iPad will apple make a mini and mini retina?

rowspaxe · Dec 18, 2012

Currently apple is selling the ipad 2, the mini and the ipad 4. Next year I see apple dropping the ipad2 and introducing a retina mini at $429. Then the line up will be the mini ($329), the mini retina ($429) and the ipad5 ($499). This will allow apple to leverage additional profits off the extremely popular mini form factor while maintaining an entry level product.

Roessnakhan · Dec 18, 2012

I would actually hope that the mini retina would just replace the base $329 model, and that the non-retina mini would be sold for $229-49 like the retina iPad and iPad 2.

nuckinfutz · Dec 18, 2012

No

The iPad 2 will go away early next year.

The second revision of the iPad mini will be Retina. And thus spawns the new era of Retina EVERYTHING.

ActionableMango · Dec 18, 2012

nuckinfutz said:
And thus spawns the new era of Retina EVERYTHING.

Even the ACD?

nuckinfutz · Dec 18, 2012

ActionableMango said:
Even the ACD?

Perhaps if we get a faster Display Port spec (1.2) in the next revision of Thunderbolt.

lapeno · Dec 19, 2012

nuckinfutz said:
No

The iPad 2 will go away early next year.

The second revision of the iPad mini will be Retina. And thus spawns the new era of Retina EVERYTHING.

This

raccoonboy · Dec 19, 2012

nuckinfutz said:
No

The iPad 2 will go away early next year.

The second revision of the iPad mini will be Retina. And thus spawns the new era of Retina EVERYTHING.

Why would Ipad 2 be gone early next year? To make way for retina Ipad mini and drop ipad mini price to 299?

I dont know about apple but people will be dead furious if their ipad mini is outdated after only 6 months!

ThatsMeRight · Dec 19, 2012

racoonboy said:
Why would Ipad 2 be gone early next year? To make way for retina Ipad mini and drop ipad mini price to 299?

I dont know about apple but people will be dead furious if their ipad mini is outdated after only 6 months!

Six months is an eternity in tech-land.

throAU · Dec 19, 2012

nuckinfutz said:
No

The iPad 2 will go away early next year.

The second revision of the iPad mini will be Retina. And thus spawns the new era of Retina EVERYTHING.

This.

MBA and iPad mini are stop-gap products.

They'll both be discontinued when retina is cheap enough to go into replacements (retina ipad mini and rMBP replacing the airs).

Menel · Dec 19, 2012

Retina is not guaranteed.

2010. iPad 1... iPhone 4 with Retina
2011. iPad 2... absent of Retina.
2012. iPad Retina

I have a hard time grasping how Apple can pull off both the cost, and battery life with a Retina display and the beefed up back lighting and GPU power to support it in the Mini's form factor.

----------

racoonboy said:
Why would Ipad 2 be gone early next year? To make way for retina Ipad mini and drop ipad mini price to 299?

I dont know about apple but people will be dead furious if their ipad mini is outdated after only 6 months!

Outdated? It does everything it was advertised to do when they bought it, maybe more after iOS updates.

iPad 2's from almost 3yrs ago now still run all the apps, games and get all the updates.

throAU · Dec 19, 2012

Menel said:
I have a hard time grasping how Apple can pull off both the cost, and battery life with a Retina display and the beefed up back lighting and GPU power to support it in the Mini's form factor.

They went from non-retina to retina in the iphone 3g-s -> 4 with no real impact to battery life or cost.

They went from non-retina to retina in the MBP 15, in a smaller form factor with no real impact to battery life.

With a process drop down to the next smaller scale, the GPU power will be enough to drive retina at the same or similar power level. In terms of the screen, i'm guessing most of the power draw will actually be the backlight which is the same between retina and not.

It's just a matter of time - depends how quickly production of retina screens ramps up.

Being a smaller screen with less pixels, a retina iPad mini screen should be cheaper and easier to produce than a full size iPad's or a rMBP's.

Menel · Dec 19, 2012

throAU said:
They went from non-retina to retina in the iphone 3g-s -> 4 with no real impact to battery life or cost.

