iPad Mini Teardown Reveals Samsung Display Driver, A5 Chip, Stereo Speakers

[xofruitcake]

Originally Posted by AQUADock

How many times are people going to say this? It's not specifically a better choice because it's bigger.

heh heh, because those folks are not in a market to buy a small tablet. Their idea of value is the traditional American value, bigger is better and more valuable. Unfortunately in mobile world smaller and lighter is better.. I have an Ipad 3 and I am seriously thinking about getting an Ipad mini because of the lighter weight and smaller size..

[milo]

Did they actually confirm that the two speakers are being fed stereo content and not dual mono? Not that it would be easy to tell with them so close together.

Originally Posted by Stetrain

The iPad 2 does fine with that memory

Not for having multiple tabs open in Safari.

[Buckeyestar]

Originally Posted by madsci954

I wonder now if all future iOS devices will have stereo speakers.

iPads, very likely. iPhones, not so much. They still have to have a mic or it wouldn't be a phone.

[RedRaven571]

Originally Posted by kralnor

Because people were under the incorrect assumption that the iPad mini was going to be a "budget iPad" for people who didn't really want a smaller screen, but were willing to make do with one in order to save a few hundred bucks. These people cant accept the fact that they were wrong. These people also have not paid attention to anything apple has done in the past 7-8 years.

The one I am purchasing for my daughter is $170 less than the full size iPad:

32GB WiFi iPad Mini - $429
32GB WiFi iPad (4th gen) - $599

All discussion of retina vs. non-retina, A5 vs. A6, etc. aside, that's a sizable chunk of change for some folks.....

[technopimp]

Why do they always have to "confirm" the specs of any new Apple device? Do they think Apple is somehow publishing false specs? I mean, they specifically stated it has an A5 in it. Why does iFixit need to "confirm" that?

[clibinarius]

Originally Posted by technopimp

Why do they always have to "confirm" the specs of any new Apple device? Do they think Apple is somehow publishing false specs? I mean, they specifically stated it has an A5 in it. Why does iFixit need to "confirm" that?

Because Apple doesn't really release the specs. "A5" is a type of chip, but won't say what speed its running at, or how much memory it has ("A4" had 256 or 512...)

[JForestZ34]

And to think all these apple fans saying they would never buy anything with Samsung components again. Lol




James

[callea]

Anyone can confirm it's a 32nm A5 and not 45nm like iPhone 4s?

[EmpireITtech]

Originally Posted by technopimp

Why do they always have to "confirm" the specs of any new Apple device? Do they think Apple is somehow publishing false specs? I mean, they specifically stated it has an A5 in it. Why does iFixit need to "confirm" that?

Probably bc that's just what their "break down" articles are for...and technically, they are "confirming" it bc until they open it, it's just hearsay =]

[mazz0]

Originally Posted by milo

Did they actually confirm that the two speakers are being fed stereo content and not dual mono? Not that it would be easy to tell with them so close together.

Exactly. Two speakers isn't the same as Stereo.

[jsw]

Originally Posted by Shrink

A dramatic move, bur probably the only way to perceive the stereo output.

Minimal separation....kind of useless, IMO.

That's not at all true.

You could get two stethoscopes and only use one of the two earpieces of each.

You could place a wedge between the speakers and direct sound to each side.

You could get two microphones and transmit each one's signal to a separate ear.

You could place the Lightning port on the bridge of your nose.

You could buy three minis, disable the left speaker on one, the right on another, and watch the third while holding the other two up to the corresponding ear.

Seriously, I am sick and tired of people saying you won't be able to hear stereo from one of these things without the use of headphones; clearly, there are many simple ways to do so.

[Westside guy]

Originally Posted by WannaGoMac

So it's a small iPad 2. Unless you want a smaller tablet, an iPad 2 refurb is a better choice IMHO.

Yeah, before the Mini launch no one here had EVER said they wanted something smaller than the full-size iPad...

[Drumjim85]

Having stereo speakers is a big deal, not because you'll hear true stereo, but because you won't be getting a summed mono output. If anything this will help the clarity of the sound.

[flopticalcube]

Originally Posted by jsw

That's not at all true.

You could get two stethoscopes and only use one of the two earpieces of each.

You could place a wedge between the speakers and direct sound to each side.

You could get two microphones and transmit each one's signal to a separate ear.

You could place the Lightning port on the bridge of your nose.

You could buy three minis, disable the left speaker on one, the right on another, and watch the third while holding the other two up to the corresponding ear.

Seriously, I am sick and tired of people saying you won't be able to hear stereo from one of these things without the use of headphones; clearly, there are many simple ways to do so.

Now that is thinking differently.

[Westside guy]

Originally Posted by JForestZ34

And to think all these apple fans saying they would never buy anything with Samsung components again. Lol

That's quite difficult to do in practice. I've tried to avoid Sony products for several years because their current business motto seems to be "okay, now you're going to bend over further, and you're going to tell us you like it" - but they've got their fingers in so many pies it's unreal.

[WilliamLondon]

Queue up the masturbatory chant, "iPad 2 res, A5 chip and 512mb RAM...," uttered by the smug, superior set who derive a real sense of satisfaction knowing that each one of them is but one of a handful of people exclusively possessing adequate brains which tell them to forego this gen 1 iPad mini, and that one must be an ignoramus to be able to delude oneself into believing that "iPad 2 res, an A5 chip and 512mb RAM" could ever be considered useful or enjoyable in a new device.

Chant, chant, chant... here they come.

[Leonard1818]

Originally Posted by AQUADock

How many times are people going to say this? It's not specifically a better choice because it's bigger.

'merica

[scott911]

on my soap box again:

So many people immensely value the display - but at the same time, never seem to give a thought about sound. I really, really want future iOS products to have better sound.

ideas:
* invest in quality components. Much, much more seems to be spent on cardboard packaging than speakers - up the game apple!

* think differently about orientation. Speaker will probably never be where they should be - in the front face - but maybe there's a better way to get them to work.

* stereo separation... I'm not too worried about this. I just want to hear clearly when using a mobile / portable experience.

[GorgonPhone]

ooohh wow stereo sounds.... in 2012..loloolol

[sausy]

All the tiny detailed elements in the unibody are remarkable, beautiful even.

[Che Castro]

Ram ?

[Bankerts]

Originally Posted by che castro

ram ?

512

[nick_elt]

Originally Posted by callea

Anyone can confirm it's a 32nm A5 and not 45nm like iPhone 4s?

the ipad 2 moved to 32nm earlier this year so yes it would be

----------

Originally Posted by Bankerts

512

correct, and very dissapointing too.

[extricated]

The only advantage I see with going "stereo" is you don't run across issues resulting from volume compensation when combining channels. It doesn't happen often, but I notice a definite degredation in sound on certain tracks that have very different left and right channels. In that respect, stereo is an improvement for sure.

That said, I'm normally docked or using headphones, but still ...

There is advantage in not converting to mono and slightly better quality, but no benefit in terms of being able to distinguish between channels (due to speaker proximity).

[jazz1]

Originally Posted by daneoni

I actually think they should kill off the iPad 2. Its still more expensive than the mini brand new and only marginally cheaper than the retina, and it lacks Siri. It sticks out like a sore thumb. Seems like a solution looking for a problem to me.

There was a time when Apple took an outdated Lisa/Mac XL's and just buried them in a landfill.

http://applemuseum.bott.org/sections...ers/lisa2.html

My iPad2 is still going strong, but I have ordered the iPad4. The iPad2 is going to my kid.