Next iPad Mini to Have Retina Display?

[hlfway2anywhere]

Originally Posted by Beezzy

I'm sorry but
1) This is a given
2) If you bought a 1st gen iPad Mini, you're an idiot who's asking to get disappointed when the new one comes out with a Retina display
3) You're rich and have the Mini and will buy the new one next year anyways cause you can.

in your inability to be reasonable, you forgot

4) You bought an iPad mini because it works for you and don't really care if the next revision has a retina display because that wasn't important to you.

which is the category i fall under.

[Goratrix]

Originally Posted by osofast240sx

Not true, apple can use whatever resolution they want. But doubling the mini resolution just as they did with the iPad 3&4 would be the easiest.

The can't. There is no way to scale existing apps to different resolutions. Anything else than a 2x (or 4x) scaling is impossible (well, it's technically possible but it would look terrible). Why do you think did they do the iPhone 5 the way they did? They wanted to make the screen bigger but they could not increase the resolution in both directions.

[saturn88]

Originally Posted by mabhatter

Second, Apple had to build a new way of stacking the LCD elements just to squeeze them in..For ipad3. That meant they had to juice up the LED backlight to get the same screen brightness. Even with the move to LED, backlight is in the top of the list for battery killing items. Apple would want the lowest dpi they could get away with and still call it "Retina" to let as much light thru the panel as they can. They might pull an iPhone 5 and do a laminated screen/front glass... That would help with lighting as well.

So within those constraints, Apple most surely WILL update the screen, it wont be the crazy high numbers of Retina iPad to keep battery weight similar. Of course Apple may keep iPad mini as the line for "cheap seats" and keep the Retina screens as the "Pro" level iPad. Much like Apple keeps the plain MacBook line around with its really lame resolution because it does the job and SELLS like crazy at that price.

At some point when production capacity will be available, Apple will move to some flavor of OLED , e.g. AMOLED. OLED has no backlight so it can be thinner, plus on average content brightness it is more power efficient: perfect for mobile devices.

[mcdj]

Originally Posted by macs4nw

Why are these rumors coming out now already? Way to put a damper on those holiday sales.

My wife would much prefer an ipad mini under the tree next week than a rumor of an ipad mini retina coming who knows when. Not sure how you even wrap a rumor.

[patseguin]

IMO, the next mini MUST have a Retina display otherwise don't bother. The Nexus 7 has an ultra high resolution display and while the device is thicker, it is just as light. I love everything about my mini except for the display.

[ValO]

I am not a technician.
But please can someone explain, how it is possible that apple can get a 1136x640 in a small and thin device like an iPod touch or an iPhone 5 with bettter SOC and more memory and a very small battery? And gsm electronics(iPhone 5).
And this wouldn't t be possible in a device that is 3,5 x the size(roughly) than this new iPod touch or iPhone 5?

Why would this be impossible?
The battery could also be 3,5 x the size of an iPhone or iPod touch.


If you 4 iPod touches together, they will still work, the screens will not work as one unit, but you get the same footprint as an ipad mini with 4 LEDs , 4 a5 or a6 chips, microphones, etc. and this is possible.( not practical and i just state this as an example)

An oppo 5 with a 5 inch 1920x1080p screen is possible right now. So an 8 inch 2048x1536 isn' t?

I think it is possible. It is just expensive and difficult to manufacture. But technically impossible?
No it isn't ......

[MythicFrost]

Originally Posted by ValO

I am not a technician.
But please can someone explain, how it is possible that apple can get a 1136x640 in a small and thin device like an iPod touch or an iPhone 5 with bettter SOC and more memory and a very small battery? And gsm electronics(iPhone 5).
And this wouldn't t be possible in a device that is 3,5 x the size(roughly) than this new iPod touch or iPhone 5?

Why would this be impossible?
The battery could also be 3,5 x the size of an iPhone or iPod touch.