They went from non-retina to retina in the MBP 15, in a smaller form factor with no real impact to battery life.

With a process drop down to the next smaller scale, the GPU power will be enough to drive retina at the same or similar power level. In terms of the screen, i'm guessing most of the power draw will actually be the backlight which is the same between retina and not.

It's just a matter of time - depends how quickly production of retina screens ramps up.

Being a smaller screen with less pixels, a retina iPad mini screen should be cheaper and easier to produce than a full size iPad's or a rMBP's.

I was talking cost of components to meet their target iPad Mini pricepoint they have now. I wouldnt count on another process drop by spring or summer.

IPad Mini does NOT have fewer pixels than full size iPad. Exactly the same, nonretina to nonretina, and will for retina to retina. The pixels are just smaller.

The manufacturering and quality control for the tiny pixels likely has cost associated with it.

Backlight is NOT the same between nonretina and retina, smaller pixels as previously noted, means reduced translucence, more brightness is required from the backlight formthe same end user experience.

cardfan · Dec 19, 2012

Menel said:
I have a hard time grasping how Apple can pull off both the cost, and battery life with a Retina display and the beefed up back lighting and GPU power to support it in the Mini's form factor.
.

Even if they can pull it off, maintain thin and light with adequate battery and processor, the real question remains...should they do it?

A 329 retina Mini would really destroy their bigger ipad line and the bigger profit margins. The Mini would be more expensive to make than the regular ipad.

Assuming "retina" means double the resolution, the Mini would have a denser better quality screen than the bigger more expensive ipads. To go with another resolution means losing all the "ipad apps just work on it" marketing.

So 329 for an ipad retina Mini that boasts a better screen than a 499 ipad? Retina, thin and light, almost 200 cheaper, have cake, eat it too. That isn't happening IMO.

clyde2801 · Dec 19, 2012

I see the iP3 taking the place of the 2 as the $399 model once the 5's come out.

I also see the mini getting IGZO retina display, but don't know if that will happen in 2013 or the year after that.

Then again, opinions are like [censored]s....

nick9191 · Dec 19, 2012

I could see them introducing the iPad Mini with retina at the same price point but continuing to sell the original iPad Mini at £169/$229 to sway some of the android buyers. I know their MO is profit not market share, but I think keeping their hold on the tablet market will prove to be beneficial for them.

JamesMyCQs · Dec 19, 2012

nuckinfutz said:
No

The iPad 2 will go away early next year.

The second revision of the iPad mini will be Retina. And thus spawns the new era of Retina EVERYTHING.

Yup. Apple's iPad product line is about as fragmented as they'd want it to be right now! In the future I really think they'll drop the iPad 2 (currently occupying the 'Non Retina Full Sized iPad' category) and just go with the iPad Mini and Full Sized iPad.

Whether or not the next iPad Mini will have a retina display is debatable, I'm sure it will be a priority for them, but whether they can get the displays in that time and at a price buyers will accept is another thing.

maflynn · Dec 19, 2012

I can't see adding a retina device and keeping the non retina mini, it will be too complicated to have that many devices. Plus if the retina mini is not horrendously more expensive then the non retina mini then it will steal all the sales from the non retina mini - another reason to kill off the non retina mini if they do introduce it

Menel · Dec 19, 2012

cardfan said:
Even if they can pull it off, maintain thin and light with adequate battery and processor, the real question remains...should they do it?

A 329 retina Mini would really destroy their bigger ipad line and the bigger profit margins. The Mini would be more expensive to make than the regular ipad.

Assuming "retina" means double the resolution, the Mini would have a denser better quality screen than the bigger more expensive ipads. To go with another resolution means losing all the "ipad apps just work on it" marketing.

So 329 for an ipad retina Mini that boasts a better screen than a 499 ipad? Retina, thin and light, almost 200 cheaper, have cake, eat it too. That isn't happening IMO.

