Apple Introduces New 7.9-Inch iPad Mini Starting at $329

[Tigger11]

Originally Posted by kas23

But instead of making a real premium product, Apple laid an egg for a lower price. I see this as Apple's first foray into the garbage territory previous only occupied by the likes of Asus, HP, Acer, and Dell.

They are selling a product that will clear 10 million units or so this quarter, like the iPhone 4s, iPhone 5 & iPad 2 (all of which people claimed on here would not sell well) it will be a big hit. Making the price cheaper then the iPad 4 was important for the mini to be successful, the only way to make it Retina at this point would have been to increase the cost, lower the availability and lower quality, that is how you would have them make a premium product?

[Tigger11]

Originally Posted by vartanarsen

Who in their right mind would now buy a Touch when they can buy this for $30 more?
I thinks this mini effectively has killed the Touch

You and several of the other members of the secret pricing cabal think that. Every time Apple comes out with a new/modified product the iPod Touch has a bunch of obits written about it, and then low and behold they continue selling millions of units every month, and for the last year that has been without an upgrade. As much as I like the mini (and may get one), it can't fit in my front shirt pocket like an iPod touch, or strap it on my arm for a run. I seldom play games on it anymore or use alot of apps on it because my cells 4G gets me info anywhere and at work or at home the iPad on wifi is much easier to use, but it is still a good product, though honestly at this point we should have done the memory shift by now on it (32, 64 & 128) and on the iPad as well.

[The Economist]

Originally Posted by ncaissie

I would if they held back on my model just to release the new one in less than 6 months. People who purchased the ipad 3 in the past month were not expecting a new ipad for another 6 months.
It's common sense fanboy.

Common sense? You don't have common sense. Keep moaning all you want about it.

[kas23]

Originally Posted by Tigger11

They are selling a product that will clear 10 million units or so this quarter, like the iPhone 4s, iPhone 5 & iPad 2 (all of which people claimed on here would not sell well) it will be a big hit. Making the price cheaper then the iPad 4 was important for the mini to be successful, the only way to make it Retina at this point would have been to increase the cost, lower the availability and lower quality, that is how you would have them make a premium product?

Why would adding in a Retina Display "lower the availability and lower the quality". That makes no sense. There are plenty of RDs for the iPads and iPhones, I don't see how this would have lowered the availability. As for lowering the "quality", I just don't understand how you came up with that.

Don't get me wrong, they will sell billions of these. The average iDevice customer has no idea what a Retina Display is, nor do they care what specs it has. Specs, or even features, are not the driving force behind Apple's sales. People just want to buy an iPad because its an iPad. I just think they could have sold just as many if they raised the price a bit and included a Retina Display.

[ncaissie]

Originally Posted by The Economist

Common sense? You don't have common sense. Keep moaning all you want about it.

LOL Ok

[Tigger11]

Originally Posted by kas23

Why would adding in a Retina Display "lower the availability and lower the quality". That makes no sense. There are plenty of RDs for the iPads and iPhones, I don't see how this would have lowered the availability. As for lowering the "quality", I just don't understand how you came up with that.

It makes complete sense I promise, there is an article just up on macrumors now that points to a digitimes article thats talking about how the low screen yields are now for the Ipad Mini. We know from both the iPhone 4 transition and the iPad 3 transition that moving to a retina screen has decreased yields of screens substantially. Todays quarterly report says parts constraints (and most of us believe that means screens) is an issue with shipping as many iPhone 5's as they need. So a move to retina we know reduces yield of screens, a reduction in yield of screens means fewer are available and that means Apple can make fewer devices and thus fewer are available. Lower yield in most cases also leads to more partially working parts, parts that may pass incoming and even outgoing QC, but which will fail or provide inadequate performance when delivered to a customer, this is the lowering of quality I am talking about, these are the units returned for lots of pixels not working, for poor color, bad back lighting etc.

[brimoon]

i'm not sure I understand why everybody is fussing about price and spec differences between the iPad Mini and the Kindle/Nexus/Nook 7" tablets. I don't think the spec differences (fewer PPI, slower processor) are significant, particularly considering with the Mini you are getting a bigger screen and a lighter weight device of high build quality. Mainly, however, the price premium is worth it to me because it runs iOS, a terrific mobile OS, and the many thousands of high quality tablet-specific apps available for the Mini.

