Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

TouchMint.com

macrumors 68000
May 25, 2012
1,625
318
Phoenix
Interesting that Amazon is charging $40 increments for the same memory capacity bumps that Apple charges $100 for. More proof how Apple jacks its customers for additional storage...

Customers pay it so why not? To be honest Apple probably gets memory cheaper from their suppliers as well (so its even more profit).
 

michaelsviews

macrumors 65816
Sep 25, 2007
1,476
467
New England
What if ?

What if this was all hype and a test the water method to read what people's comments were in order to get maybe a sense of want's or need's ?

May sound crazy, but when ever Apple is about to release a new or updated product, is when all these crazy exaggerated story's come about.

With the holiday's around the corner and the new nexus 7 , I still believe that Apple will be releasing a new iPad Mini 2 w/ retina by end of month and ship date of either immediately or with in 2 week's of .

I find it very hard to believe that Apple and it's manufacturers are having communication problem's on the exact specification's
 

Hamburger

macrumors regular
Oct 31, 2011
125
0
This exactly. The whole purpose of a mini is it's portability. The thinness and lightness of the current iPad mini combined with the new iOS7 is second to none.

I just couldn't bare the weight of the Nexus 7 despite the higher resolution. No doubt, the screen is nice and I don't mind android too much either, but due to the added heft of the Nexus 7 I'd rather be using my iPad mini.

It's just that hard for an iPad mini user to trade significant weight and size for higher resolution.

yep! and while others have been waiting for months and months for a retina mini, i have happily been using my non-retina but oh so portable mini for almost a year. still love it and would certainly not upgrade even if mini2 is retina.
 

ralphkaz

macrumors newbie
May 13, 2012
20
0
Customers pay it so why not? To be honest Apple probably gets memory cheaper from their suppliers as well (so its even more profit).

Sure, I don't doubt Apple has not problem with the margin on their memory upgrades - but when people see what other manufacturers are charging for the same mem upgrade they might get a bit pissed at :apple: don't ya think?
 

ElectronGuru

macrumors 68000
Sep 5, 2013
1,656
489
Oregon, USA
My new Nexus 7 gets rather poor battery life so hopefully Apple will take the time to do it right.

This seems to be the key point of the article. Apple has some target in mind and won't pull the trigger until it's met. The question for Apple vs Samsung is why doesn't/didn't samsung have this same problem? 1) are they better at this, 2) did they make some other compromise, 3) did they pay more, or 4) did they ignore it?

This is a philosophical question but an important one. In a way, the company we choose to make our equipment, represents our interests. And they're all facing the same technical challenges. So to have the result that best matches your needs, it's often best to choose the company that would make the same choices you would make.
 

ralphkaz

macrumors newbie
May 13, 2012
20
0
What if this was all hype and a test the water method to read what people's comments were in order to get maybe a sense of want's or need's ?

May sound crazy, but when ever Apple is about to release a new or updated product, is when all these crazy exaggerated story's come about.

With the holiday's around the corner and the new nexus 7 , I still believe that Apple will be releasing a new iPad Mini 2 w/ retina by end of month and ship date of either immediately or with in 2 week's of .

I find it very hard to believe that Apple and it's manufacturers are having communication problem's on the exact specification's

Ever heard for Focus groups? of course they take feedback from end users into consideration, its part of product development for any large company. in apple's case I think their greed has more to do with product features though... the new mini is probably already in production so those choices would have been made a WHILE ago...
 

69650

Suspended
Mar 23, 2006
3,367
1,876
England
...miss all the Xmas sales? Isn't that the point of revamping nearly the entire line in the final 4 months of the year?

As someone who was hoping to use one of these as an xmas gift, I hope this is wrong.

It was but I never thought it was such a great idea. Not much slack if things are delayed. Can't exactly hand out an iPad mini as a Christmas present in the middle of January.

I still don't get why they moved the iPhone release to Sept. Why not move WWDC to April or May so they can preview the next iOS/OSX release earlier and release new iPhones in July and new iPads/iPods in Sept. At least that would give them some time to get the initial sales peak out of the way before the Christmas rush starts.
 

G4DP

macrumors 65816
Mar 28, 2007
1,451
3
You don't have a clue do you? The Mini was absolutely being worked on when Steve died, he would have known all about it.

Clearly neither do you. If anyone thinks any Apple product in the current pipe line had influence from Jobs then they don't have a clue.

Technology changes far to much for Jobs to have had a say in what Apple are doing now.

The last possible device he may have had the final say in would be the Mac Pro about to be released.
 