I think it is possible. It is just expensive and difficult to manufacture. But technically impossible?
No it isn't ......

The size of the screen is the very reason why it's so difficult. The backlight in the iPad mini is substantially more powerful than that in the iPhone 4S/5. That means a lot more heat and power consumption. If you look at the display backlight power draw at max brightness and battery capacity of some iDevices you can see why it will be difficult:

iPhone 4S: 0.42 Whr / 6 Whr battery
iPhone 5: ~0.75 Whr / 6 Whr battery
iPad 2: 2.7 Whr / 25 Whr battery
iPad mini: 2.3 Whr / 16 Whr battery
iPad 3: 7 Whr / 42.5 Whr battery

Adding a Retina display on an iPad mini would cause power consumption to shoot up to ~6 Whr, and heat output would become much greater as well. And that's with only a 16 Whr battery. To have similar battery life as it does now it would need a ~40 Whr battery, and at best you could cram a 25 Whr battery in there.

The only way Retina is going to happen on the mini, is if they find a way to reduce power consumption for the display by a substantial amount. Drop it down to ~3.5 Whr and put battery capacity at 25 Whr and that might be okay. Still be a bit heavier and hotter, but it'll be all right.

[zombierunner]

ya don't say!

[dampfnudel]

Originally Posted by mantan

And the same people who are saying 'it's not that bad, I don't even notice it' will suddenly rave about how 'amazing' the Retina version is.

Just like they a lot of folks around here mocked the idea of a smaller tablet and now say 'it's the perfect size'.....

True dat. Any person that reviews the iPad mini and says the display is good enough, don't worry about it will probably be one of the first to get a retina mini when it gets released.

[Shearwater]

Originally Posted by theSeb

That is exactly what you implied. You feel that a company is screwing a customer by releasing a new version of the product that you bought. That is 13 year old logic right there.

Since you have forgotten what you typed, let me remind you:



Screwed again with another iPad launch? Why are people getting screwed because technology is moving forward? My point was that just because a newer version of the product is out, it does not immediately make the one you have completely useless. You can still use it. Unless you are 13 years old.

..and in all of that,where have I said anything will become useless? Try answering without using the word imply and stick to fact

[Freyqq]

If they do offer a retina iPad mini, it'll prob be $400+. They'd prob also sell a nonretina one for the current price or maybe a little cheaper.

[Beezzy]

Originally Posted by hlfway2anywhere

in your inability to be reasonable, you forgot

4) You bought an iPad mini because it works for you and don't really care if the next revision has a retina display because that wasn't important to you.

which is the category i fall under.

Well Im sorry you spend at least $330 on an iPad thats not worth its value. Also an A5 chip with 512MB of Ram is asking for the same fate as the iPad 1.

[theSeb]

Originally Posted by Shearwater

..and in all of that,where have I said anything will become useless? Try answering without using the word imply and stick to fact

It has been a long time since I've seen the Chewbacca defence.

[Drag'nGT]

I will buy one when released. I didn't realize how much I liked the smaller, lighter mini until I held one.

[ttexxan]

No duh really....Its all about the money guys....Does this really surprise you.

[dampfnudel]

Originally Posted by hlfway2anywhere

in your inability to be reasonable, you forgot

4) You bought an iPad mini because it works for you and don't really care if the next revision has a retina display because that wasn't important to you.

which is the category i fall under.

You say you don't care now, but be honest with us, there's a part of you that wishes your mini had a retina display. Also, when the retina mini comes out, I know you'll wish you could upgrade (or maybe you will). I understand the size/portability/comfort won you over and you didn't want to wait another year for a proper retina display...if it even takes that long for a retina mini to surface. I'm having this iPad 3 feeling with the first gen iPad mini. I like the mini, but after playing with one at the Apple store for an hour, I couldn't see myself using/owning one without a retina display. I have to wait.

