Smaller iPad Costing "Significantly Less" Than $499 Coming This Fall, According to NYT

MacRumors · Jul 15, 2012

The New York Times has added to the concerto of reports hinting at the arrival of an iPad with a 7.85" screen this fall. Two weeks ago, Bloomberg offered a similar report, also citing anonymous sources. iMore reported something similar back in May.

Mockup of 7.85-inch iPad next to an iPad 2 (courtesy of CiccareseDesign)

The company is developing a new tablet with a 7.85-inch screen that is likely to sell for significantly less than the latest $499 iPad, with its 9.7-inch display, according to several people with knowledge of the project who declined to be named discussing confidential plans. The product is expected to be announced this year.

Amazon has seen some amount of success with its 7" Kindle Fire, while Google recently launched its Nexus 7 tablet. A so-called iPad Mini, priced aggressively by Apple, could prevent other companies from flanking Apple with cheaper tablets equipped with a smaller screen.

In October of 2011, Tim Cook said on an earnings call that he was "very confident about our ability to compete and extremely confident in our product pipeline."

Article Link: Smaller iPad Costing "Significantly Less" Than $499 Coming This Fall, According to NYT

Jonnyfive · Jul 15, 2012

Can't wait! Looking for an ereader that is small and doesn't feel archaic.

Skika · Jul 15, 2012

Another day, another iPad mini rumor.

Noiseboy · Jul 15, 2012

I'll take one of those thank you. Not been able to justify a full size one because my laptop is always with me but cheap is good

Mr. Gates · Jul 15, 2012

Gee, I thought it would be more ........

Gimmie color e-Ink or no thanks

Klae17 · Jul 15, 2012

Killer.

I look forward to the end of Kindle and the Nexus.

Adidas Addict · Jul 15, 2012

Oh god, not that mock up picture again.....

Neobond · Jul 15, 2012

At $200 I'm sold no questions. Most likely will be 16gb $300, and if so I need more information.

lyricthejoe · Jul 15, 2012

I would use an iPad Mini more than I think I would a regularly sized one. I would think that typing would be much easier/ similar to the iPhone thumb typing style, and several games already available could really take advantage of this. A never-ending rumor, I know, but here's to hoping it's true this time.

Monkey Butler · Jul 15, 2012

I still like the idea that the 'iPad mini' is in fact going to be the next generation iPod Touch. There's not really any reason to keep the screen size of the Touch locked in, especially if the iPhone's screen size is changing.

iapplelove · Jul 15, 2012

At this point give me one good reason why apple shouldn't make a "mini" iPad?

ChristianVirtual · Jul 15, 2012

a smaller iPad and cheaper is also something I would give to my son. with some parental control he could start learning email and use facetime with family. Of course one for Papa, too.

neiltc13 · Jul 15, 2012

The main things I want a tablet for are reading Google Reader and browsing the web. Nexus 7 does both of these just as well as iPad, but it's £159 instead of £399.

I opted for Nexus 7. I think a lot of others will be doing the same when they realise just how good value it is.

Stridder44 · Jul 15, 2012

There's really no reason not to do this. Can't wait to see it

Moonjumper · Jul 15, 2012

I like my 9.7" iPad, but I know something a bit smaller would suit some people better. It should work well at 1024x768 resolution. I would like to see it, even though I won't be a customer myself.

iBreatheApple · Jul 15, 2012

I love Sunday posts. :apple:

adildacoolset · Jul 15, 2012

Why do I keep gettingthe feeling that these are controlled leaks?

blackcrayon · Jul 15, 2012

lyricthejoe said:
I would use an iPad Mini more than I think I would a regularly sized one. I would think that typing would be much easier/ similar to the iPhone thumb typing style, and several games already available could really take advantage of this. A never-ending rumor, I know, but here's to hoping it's true this time.

One thing I like about the current iPad is that i can type at pretty high speed in landscape mode... Of course it's different when you're holding it in the air vs. when there's a surface or your lap to put it on.

dreamora · Jul 15, 2012

Somehow all these articles forget that apple can't release anything in the 6.5 - 8.5" range thanks to the millions they pushed into lawyers the past 2 years to piss of the galaxy tab and get it banned by proofing that it 'was like an ipad' visually cause samsung owns the 6.5 - 8.5" range of that design.

should they release such a thing, then samsung basically has an autoban at hand unless the design differs significantly from past ipads and hell will freeze before apple is going to break with their own design.
in this case it wouldn't be significantly cheaper cause it would cost apple a 2-3 figure million USD amount due to their arrogance and anticompetitive competition fighting patterns in the past

deecasey · Jul 15, 2012

An iPad mini will make a great Xmas present for the girlfriend but I seriously doubt I'd need one or even buying one to fall between my iPhone 4S and iPad 2.

TSE · Jul 15, 2012

Already ordered a Nexus 7.

With Apple iOS products, you are really just buying for the superior ecosystem nowadays, unless you absolutely need a Retina display. Good for some people, not necessary for others.

blackhand1001 · Jul 15, 2012

neiltc13 said:
The main things I want a tablet for are reading Google Reader and browsing the web. Nexus 7 does both of these just as well as iPad, but it's £159 instead of £399.

I opted for Nexus 7. I think a lot of others will be doing the same when they realise just how good value it is.

Yup it also has a much higher dpi than the rumored ipad mini. Around 216, which in my opinion is the best compromise between battery life and display quality. The ipad 3's 260dpi require them to use a gigantic battery. And the ipad 2's 130 was far too low.

arcite · Jul 15, 2012

iPad mini.....like a gateway drug to a full sized iPad.

Jonnyfive · Jul 15, 2012

Monkey Butler said:
I still like the idea that the 'iPad mini' is in fact going to be the next generation iPod Touch. There's not really any reason to keep the screen size of the Touch locked in, especially if the iPhone's screen size is changing.

This is so brilliant it is probably true

blackcrayon · Jul 15, 2012

dreamora said:
Somehow all these articles forget that apple can't release anything in the 6.5 - 8.5" range thanks to the millions they pushed into lawyers the past 2 years to piss of the galaxy tab and get it banned by proofing that it 'was like an ipad' visually cause samsung owns the 6.5 - 8.5" range of that design.

should they release such a thing, then samsung basically has an autoban at hand unless the design differs significantly from past ipads and hell will freeze before apple is going to break with their own design.
in this case it wouldn't be significantly cheaper cause it would cost apple a 2-3 figure million USD amount due to their arrogance and anticompetitive competition fighting patterns in the past

2-3 million USD? I guess divided over the volume of iPad minis produced that might raise the price by a few cents for each one. Sounds like it'd be worth it

Smaller iPad Costing "Significantly Less" Than $499 Coming This Fall, According to NYT

macrumors bot

macrumors regular

macrumors 68030

macrumors regular

macrumors 68020

macrumors 65816

macrumors 65816

macrumors regular

Cancelled

macrumors newbie

Suspended

macrumors 601

macrumors 68040

macrumors 68040

macrumors 68030

macrumors 68030

macrumors 65816

macrumors 68020

macrumors newbie

macrumors member

macrumors 68040

macrumors 68030

macrumors 6502a

macrumors regular

macrumors 68020

Our Staff