TWSS37

macrumors 65816
Feb 4, 2011
1,107
232
This comes directly from the link you posted.

"If you look at weight relative to surface area, though, the iPad mini actually comes in at about eight percent lighter. So it's possible the iPad mini will, in a sense, feel lighter in hand."

I had no prior knowledge of actual weights when I held the two devices and played around with the Nexus 7. Other friends who were comparing the two made similar observations.

We all felt that the iPad mini is lighter.

So, thinness (a factor of 'weight relative to surface area') also matters.

Wasn't meant to be sarcastic, just was advising. Just seems be splitting hairs at that size and weight. Personally, when I make tech decisions (since something new is ALWAYS around the corner) is, if the N7 is available now and the iPad mini 2 is TBD, would I be happier now with the product and live with some things I may not like? Or would I rather hold off? It's the time spent waiting trade off.

Given Apple track records of availability against what this article is saying, when do you think an iPad mini will be readily available? March 2014? Would 6 months be worth the relative weight difference of something that is negligible? At that point, why not just wait for the N7 3 which I am sure will even be lighter and thinner :)
 

Xiroteus

macrumors 65816
Mar 31, 2012
1,297
75
As for a retina mini, what resolution is that suppose to be? 1920x1200 is good for a 7" tablet.

Don't understand why Apple is having all these issues and their competition isn't, I'm sure the nexus 7 and the soon to be released Kindle will be in large supply this holiday season

Was thinking the same thing.
 

Overg

macrumors 6502
May 26, 2012
272
2
Ok we know the drill...
Like the iMac fiasco last year ( which I was one if the people who waited for it, I also can't believe how, even after such a long time from release, I still
Mad on apple for the endless wait)
They will say the iPad retina will be available on December, means 29.12
Mean pre order
Means delivery on February....

----------

Clearly neither do you. If anyone thinks any Apple product in the current pipe line had influence from Jobs then they don't have a clue.

Technology changes far to much for Jobs to have had a say in what Apple are doing now.

The last possible device he may have had the final say in would be the Mac Pro about to be released.
Sorry mate you don't have a clue...
No matter what company you work at, every product you see now was designed and engineered 2 or even 3 years back.
Take the iphone 1 it was first thought in 2001(!!!) and you saw it in 2007....
 

michaelsviews

macrumors 65816
Sep 25, 2007
1,476
467
New England
Ever heard for Focus groups? of course they take feedback from end users into consideration, its part of product development for any large company. in apple's case I think their greed has more to do with product features though... the new mini is probably already in production so those choices would have been made a WHILE ago...

Good point, yes I've heard of them just didn't think of them at the time of commenting.

More than likely the iPad Mini 2 is already in production.

Thanks
 

V.K.

macrumors 6502a
Dec 5, 2007
716
466
Toronto, Canada
It would be the same resolution (number of pixels) but would have a higher ppi (pixels per inch)

iPad mini is currently 163 ppi at 1024x768 resolution on a 7.9 inch screen
iPad 2 is currently 132 ppi with the same 1024x768 resolution on a 9.7 inch screen
iPad 4 is currently 264 ppi at 2048x1536 resolution on a 9.7 inch screen

an iPad mini with retina display of 2048x1536 resolution on a 7.9 inch screen would have 324 ppi (about the same as iPhone) so actually a much "better" screen than a full size iPad (unless iPad 5 goes to 4096x3072, but that is just silly)
I'm not a developer so please don't kill me for asking but what would happen if Apple didn't double the resolution but increased it by a different factor? 324ppi is something of an overkill for retina on a mini, isn't it? something closer to 264ppi of the full size ipad would be retina already on a mini and I imagine would be much easier to manufacture. say, if they bumped the resolution to 1600x1200 then it would be around 255ppi I think.
I realize that would be an inconvenience for developers but how much of one?
 

mdelvecchio

macrumors 68040
Sep 3, 2010
3,151
1,149
Once they realized that Google had made the current mini even more obsolete than it already was, they just didn't have enough time to produce a retina mini.

good lord what are you talking about? the mini is doing its job perfectly -- i have the lightest, thinnest ipad imaginable with access to my rich iOS app landscape. it's perfect for my briefcase and helps me do my work. retina display is a nice-to-have for this use case, not a need-to-have.

ive never even seen one of these google tablets youre referring to.
 