[AdonisSMU]

Originally Posted by fdv

While it's obvious that everybody wants this to happen, and I'm sure it will happen eventually, I tend to agree with Anandtech. I think if it were feesable to add a retina display within the next year, Apple would have just done it with the original iPad Mini. I expect it will take a couple of years to develop a high res display for the Mini without compromising on its excellent weight and thickness.

Maybe I'm being naive, and it's possible to make one now, and Apple just released a low-res version first so people would shell out more money on the next one, but part of me still likes to think that Apple like making good products, and they would have done it already if it was possible.

Exactly. The tech isnt quite there yet. Everyone here knows it. It is just something else for people to gripe about. Apple would love to say the mini has the best screen around.

[Dorje Sylas]

Originally Posted by dampfnudel

True dat. Any person that reviews the iPad mini and says the display is good enough, don't worry about it will probably be one of the first to get a retina mini when it gets released.

I don't generally trust tech reviewers anymore. Most get their device buys subsidized and don't have to pay out of pocket like the rest of us. Thus they can 'afford' to 'buy' every latest interation of a device to come out. It colors their thinking on long term 3 to 5+ year use considerations.

[Doc750]

And iPad mini 3 will have a faster processor. I'm so sick of apple's incremental updates ans constantly nickel and diming it's users.

[Wicked1]

That is what I have been waiting for, then once retina is on the iPad Mini, order me up a Black 32 GB WiFi please.

[Dusky600]

Once this goes Retina im grabbing one !

[xofruitcake]

Originally Posted by patseguin

IMO, the next mini MUST have a Retina display otherwise don't bother. The Nexus 7 has an ultra high resolution display and while the device is thicker, it is just as light. I love everything about my mini except for the display.

And do Nexus 7 has 270,000 Apps designed for it? It is part of Apple marketing PR but it is also the truth. Android maker optimize the hardware design. They bring out device with various resolution and form factor. It work great for some app but terrible for others. And if you are an app developer, you would to change all your image for different display resolution and form factor to make them look good. It is an impossible situation for app developers, so they put out a few versions of their images and just do auto expand for the rest of device resolution. And you end up with a lot of complaint about apps that looks terrible in some device. Apple decide to optimize app experience and make sure their device has only a few variation of display resolution and size to make app design easier. And users end up with more consistent app experience. At the end, users have to decide if the native device experience is more important their app experience.

[iLLUMI]

Originally Posted by Yamcha

I think we all know the next iPad Mini will have a Retina display..

Exactly! I agree totally! What would be the point of releasing another iPad mini, 6 to 9 months down the track, if it doesnt have any new features.
A lot of people want Retina. Retina should simply be the standard across all devices. If there is a higher standard out there then people are going to want that standard. Why should they/we settle from sub standard!

So if/when Apple release the first Apple TV is it going to be a CRT screen?? LOL
Or CFL back lit LCD?? lol
Or even worse, will it be black and white TV with a colour version planned for the third gen?? Heheheh.

I'm happy to part with my money to buy an iPad Mini, even though I don't really need one. But I wont buy one when I know Apple can give it better specks.

[mabhatter]

Originally Posted by Goratrix

The can't. There is no way to scale existing apps to different resolutions. Anything else than a 2x (or 4x) scaling is impossible (well, it's technically possible but it would look terrible). Why do you think did they do the iPhone 5 the way they did? They wanted to make the screen bigger but they could not increase the resolution in both directions.

But once the app is Retina based, the GUI is drawn at native resolution and images are scaled. Take the "scaling" options on the Retina MacBooks and how easily they added a smaller one. They could easily do something like 1.5x (see my earlier post) and just scale down elements from iPad Retina apps. 2D scaling down is pretty cheap to do in hardware... You just really don't want to go higher resolutions.

[iLLUMI]

Originally Posted by Dusky600

Once this goes Retina im grabbing one !

Once this goes Retina I'm buying one for myself and a couple for family as presents.