hoping this points to a March 2013 release. Here's hoping. Already have a buyer lined up for my iPad 3 :)
 

Teste

macrumors 6502
Jan 8, 2011
353
5
I would actually like a slightly bigger iPad. Not the coffee-table like monstrosity with 27 inches, but rather a slightly bigger screen so the iPad is actually the size of a paper notebook. We already have suitcases, bags and many other accessories suited to carry paper notebooks, a slightly bigger iPad with a very similar size would be compatible with all of those, as well as familiar to anyone who has ever used a notebook to take notes. It also wouldn't be MUCH heavier than a hardcover notebook.
 

jca666us

macrumors regular
Jan 5, 2005
182
16
Perhaps

Yea I'm thinking early April and it will have a new smaller die version of the A6X which will be smaller and more power efficient. From what I can tell the only thing holding it up is that new thinner screen.
The "new" 128 gig iPad being released now just makes me think they are going to use up iPad4 parts inventory at the factory in anticipation of moving onto a new model.

A smaller die alone wouldn't enable them to cut the battery that much (I'm guessing by the physical dimensions of the mockup).

The real power hog is the display; moving to an IGZO display will cut the power consumption down by a ridiculous amount.

So much so, combine IGZO with a possible die shrink and improved battery technology - I predict we'll see an iPad 5 with 16 hours of battery life.

Read more: http://www.semiconportal.com/en/archive/news/main-news/120420-sharp-igzo-tech.html
 
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