Current iPad upate with release of iPad mini?

As much as I would like to see it happen, I doubt we'll see an A6 in the Mini. Not this year.

accentaudio said:

Really?!?! You think they will release the mini with an A5 chip? That is just weird to me with the iPhone having an A6...? With Steve gone only a year I am starting to see some bizarre things happening... Releasing an new device with already outdated technology seems wrong on so many levels. Yikes!

Click to expand...

It's just that I don't see them putting an A6 in before the full sized iPad gets one. And I don't see them updating the full size until March. I could be wrong though.

accentaudio said:

Really?!?! You think they will release the mini with an A5 chip? That is just weird to me with the iPhone having an A6...? With Steve gone only a year I am starting to see some bizarre things happening... Releasing a new device with already outdated technology seems wrong on so many levels. Yikes!

Click to expand...

The new $299 iPod touch has an A5.

There's really not much justification for anything more than an A5 unless it has a retina display.

The A5X in the full sized iPad is just an A5 with more GPU bandwidth to handle the higher resolution. In some ways the iPad 2 with it's 1024x768 display and A5 chip performs better than the retina model because it has more horsepower per pixel.

accentaudio said:

Really?!?! You think they will release the mini with an A5 chip? That is just weird to me with the iPhone having an A6...? With Steve gone only a year I am starting to see some bizarre things happening... Releasing a new device with already outdated technology seems wrong on so many levels. Yikes!

Click to expand...

I think they will. A5x is still very fast, and it'll run even faster on the smaller screen. Besides, it'll help to keep the price low. My guess is regular 9.7" iPad 4 will get A6, but that's not gonna happen until next year. Next week event will be all over iPad mini.

accentaudio said:

I understand the logic there. What I don't get though is releasing a brand new device like an iPad (even though it is smaller) with already outdated technology. Why put an A6 in an iPhone with a tiny little screen and not put it in an iPad no matter the screen size? Then having done that, you have the new mini (which I am certain will have a retina display) running an A6 and the flagship full sized iPad running an A5.

Click to expand...

The A5 isn't outdated. They actually even created a second generation version of it (at 32nm instead of 45nm) to reduce size and power consumption. That version is in the $399 version of the iPad 2 you can buy now as well as in the new iPod touch and presumably the iPad Mini.

The 32nm A5 is in some ways a more modern chip than even the A5X (45nm) in the full sized iPad.

The A6 is of course their new flagship chip, but it's probably somewhat supply constrained since it's a new chip and it's also going into a device that really costs $649. I don't think they want to risk not being able to make as many $600 iPhones as they possibly could because they're selling so many $299 iPads Minis.

The iPad mini as rumored will have pretty much the same number of pixels as the iPad 2, iPhone 4S, and the new iPod touch. None of those are performance slouches. The A5 GPU is still one of the top GPUs in the mobile industry.

accentaudio said:

I understand the logic there. What I don't get though is releasing a brand new device like an iPad (even though it is smaller) with already outdated technology. Why put an A6 in an iPhone with a tiny little screen and not put it in an iPad no matter the screen size? Then having done that, you have the new mini (which I am certain will have a retina display) running an A6 and the flagship full sized iPad running an A5. It all just seems out of order to me. I believe if Steve were still around, these sort of things would NOT be happening.

Click to expand...

How much sense would it make if they packed all this "latest technology" that it doesn't really need per say and it ends up being close to the same price as the 10" iPad? Word is this ipad mini is supposed to be a more "affordable" tablet and there's no way they could do that if they threw a retina display and an a6 chip in it. Maybe in the future they'll release the mini with retina but I don't see it happening quite yet

GoodBoy said:

I think they will. A5x is still very fast, and it'll run even faster on the smaller screen. Besides, it'll help to keep the price low. My guess is regular 9.7" iPad 4 will get A6, but that's not gonna happen until next year. Next week event will be all over iPad mini.

Click to expand...