[kylebshr]

Originally Posted by milo

Looks like a great unit but I can see that price keeping sales down. I'm sure they'd be making a decent profit even at $249 (or somewhere inbetween like 279). Especially when the $199 kindle has higher resolution, it's weird to see Apple introduce a product with lower resolution and ppi than what's already available.

Actually, the mini has the lowest profit margin of any Apple product. They would've done $299 if they could have.

[milo]

Originally Posted by kylebshr

Actually, the mini has the lowest profit margin of any Apple product.

Maybe, maybe not, we'll see when these get out and get the tear down treatment. Based on what we know, I certainly wouldn't be surprised if Apple came up with a design that was unnecessarily expensive for them to build, with extra costs that provide little discernible benefit to the user.

[blimey48]

Originally Posted by nutjob

You have to touch a product to criticize it's specifications? Apple apologists will go to any length...

no you don't have to hold it to criticize specs...but as with almost all apple products, it isn't just about specs. its about how it feels, and how it draws you to use it. and yea, i'm an apple fan...THATS WHY IM HERE

[nutjob]

Originally Posted by blimey48

no you don't have to hold it to criticize specs...but as with almost all apple products, it isn't just about specs. its about how it feels, and how it draws you to use it. and yea, i'm an apple fan...THATS WHY IM HERE

Actually, what you mean is that you're an Apple apologist. Using "intangibles" to make up for a weak product is a common strategy. But keep in mind that only Apple apologists believe that bunkum, no-one else does. Also, we're comparing it to other Apple products too, so even if it were true it would be a moot point.

As for "that's why I'm here": you don't have any sort of claim to the place because you like to apologize for Apple's failings. Everyone is welcome here, even people who try to discriminate against others because they don't share their beliefs about how great an Apple product is. I call it "Apple Apartheid".

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Originally Posted by kylebshr

Actually, the mini has the lowest profit margin of any Apple product. They would've done $299 if they could have.

What are you basing that on?

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Originally Posted by The Economist

Common sense? You don't have common sense. Keep moaning all you want about it.

Wow, you make such a convincing argument. Now attack me for pointing out that alienating your customers is not a good marketing strategy.

[Johnchapin]

Originally Posted by JHankwitz

The iPhone 4 & 5 displays are far more readable then the iPand mini. Bend your elbow a bit and bring it closer to your nose. Like magic, it looks bigger!

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Looks like someone has some vision problems.

As you get older, muscles that focus your eyes lose their flexibiltiy. That's why you see us older folk with bifocals, trifocals, etc. So moving the phone closer makes it blurry. My elbow still bends, thank you, but probably that goes next

[Yvan256]

Originally Posted by kas23

Actually, I don't think I would have cared if they were the same price as the full-sized iPad. It all has to do with preference. Some people, like myself would prefer to have a smaller, lighter iPad. For me, smaller is better. Easier portability and use while lying down.

Just because its smaller shouldn't mean it's cheaper or less valuable. Look at the iPhone. It's more expensive than the new full-sized iPad. Nobody complains. An extra large jacket sells for the same price as a size small.

But instead of making a real premium product, Apple laid an egg for a lower price. I see this as Apple's first foray into the garbage territory previous only occupied by the likes of Asus, HP, Acer, and Dell.

The iPod shuffle is 50$CAD and I don't think it's a garbage product. In fact it's the iPod I use the most.

Apple does have a lower price for the iPad mini, however it's nowhere near the other tablets. The real competitors for the Asus, Samsung and other 200$CAD+ Android tablets are the ~100$CAD Android tablets from Coby, Polaroid and others.

[Pilgrim1099]

Originally Posted by iGrip

What sort of a person goes to a Fansite when they hate the products and the people so much? Don't you have anything better to do? Is your life totally and completely void of joy and purpose?

I mean ... really. There are absolutely no Apple fans who go to Android sights to tell everybody just how much Android sucks. We just want to come here to enjoy how awesome Apple stuff is and to talk with cool people.

But no - you can't be content with your smelly loser Fandroid friends. You have a bizarre compulsion to come here and complain about our character in a personal and insulting manner.

Do you go to people's living rooms and take a dump in the middle of the floor?Do you go to the latest great movie and scream about how everybody there is a moron if they think that Adam Sandler is the funniest thing ever? Probably you do, given how much you love anything that Apple DOESN'T make.

Either that, or you are just a paid shill from Google. The very thought makes me sick to my stomach.

How so little you know of me by your irrational rants.

One, I don't use Android.

Two, I never watch Adam Sandler movies.

