iPad Mini: iPad mini 2 will NOT have retina display, stop dreaming!

[Hpye]

Originally Posted by saintforlife

Let me repeat that. The iPad mini 2 will NOT have retina display. Here is why:

1. If they put a retina display in it, their only screen resolution choice is the resolution of the iPad 4. If they do that the iPad mini's will have a higher ppi than the iPad 4 making it even better than bigger iPad. That is never happening. Apple will never compromise their high end product like that or people who buy the more premium product will start complaining that their display is inferior. The only way the iPad mini gets a retina screen is if the bigger iPad doubles its pixels from its current level and that ain't happening for a few years for technical and economic reasons.

2. Squeezing a retina display on the mini for the next generation will cause heating and battery life issues, possibly forcing Apple to make the mini thicker and heavier (because battery technology just isn't there). That is a design path I bet Apple will never go towards again. The iPad 3 was a mistake and everyone knows it. iPad 4 is a minor patch work job to fix that somewhat. iPad 5 will be the best big iPad ever. It will be thinner and lighter than the 3/4.

So the bottom line is, iPad mini is not getting a retina display for a couple more generations at least. People need to start accepting that.

=======

I am going to add what I posted in my 3rd post here. People keep just referring to my OP, when I put in a lot more details in my subsequent posts to justify my line of thinking:

vvvvvvvvvvv


Are you even familiar with Apple's pixel doubling strategy to maintain app backwards compatibility? I am thinking you don't. Apple will not pick an arbitrary higher resolution screen out of thin air. It is double or nothing. Doubling the iPad 4's 2048-by-1536 is not happening any time soon. Please read my 1st and 2nd posts.

----------


Here we go again. I repeat Apple will NOT pick an arbitrary resolution like that out of thin air! When will people start realizing that? They are stuck with these multiples:
1024-by-768
2048-by-1536
4096-by-3072 --> NOT HAPPENING ANY TIME IN THE NEAR FUTURE!

I repeat, these are the only resolutions possible on both the larger iPad and the smaller iPad to maintain app compatibility. Apple will not deviate from this.

----------

This below spec sheet is from the Apple website. The iPad mini is not getting a retina screen (2048-by-1536) unless the larger iPad gets a 4096-by-3072 screen because Apple CANNOT have a lower PPI screen on their more premium device. That is never going to happen.

The iPad mini's only screen choice to go retina is (2048-by-1536). I hope people stop throwing random higher resolution screen sizes around. Apple can never break apps backward compatibility.


Image

What if they increase the bigger one to.4096 by 3072 and increase the mini to 2048 by 1536

[Payton]

Originally Posted by nuckinfutz

Apple's leading the pack and they've already supported this Retina stuff in developer tools and now there's growing hardware to support to development efforts.

Who really wants to look at pixelated text especially given paying a premium?

Text won't/shouldn't ever be the problem because any font file created since about 1984 is made up of points, not pixels.

...but what are you asking?

[mkbook]

I somewhat agree but not with your reasoning. The iPad 2 has a lower PPI than the Mini but still costs more.

The Mini won't have a retina simply because their goal is to make it as thin and light as possible. The argument of them not wanting to compete against their own larger models makes no sense.

----------

Originally Posted by ixodes

Taking the decades old technology of "IPS" displays, increasing the resolution to a higher value than used in the past, and giving it a typically clever name, "retina", Apple created a "feature" they could hype to stratospheric heights.

Tease the Apple faithful at a Keynote, include it in just one product, and Apple was off to the obvious... a constant slow one by one roll out across all devices.

Seen as another stroke of innovative genius by the public, while it was obvious to those who know Apple best, just what they were up to.

Driving up product prices, hooking the users on a "gotta have" feature, and raking in even greater amounts of cash.

You've got to hand it to them, they know how to control the buyers they target.

Stop trolling. IPS was not common until Apple started using them. The majority of laptops used TN. Retina isn't a marketing gimmick, it's an easy way to explain you can't see pixels on the device being used.
Driving up prices? The Retina iPads are the same price. The laptops cost more because IPS panels are more expensive to produce.

I don't know why trolls enjoy pretending to be ignorant. At least I hope you're pretending.

[iphonehype]

We all thought at one point we would never have GPS in our phones, nothing is impossible.

[ixodes]

Originally Posted by mkbook

I somewhat agree but not with your reasoning. The iPad 2 has a lower PPI than the Mini but still costs more.

The Mini won't have a retina simply because their goal is to make it as thin and light as possible. The argument of them not wanting to compete against their own larger models makes no sense.

----------



Stop trolling. IPS was not common until Apple started using them. The majority of laptops used TN. Retina isn't a marketing gimmick, it's an easy way to explain you can't see pixels on the device being used.
Driving up prices? The Retina iPads are the same price. The laptops cost more because IPS panels are more expensive to produce.