1. Apple has not been afraid in recent times to cannibalize it's product lines with new ones.

Some people, especially older people, may appreciate a larger screen, with larger text.

maflynn · Dec 19, 2012

Menel said:
1. Apple has not been afraid in recent times to cannibalize it's product lines with new ones.

I don't agree with that, I think they've introduced models that compliment and thus increase sales. I'm thinking of the retina MBP vs. the classic MBP. Sure some actual cMBPs went with the rMBP but plenty more (in my uneducated with non scientific results) believe occurred.

I think the market for a a 7" iPad is not large enough to sustain both models - just my $.02

Menel · Dec 19, 2012

maflynn said:
I don't agree with that, I think they've introduced models that compliment and thus increase sales. I'm thinking of the retina MBP vs. the classic MBP. Sure some actual cMBPs went with the rMBP but plenty more (in my uneducated with non scientific results) believe occurred.

I think the market for a a 7" iPad is not large enough to sustain both models - just my $.02

I'm thinking along the line of Steve Jobs' strategy
And the iPhone destroying their iPod line.

Coming back to Apple, this is precisely what Steve Jobs mastered. He had a knack for disrupting his own product lines.

In June 2010, Apple launched iPhone 4 and it has barely been a year and we are already getting confirmed reports that iPhone 5 is on its way. And all of this when the going has been so good Apple only recently toppled Nokia as the most successful handset manufacturer based on revenues. See chart below:

And what has the series of iPhones cannibalized? iPods, of course. At the end of 2008, Apple had sold 22+ Million iPods and in the first three quarters of 2011, they have only sold 8+ Million iPods. But is Steve Jobs complaining? Not at all so what if iPhone 2, iPhone 3, iPhone 3GS & iPhone 4 have cannibalized iPods and also each other? As far as Apple is concerned, they have always walked away with higher profit margins than before.

And what did iPads cannibalize? Low-end Mac Books. Again, Steve Jobs wasnt worried.

When iPhone 5 comes out, iPhone 4 will get cannibalized. Steve Jobs might not be around to see the cannibalization happen but I sure hope Apple continues the tradition and doesnt miss the plot in Steves absence.

http://socialfloss.com/28/steve-job’s-lesson-cannibalize-your-own-products/

Dmunjal · Dec 19, 2012

Walked into the Apple Store yesterday. At the express counter, loads and loads of ipad 4s but minis were selling like hotcakes. Can't find a 16gb anywhere. They could have priced it higher!

Cannibalization has come.

maflynn · Dec 19, 2012

Menel said:
I'm thinking along the line of Steve Jobs' strategy
And the iPhone destroying their iPod line.

I agree with the iPod line, I forgot about that. However with that said, the iPods were nearing the end of their life cycle in that technology has marched on to a point where an iPhone was really the next step. Other makers were toying with adding music to their phones but it was apple that was able to do it so well. If they tried to protect the iPod line and not do an iPhone things could have turned out much different, i.e., someone else introduced such a revolutionary phone

irDigital0l · Dec 19, 2012

More like $329 for mini with retina

$279 for mini without retina

$50 difference

----------

clyde2801 said:
I see the iP3 taking the place of the 2 as the $399 model once the 5's come out.

I also see the mini getting IGZO retina display, but don't know if that will happen in 2013 or the year after that.

Then again, opinions are like [censored]s....

The iPad 3 is already discontinued...

I think we will see an iPad Mini with Retina in March but not the iPad 5th gen.

SnowLeopard OSX · Dec 19, 2012

rowspaxe said:
will apple make a mini and mini retina?

Will the sun rise tomorrow?

iPad will apple make a mini and mini retina?

macrumors 68020

macrumors 68040

macrumors 603

macrumors G3

macrumors 603

macrumors 6502

macrumors 6502a

macrumors 68020

macrumors G3

Suspended

macrumors G3

Suspended

macrumors 601

macrumors 601

macrumors 68040

macrumors newbie

macrumors Haswell

Suspended

macrumors Haswell

Suspended

macrumors 68000

macrumors Haswell

Guest

macrumors 6502a

Our Staff