Three, most of what Apple does is 'eye candy' BS. All form, less on function.

This is the problem with people who are so fixated with the iphone's form function as "purty". It's disgusting how Apple has to fixate on this beautification of their products without the 'meat'. Especially male Apple customers who have such an obsession with the iphone as a fashion accessory, even worse, who wear skinny jeans and colored belts straight out from the 80s (and I grew up in that era).

Very unmanly.

Is Apple a great company? It used to be. It had values. Now, it's a commodity and Wall Street's b---h. If you look carefully, Apple is pulling a "Starbucks" with its own cult-like jargon and attitude, almost as if they're copying the coffee giant with a mini product (Tall), Mid-range products (Grande), and Super sized/spec-d out systems (Venti). Starbucks lost its uniqueness with their espresso drinks over a decade ago when they went public and at the time, they used manual machines to make hand-made drinks as an art form.

Today, it's all automated and mechanized. Starbucks got too big for its own sake that when it expanded so fast about ten years ago, it bit them in the a$$ a few years later that Schultz had to step in and rein in the growth, making some calls here and there that some people did'nt agree with.

People buy Apple products as a 'status' symbol, the same way people did with Starbucks. And there are those that buy Apple products for productivity's sake for their profession, and also as a preference.

It's called branding with a psychological effect of 'belonging' to a certain group. Apple is NOT a religion. It's a business and it can BLEED and DIE. It's not a machine nor a god. It's operated by flesh and blood that is mortal.

[iGrip]

Originally Posted by Pilgrim1099

People buy Apple products as a 'status' symbol, the same way people did with Starbucks.

Says you.

[Pilgrim1099]

Originally Posted by iGrip

Says you.

It's the truth, iGrip. It's called marketing/branding. Get a GRIP on that reality and how corporates BRAINWASH you.

Suggestion: go READ 1984 by George Orwell, if you ain't OLD enough to know.

[LagunaSol]

Originally Posted by Pilgrim1099

It's the truth, iGrip. It's called marketing/branding. Get a GRIP on that reality and how corporates BRAINWASH you.

Suggestion: go READ 1984 by George Orwell, if you ain't OLD enough to know.

Enjoy your non-branded, non-marketed products, whatever they are.

[Lark.Landon]

Originally Posted by Pilgrim1099

It's the truth, iGrip. It's called marketing/branding. Get a GRIP on that reality and how corporates BRAINWASH you.

Suggestion: go READ 1984 by George Orwell, if you ain't OLD enough to know.

You are post #666

[Pilgrim1099]

Originally Posted by LagunaSol

Enjoy your non-branded, non-marketed products, whatever they are.

How's that falling Apple stock working out for you?

[LagunaSol]

Originally Posted by Pilgrim1099

How's that falling Apple stock working out for you?

Since I bought at $13 in 2000, it's working out just fine. Thanks for asking.

[Andreasen]

Originally Posted by MacRumors

Image


As rumored, Apple announced the new iPad mini at today's media event. The device features a 7.9-inch display with a resolution of 1024x768 pixels, measures just 7.2 millimeters thin and weighs 0.68 pounds.

Image

Internally, the iPad Mini has a dual-core A5 processor, a Facetime HD camera on the front and a 5-megapixel camera on the rear, 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi connectivity, and 4G LTE cellular connectivity in some models. Despite its smaller size, the iPad mini still offers up to 10 hours of battery life.With the same resolution as the iPad 2, all existing iPad apps that work on the older iPad 2 will work on the iPad mini without any need for developers to make modifications to their existing apps.

The iPad mini starts at $329 for the 16 GB Wi-Fi model, with the 32 GB Wi-Fi model priced at $429 and the 64 GB Wi-Fi model coming in at $529. The models with cellular capability cost an additional $130. All models are available in the same black/slate and white/silver color schemes seen on the iPhone 5.

Pre-orders for the iPad mini will start on Friday, October 26 with the Wi-Fi models shipping on November 2 and the cellular models starting to ship two weeks later.

Apple has also introduced new polyurethane iPad mini Smart Covers in six different colors, priced at $39 each. Apple also now has a full suite of Lightning adapters to support USB camera connections, SD cards and VGA or HDMI connectivity.

Article Link: Apple Introduces New 7.9-Inch iPad Mini Starting at $329

Just bought 2 iPad mini's when we was going to Orlando Florida and it was really nice to have on the 10 hours flight time!