'iPad Mini' Pricing to Begin at Approximately $329

gibbz said:

Not that Apple has been concerned playing a race to the bottom, but I remember prices on the original iPad were supposed to be approaching $999 and Apple was like, "BLAM, $499!".

Either that will happen again, or this thing might have a retina screen. Otherwise, they are conceding low-end of the 7" market.

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Apple fed that story to the Wall Street Journal.

Anyway, 8GB at any price was always a non-starter, especially since iPads have never had 8GB of RAM and now we have to deal with 1080p content and iPad apps with Retina artwork. You might have said that perhaps an 8GB model could exist for education, but iBooks textbooks are quite hefty, with many weighing in at 2-3GB each.

-.- # well that blows donkey dick, I was planning on getting one but if that's the 8gb wifi only they can keep it. Tax and all where I live it will end up being around 370$! I thought it was gonna be 250-300.. O well not really a tablet person anyway

may as well get an iPad for that money ... oh well guess ill have to tell my sis and mum to get an nexus 7 after all. especially if they even consider selling 8 GB in 2012 for that kind of money

I hope this is wrong

$249-$299 for 32Gb is the sweet spot with $199-$249 for 16Gb at the low end.
$329 for 16Gb is too high. I'm very interested in an iPad7 to replace my aging iPodTouch but at that price no.

Ugh

That's just too high. Comes into regular iPad pricing... if the $329 is true, then I think they blew it. $329 does NOT compete with $199, even if it's Apple.

It better damn well have retina at that cartoonish price.

I call BS

I though that $329 figure looked familiar.

http://www.zdnet.com/why-the-leaked-ipad-mini-prices-are-most-likely-wrong-7000005783/

Sounds a bit high (but we dont know the internals) but ibet they sell millions

I rather buy a new iPad 2 for $399.

that settles it .. nexus 7 it is ... they are going to be making a 32gb model for the same price as 16gb .... sorry apple.

I don't know if these prices and the rumored specs are true, but Apple can't really sell an iPad mini at the $200-250 range. That's too close to the KindleHD and Nexus7.

Apple needs to keep the premium image and if the iPad mini is sold at the same prices as the lower tiered competition, then people will equate the mini with the lower tier competition.

Apple needs to price it to balance the premium image and keep it affordable. I would have expected $300 for a 16GB model, perhaps using the A5x or something.

We'll see next week.

I wouldn't bother buying anything with only 8gb, but I'm sure the average consumer wouldn't know the difference. Basically, Apple could also get away with not even putting a retina display in there and wouldn't matter an ounce of a difference. The consumer who goes out shopping on Black Friday will not know the difference.

As for that price, I can't tell I'm surprised. I also can't tell if it will matter at the end of the day. Apple had made billions off of little brats begging their parents for anything with an Apple logo on it and it has worked.

To be honest I think we'll see a resolution of 1600 x 1200. That's slightly lower density than the retina display on the iPad 3 but it will be high enough resolution to compete with the Nexus 7.

What happened to 250€? At 330-350€ for 8GB iPad mini I don't see many buyers.

dagamer34 said:

Apple fed that story to the Wall Street Journal.

Anyway, 8GB at any price was always a non-starter, especially since iPads have never had 8GB of RAM and now we have to deal with 1080p content and iPad apps with Retina artwork. You might have said that perhaps an 8GB model could exist for education, but iBooks textbooks are quite hefty, with many weighing in at 2-3GB each.

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No doubt they fed that story. What's not to say that this $329 is manipulated as well. All Gurman says is that according to their sources it is likely to be priced there. They created the pricing matrix, so nothing official. Not that I think 9to5mac was fed anything from Apple, but what if Apple is misleading those who might leak? Yikes, I've devolved too far into lala-land.

I agree about 8GB. Where did that rumor start? 9to5mac doesn't mention it.

gbh1801 said:

I rather buy a new iPad 2 for $399.

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Even if the new one has 1gig ram and an a6?

nick_elt said:

Even if the new one has 1gig ram and an a6?

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Yeah, rather have a retina display. And having 1gb of ram and a6 does not justify its 329 price tag.

sasza said:

What happened to 250€? At 330-350€ for 8GB iPad mini I don't see many buyers.

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Where do people get the 8GB number? A poster wondered if it would be, but the story doesn't mention that.

On the other side iPod touch 32GB sells for 299$ so iPad mini 16GB cannot be cheaper

I'm not sure why people assume $329 is for 8GB.

Since there are 3 models, it should be 16/32/64GB, like the full size iPad and iPhone.

$329 for 16GB is a good price, slightly below what I expected ($349).

That's only $79 more than the equivalent Nexus 7 tablet, which has worse build quality and a considerably smaller screen.



Given Apple's solid tablet ecosystem, mindshare and possible cannibalization of their bigger iPad, they would have been crazy to sell this with minimal margin like Google does.

zombierunner said:

that settles it .. nexus 7 it is ... they are going to be making a 32gb model for the same price as 16gb .... sorry apple.

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Same here. I'll obviously wait to hear it from Apple, and for the Google announcement a few days later, but it seems a Nexus 7 will be the choice for me. I had the new iPad (32GB) and the 1st gen when it came out. I love the iPad, but my needs for it have changed and now I'd prefer something smaller. The Nexus 7 is perfectly good for what I need it for. If they were priced the same, I'd get the iPad mini just for the Apple ecosystem (I use Macs) and especially if it has Retina display. But no retina and more expensive that Nexus 7? Nah, I think I'll be getting my first ever Android device. Also, the rumours that the 32GB Nexus 7 will cost what the 16GB currently costs, and the 16GB will take the place of the 8GB swings it even more it their favour.

But you never know. Apple still have their chance to impress!

mrsir2009 said:

That's the same as the 16GB Nexus - Looks like there'll be competition

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Looks like the 16GB Nexus is dropping to $200 and the 32GB Nexus will be $250.

http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/19/3528014/nexus-7-32gb-available-staples

They should have taken the hit and priced it at $299, it's not a big difference but it would have made a huge difference in the mind of the customers

gibbz said:

Not that Apple has been concerned playing a race to the bottom, but I remember prices on the original iPad were supposed to be approaching $999 and Apple was like, "BLAM, $499!".

Either that will happen again, or this thing might have a retina screen. Otherwise, they are conceding low-end of the 7" market.

Click to expand...

I agree with this. Apple spreads false rumors so when they come out with a $249-299 price, people are blown away. It's the same with taxes. A government will float the idea with local news they need a 10% when in fact they need a 5% increase then compromise at what they really need. I think apple does the same.

I may have to make a tough decision now cause 329 is just out of what I wanted to spend, Chicago taxes are harsh. Might end up going with a cheap NetBook even.

gibbz said:

No doubt they fed that story. What's not to say that this $329 is manipulated as well. All Gurman says is that according to their sources it is likely to be priced there. They created the pricing matrix, so nothing official. Not that I think 9to5mac was fed anything from Apple, but what if Apple is misleading those who might leak? Yikes, I've devolved too far into lala-land.

I agree about 8GB. Where did that rumor start? 9to5mac doesn't mention it.

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Well they're pretty accurate with product numbers before unveilings, I'm leaning with them having accurate info on the price. I hope they're wrong though.