I think that the A5X is pretty unlikely. It's the same CPU performance as the A5, just more GPU cores and bandwidth to handle more pixels. It's a physically large chip, as well as being relatively expensive because of that size and very power hungry. Most of that is because it's still being produced on the older 45nm process.

The new 32nm A5 that's being used in the $399 iPad 2 and new iPod touch has the same CPU power, plenty of GPU power to handle 1024x768, and is smaller and more power efficient than the original A5 and much more so than the monster A5X.

I haven't seen any rumors about the A5X going to 32nm, so I think the 32nm A5 that has been in production for several months already is a safer bet.

An iPad Mini in the $300 range with the same performance as the iPad 2 in a smaller form factor with great battery life will be a great product.

accentaudio said:

Really?!?! You think they will release the mini with an A5 chip? That is just weird to me with the iPhone having an A6...? With Steve gone only a year I am starting to see some bizarre things happening... Releasing a new device with already outdated technology seems wrong on so many levels. Yikes!

Click to expand...

If Ipad mini has A6 and what does it left the Ipad 3 which has an A5x? And how do you justify the price difference between Ipad 3 and Ipad mini. Ipad mini is not your top of the line product, the price they charge is not top of the line. So why should they give us the top of the line processor???

I don't think it would be far fetched for Apple to just update the 3rd gen iPad alongside the iPad mini at this event. Then they would just push back the usual march time frame for the ipad update to either the summer or fall next year. It's not like Apple hasn't switched release timeframes before. This just seems like a lot of SKUs for just the iPad mini, and I still don't buy that Apple is going to release a tablet with just 8GB of storage. I thin what we are seeing are the SKUs for 16/32/64 iPad mini wifi and wifi+4G, and the updated regular iPad.

Right after I posted this popped up.

http://www.cultofmac.com/196197/apple-reportedly-tells-suppliers-to-prepare-for-next-gen-ipad-in-mid-2013-rumor/

Frankied22 said:

I don't think it would be far fetched for Apple to just update the 3rd gen iPad alongside the iPad mini at this event. Then they would just push back the usual march time frame for the ipad update to either the summer or fall next year. It's not like Apple hasn't switched release timeframes before. This just seems like a lot of SKUs for just the iPad mini, and I still don't buy that Apple is going to release a tablet with just 8GB of storage. I thin what we are seeing are the SKUs for 16/32/64 iPad mini wifi and wifi+4G, and the updated regular iPad.

Click to expand...

Agreed! Also, why do people think it that it will be released with such "old technology"? Perhaps the high production of A6 is running very well and it is cheaper for Apple to use it for the Mini too. This in turn could power a retina display easily at 7.85 inches. Who knows, wishful thinking on my part!

xofruitcake said:

If Ipad mini has A6 and what does it left the Ipad 3 which has an A5x? And how do you justify the price difference between Ipad 3 and Ipad mini. Ipad mini is not your top of the line product, the price they charge is not top of the line. So why should they give us the top of the line processor???

Click to expand...

Absolutely agree with you! Some guys want na iPad mini with premium specs even better than iPad 3. Guess what that's not gonna happen, since the iPad mini price would have to start at 599$ and not 199-299$ as most of us expects. Plus an iPad mini is not designed for iPad 3 owners, but rather targeted at people who's thinking about getting Kindle Fire of Nexus 7 tablets. To attracts those customers iPad mini has to be more affordable than the iPad 3.

accentaudio said:

The whole thing seems weird to me. A new device released with outdated technology, and then turn right around in a few months and update it to an A6 with the release of the new "new" iPad...? What does make sense to me is to go ahead and release the mini and update the current iPad at the same time before the holidays hit. I personally think they should have their entire line on the A6 since the iPhone is already using it. I mean how many people will run out and buy the mini running an A5 chip when in just a couple months it will be updated to an A6 and a new iPad released? Bizarre!!!

Click to expand...

No, I think the mini would get updated to the A6 around this time next year. I don't see the iPad getting updated so soon, nor do I see the mini getting released now and then updated in March. I foresee mini updates in Fall and full size iPad updates in Spring.

i hope so