I don't know why trolls enjoy pretending to be ignorant. At least I hope you're pretending.

Apparently you've resorted to name calling due to some issue on your part. Perhaps it's lack of knowledge on the subject.

Hint: Long before Apple ever thought about IPS, it was being used on ThinkPad Workstation Laptops... the kind I've been using concurrently alongside of the many PowerBook and MacBook Pro's I've enjoyed.

IPS has been used on Desktop workstation displays and other implementations as well.

Need proof? Google is your friend.

[onthecouchagain]

OP makes very valid points based on Apple's patterns and model scheme.

I wouldn't be at all surprised if the Mini 2 comes without Retina also.

[michelob tfs]

Originally Posted by saintforlife

Thanks for making my point. The subject of my thread is "iPad mini 2 will NOT have retina display, stop dreaming!". I never said the iPad mini will NEVER have retina display. That is something people like you who are commenting in this thread are asserting. You guys could learn to read slowly before jumping to conclusions prematurely.

I never said it won't, I said its not a given. There is a reasonable chance it will.

Anyway I don't really give a toss if it will or will not

[zhenya]

Originally Posted by ixodes

Long before Apple ever thought about IPS, it was being used on ThinkPad Workstation Laptops... the kind I've been using concurrently alongside of the many PowerBook and MacBook Pro's I've enjoyed.

IPS has been used on Desktop workstation displays and other implementations as well.

Need proof? Google is your friend.

It has been, however, about 5 years since you could get an IPS screen in the Thinkpad line - possible exception or two for the X series. Lenovo has had some of the worst screens on the market for years now - especially inexcusable given their prices and ambitions in the market.

[iHeartsteve]

Originally Posted by onthecouchagain

OP makes very valid points based on Apple's patterns and model scheme.

I wouldn't be at all surprised if the Mini 2 comes without Retina also.

wouldn't it put it past them now...

[unagimiyagi]

Originally Posted by macbook123

They could have easily increased the resolution to 1440x900, which would have made it acceptable without requiring as huge a boost in graphics performance. I'd have rather had 2/3 the battery life but 50% more pixels. As is, it is a disappointment, and an odd move given Apple's claimed focus on retina.

It's a mild to moderate pain in the butt to add another resolution to the mix. It's a large problem with Android for developers to deal with. Apple loves consistency and many apps would never get updated to work properly with a 1440x900 resolution. Apple will never do it.

[MattInOz]

I have two words for this discussion, well two words contracted in to one framework name.

AutoLayout

Makes overall screen size a much smaller issue. Not irrelevant but tiny compared to want it was prior to iOS6.

To me the next step is to standardize on 326 dpi across the range. Then push the iPad screen up diagonal to fill more of the device face. Or maybe the other way around. Keeping the device size fixed.

[Dick Whitman]

Originally Posted by Sdahe

Please, tell me why the iPad 3 was a mistake...

Thicker, hotter, slower

[Frozzie]

If not same resolution as iPad 4th gen, I wish it still had resolution between iPad 2 and iPad 3 - 1536x1152. Keep same resolution aspect, so it isn't that difficult for developers to work on 3 resolutions.

[HishamAkhtar]

Originally Posted by saintforlife

Let me repeat that. The iPad mini 2 will NOT have retina display. Here is why:

1. If they put a retina display in it, their only screen resolution choice is the resolution of the iPad 4. If they do that the iPad mini's will have a higher ppi than the iPad 4 making it even better than bigger iPad. That is never happening. Apple will never compromise their high end product like that or people who buy the more premium product will start complaining that their display is inferior. The only way the iPad mini gets a retina screen is if the bigger iPad doubles its pixels from its current level and that ain't happening for a few years for technical and economic reasons.

2. Squeezing a retina display on the mini for the next generation will cause heating and battery life issues, possibly forcing Apple to make the mini thicker and heavier (because battery technology just isn't there). That is a design path I bet Apple will never go towards again. The iPad 3 was a mistake and everyone knows it. iPad 4 is a minor patch work job to fix that somewhat. iPad 5 will be the best big iPad ever. It will be thinner and lighter than the 3/4.

So the bottom line is, iPad mini is not getting a retina display for a couple more generations at least. People need to start accepting that.

=======

I am going to add what I posted in my 3rd post here. People keep just referring to my OP, when I put in a lot more details in my subsequent posts to justify my line of thinking:

vvvvvvvvvvv


Are you even familiar with Apple's pixel doubling strategy to maintain app backwards compatibility? I am thinking you don't. Apple will not pick an arbitrary higher resolution screen out of thin air. It is double or nothing. Doubling the iPad 4's 2048-by-1536 is not happening any time soon. Please read my 1st and 2nd posts.