Rogifan

macrumors Penryn
Nov 14, 2011
24,084
31,015
original mini has the iPad 2 specs. Apple's quick replacement of the iPad 3 shows that they thought the innards(A5x) of the iPad 3 were insufficient. That leaves the A6X. Maybe a lower clock speed than compared to the iPad4, to maximize the chop yields.

What were you expecting? The mini to have the same specs as those in the soon to be updated main iPad? Sorry, this is :apple:

I'm expecting the mini to have retina display. If Apple was smart they'd include touch ID too. And then sell a non retina mini as the budget iPad. I personally think Apple should treat the iPads like they do the MacBook Airs. The smaller iPad shouldn't be gimped just because of the display size. But then I'd prefer Apple own the tablet market (which I think a retina mini with touch id would). So I hope these rumors are just hogwash.
 

mdelvecchio

macrumors 68040
Sep 3, 2010
3,151
1,149
Then again Steve wouldn't have released a non-retina iPad mini in the first place.

you have no earthly idea what Jobs would have done, since he's dead and youve never been in the same room with him, let alone met him, let alone have an inkling into how he thinks or plans.

jobs released the hockey puck mouse, ping, ipod sucks, Final Cut X, etc etc.. many things people thought sucked.

but you have to admit that Tim likes to take the easy way out more often than not.

why on earth would anyone have to admit such rubbish? Cook is running the most valuable and profitable tech company in the history of the earth. and they continue to win best consumer satisfaction awards annually. and they just became the biggest known brand. and they just sold 9MM iphones in a weekend. and people lined up for days to get one.

who on earth is doing any better? details, please. (and no, imaginary stock prices dont count for anything)
 

apolloa

Suspended
Oct 21, 2008
12,318
7,802
Time, because it rules EVERYTHING!
...miss all the Xmas sales? Isn't that the point of revamping nearly the entire line in the final 4 months of the year?

As someone who was hoping to use one of these as an xmas gift, I hope this is wrong.

Yeah but this year Apple are going to be competing with the Playstation 4 and Xbox One, the first new consoles, apart from the WiiU, for about 6 to 7 years. An iPad is an every year event. So I can't see their Christmas sales being as high, or any other tablet for that matter.

good lord what are you talking about? the mini is doing its job perfectly -- i have the lightest, thinnest ipad imaginable with access to my rich iOS app landscape. it's perfect for my briefcase and helps me do my work. retina display is a nice-to-have for this use case, not a need-to-have.

ive never even seen one of these google tablets youre referring to.

And when Apple DO launch a brand new iPad Mini with Retina you will all of a sudden agree that your Mini is inadequate for you and you simply MUST upgrade because it will be just so much better... and I agree the current Mini is rubbish IMO, underpowered and overpriced.
 

mdelvecchio

macrumors 68040
Sep 3, 2010
3,151
1,149
You mean the same Steve that didn't put 3G in the first iPhone when everyone said that was too late?

The same Steve that didn't put 4G into the next two iPhones even though everyone said that was too late?

Or the same Steve that made the first 2 iPads without retina displays even as they were putting them into iPhones?


I don't know where the idea that Steve was some sort of ultra-new-tech-pushing-god came from, but it's pretty ridiculous.

agreed. it's absurd. im convinced these commenters are teenagers.
 

absurdamerica

macrumors regular
Nov 14, 2011
158
0
Clearly neither do you. If anyone thinks any Apple product in the current pipe line had influence from Jobs then they don't have a clue.

Technology changes far to much for Jobs to have had a say in what Apple are doing now.

The last possible device he may have had the final say in would be the Mac Pro about to be released.



You're right, technology has changed so much that if Steve were alive today he wouldn't even recognize the iPhone or iPad anymore they're both so different than they were back then!
 

unrose

macrumors newbie
Jan 11, 2008
4
0
implausible

these supply chain rumors are almost never correct.

I'm holding in my hand a 4th generation iPod touch, internally a 3GS driving a retina screen.

The ipad mini is 4x the volume of the device, with space for 4x the battery. The display technology has been perfected and power reduced since 2010. There are no new challenges about fitting this technology into the iPad mini.

The reason the original wasn't retina has less to do with engineering than with marketing: it wouldn't have hit the cost they wanted, and would have eaten too much into the higher ASP, non-redesigned iPad. And Apple's continuing marketing strategy is not always to release the best products, but to release products that make the previous ones look old. If they launched with retina, the upgrade this year wouldn't have seemed as compelling. Now they're going to update it with the 4s's camera from 2011, and a retina screen from 2010, and have an all new looking product for 2014.

That's the secret to Apple: the feeling that they're creating newness.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.