----------


Here we go again. I repeat Apple will NOT pick an arbitrary resolution like that out of thin air! When will people start realizing that? They are stuck with these multiples:
1024-by-768
2048-by-1536
4096-by-3072 --> NOT HAPPENING ANY TIME IN THE NEAR FUTURE!

I repeat, these are the only resolutions possible on both the larger iPad and the smaller iPad to maintain app compatibility. Apple will not deviate from this.

----------

This below spec sheet is from the Apple website. The iPad mini is not getting a retina screen (2048-by-1536) unless the larger iPad gets a 4096-by-3072 screen because Apple CANNOT have a lower PPI screen on their more premium device. That is never going to happen.

The iPad mini's only screen choice to go retina is (2048-by-1536). I hope people stop throwing random higher resolution screen sizes around. Apple can never break apps backward compatibility.


Image

The regular iPad has other features that differentiate it from the Mini. And Apple specifically advertised the Mini as a premium product. It will definitely have a retina display IMO.

[Anti-Lucifer]

A few years ago, a 47" LED TV would costs thousands of dollars. Today you can buy one for $600; being ultra slim model too.

A few years ago, 960x640 on a 3.5" display was unheard of. A few years ago, 1280x768 on a 4.7" screen was unheard of. A few years ago, 1280x720 on a 5"+ screen was unheard of. A few years ago, streaming a 1080p video to your HDTV without wires but now using ATV can do it...

The only thing not possible is lower prices on any apple product!

A retina ipad mini will be coming soon, maybe not in the second revision; which I see them using upgraded processors...but revision 3 most plausible!

[Steveo13]

The 13 inch Macbook pro has higher PPI then the 15 inch model. I would defy say that they would put the retina in it.

[darngooddesign]

Originally Posted by nuckinfutz

...Who really wants to look at pixelated text especially given paying a premium?

Originally Posted by Payton

Text won't/shouldn't ever be the problem because any font file created since about 1984 is made up of points, not pixels.

The same postscript font outputs differently on a dot matrix printer, a laser printer, and running film on an imagesetter. Both a retina-ready web graphic and an HTML5 circle look different on an iPad Mini and iPad 4. The source file won't give you a higher resolution than the screen can render.

[chleuasme]

Originally Posted by MattInOz

I have two words for this discussion, well two words contracted in to one framework name.

AutoLayout

Makes overall screen size a much smaller issue. Not irrelevant but tiny compared to want it was prior to iOS6.

To me the next step is to standardize on 326 dpi across the range. Then push the iPad screen up diagonal to fill more of the device face. Or maybe the other way around. Keeping the device size fixed.

Yes, I agree. That's already going to help apps devs to better support rotation of iPhones and iPads, it also will help to better support the resolution differences on iPhones.
But it works better with the two necessary factors: pixel density has to be the same (or close enough) on the two devices AND the variation of resolution is moderate.
So, something like 264 ppi at 1600x1200 and 2048x1536, or 326 ppi at 2048x1536 and 2560x1920.

The absence of retina display in not a problem with the mini, that's as easy as the intercept theorem: if it works fine on the iPad 2, hold the mini 19% closer and it will work as good ... until smaller is too small, or closer is too close.

[SeanR1]

Apple will never make a smaller iPad....oops sorry wrong post.

[AdonisSMU]

Originally Posted by SeanR1

Apple will never make a smaller iPad....oops sorry wrong post.

The market is going to force them into a retina display mini iPad. The only reason they are getting a pass is because of the form factor, its Apple, and its a gen 1.

[imacdaddy]

Originally Posted by michelob tfs

A retina screen on the mini 2 is not a given but there will be one of it by the 2014 revision at the latest

Being conservative you are.

[xofruitcake]

Originally Posted by saintforlife

I don't disagree with you, but Apple has painted itself into a corner with its pixel doubling strategy when they want to improve the screen. That is where they will be handicapped. Doubling the pixels on the current iPad 4 will be over kill and totally unnecessary as beyond a certain point, people may not be able to tell the difference. Having said that, I don't think the bigger iPad will ever have a lower ppi than the mini. That is why we are in kind of a holding pattern currently with the iPad screens.

I think Nuckin already answer your question and you just gross over it. The big if in the qeustion of whether Ipad mini 2 will have retina is Sharp's ability to manufacture 7.9 inches IGZO glass at 2048x1536 resolution. It is true the Apple set up the problem because they want to protect the App developers. But there is a hardware solution and right now we don't know the schedule. So it is wrong to say that Ipad mini 2 will have retina. It is equally wrong to say that Ipad mini 2 definitely don't have retina. It is a race between Ipad mini launch schedule vs IGZO manufacture schedule and so far we don't know which one of the two is ahead.