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saintforlife

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Feb 25, 2011
1,045
329
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

Nexus 10 just came out with 2560 x 1600 pixels at 300 ppi.

No reason to believe iPad 5 won't match that, thereby enabling the Mini 2 to get retina.
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.

----------

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.
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.


hG731.png
 
Last edited:

nfl46

macrumors G3
Oct 5, 2008
8,323
8,608
They need a retina iPad mini rant section or topic on this forum. :rolleyes:
 

nuckinfutz

macrumors 603
Jul 3, 2002
5,537
398
Middle Earth
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. The only way the iPad mini gets a retina 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.

1. Needless fretting over distinction. Apple calls brands Retina the display that delivers invisible pixels at standard viewing length. They don't advertise Retina by number of PPI. A Retina iPhone is 326PPI while a Retina iPad is 263. Viewing distance is key. If you cannot see the pixels after a given point does it really matter how high the PPI goes.

2. Now your talking about technical issues and need to provide more substantive proof than opinion. If Sharp is mass producing more IGZO panels then we could have a Retina display that actually consumes "less" power than today's model. In addition we'll see faster GPU a year from now with a potential die shrink of the A6X.

Sharp's 7" IGZO display

Sharp began producing LCD panels using IGZO oxide semiconductors back in April – too late to be used in Apple's iPad 3 tablet. IGZO stands for indium gallium zinc oxide, and it replaces amorphous silicon for the active layer of an LCD screen. IGZO screens are up to 40-percent more efficient, as they contain smaller pixels which in turn draw less power and provide more touch accuracy. Smaller pixels also allow light to pass through more easily and thus reduces the amount of light needed to illuminate the screen.

My emphasis
 

saintforlife

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Feb 25, 2011
1,045
329
1. Needless fretting over distinction. Apple calls brands Retina the display that delivers invisible pixels at standard viewing length. They don't advertise Retina by number of PPI. A Retina iPhone is 326PPI while a Retina iPad is 263. Viewing distance is key. If you cannot see the pixels after a given point does it really matter how high the PPI goes.

2. Now your talking about technical issues and need to provide more substantive proof than opinion. If Sharp is mass producing more IGZO panels then we could have a Retina display that actually consumes "less" power than today's model. In addition we'll see faster GPU a year from now with a potential die shrink of the A6X.

Sharp's 7" IGZO display



My emphasis
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.
 

spiralynth

macrumors regular
Jul 23, 2008
153
4
Nexus 10 just came out with 2560 x 1600 pixels at 300 ppi.

No reason to believe iPad 5 won't match that, thereby enabling the Mini 2 to get retina.
 

Michael CM1

macrumors 603
Feb 4, 2008
5,681
276
Well... I love how Apple's mistake works. I dont think the ipad 3 was a mistake

For reals. What, Apple made it .01 inches thicker and added .01 ounces? I'll trade that off for a 10-inch screen better than 1080p displays.
 

EnderTW

macrumors 6502a
Jun 30, 2007
724
277
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 agree with the op.

Problem is I think apple is going to follow the route of the big iPad. iPad mini 2 will have a6 better camera.

The issue isn't the display nor the processor. It's definitely the battery. They will definitely get retina here but I don't see it happening next year. Think about it the ipad3 and 4 is pretty much all battery. That extra space is needed for the battery.
 

nuckinfutz

macrumors 603
Jul 3, 2002
5,537
398
Middle Earth
I agree with the op.

Problem is I think apple is going to follow the route of the big iPad. iPad mini 2 will have a6 better camera.

The issue isn't the display nor the processor. It's definitely the battery. They will definitely get retina here but I don't see it happening next year. Think about it the ipad3 and 4 is pretty much all battery. That extra space is needed for the battery.

What's the battery have to do with it?
 

macbook123

macrumors 68000
Feb 11, 2006
1,869
85
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.
 

saintforlife

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Feb 25, 2011
1,045
329
Nexus 10 just came out with 2560 x 1600 pixels at 300 ppi.

No reason to believe iPad 5 won't match that, thereby enabling the Mini 2 to get retina.
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.

----------

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.
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.


hG731.png
 
Last edited:

nuckinfutz

macrumors 603
Jul 3, 2002
5,537
398
Middle Earth
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.

Developer nightmare. With how iOS is designed it needs to be a doubling of horizontal and vertical pixels. An odd resolution means a LOT of work by developers.
 

augustya

Suspended
Feb 17, 2012
3,331
464
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.

Looks like People here already applying as Replacement for Jonathan Ivey and Phil Schiller. I would like to apply as a replacement for Tim Cook ! :D
 

iHeartsteve

macrumors 68000
Feb 12, 2012
1,554
900
Looks like People here already applying as Replacement for Jonathan Ivey and Phil Schiller. I would like to apply as a replacement for Tim Cook ! :D

Lol I'm sure these exact decisions that apple tries to make get far more heated at headquarters. I'd love to witness that!
 

LucasLee

macrumors newbie
Nov 1, 2012
19
0
Now that someone mentioned it, I also agree with the OP.

The problem is the extra complexity with app development. They just recenlty introduced a new format into iPhone. Which means app developers now need to optimize for iPhone 5, iphone, iPad and iPad retina. Introduce another format would be traditionally un-Apple like, making things more complex than necessary.

Having said that, a lot of things have broken Apple tradition lately, there is a chance that out of desperation they will break more traditions to increase margins.

There hasn't been much innovative feature for a while now, just a lot of spec upgrades.

A possible scernario is if they cannot find anything innovative to work on for gen 2 mini, they will up the spec when they release gen 2 mini, and when people are disappointed with lack of change in gen 2 mini, they will be forced to break traditions to increase the resolution in gen 3. Of course this could happen even quicker, if nexus, amazon and Microsoft up their game.
 

mcdj

macrumors G3
Jul 10, 2007
8,964
4,214
NYC
MacRumors tried and true recipe for braised crow...

1 cup <insert product name> will never happen
3 cups exclamation points
6 oz of "mark my words", finely chopped

Stir ingredients into a long post, bake 6 months until rumors bubble.

Remove from oven on launch day of <insert product>.

Serve to OP, if you can find him.
 

nuckinfutz

macrumors 603
Jul 3, 2002
5,537
398
Middle Earth
Now that someone mentioned it, I also agree with the OP.

The problem is the extra complexity with app development. They just recenlty introduced a new format into iPhone. Which means app developers now need to optimize for iPhone 5, iphone, iPad and iPad retina. Introduce another format would be traditionally un-Apple like, making things more complex than necessary.
.

There's just 3 iPhone resolutions

480 x 320
960 x 640
1136 x 640

And two iPad resolutions

1024 x 768
2048 x 1536

In a couple more generations developers will no longer target the 480 x 320 resolution because likely none of those devices will run iOS 8
 

kthnxshwn

macrumors regular
Jun 17, 2010
232
16
I like how a bunch of people who don't have any relation to Apple other than buying their products are stating assumptions as fact. Remember when you guys were saying the iPad wouldn't get a retina display? Remember when you said it'd be stupid to put a retina display in a Macbook?
 

augustya

Suspended
Feb 17, 2012
3,331
464
I like how a bunch of people who don't have any relation to Apple other than buying their products are stating assumptions as fact. Remember when you guys were saying the iPad wouldn't get a retina display? Remember when you said it'd be stupid to put a retina display in a Macbook?

Yep ! Nicely said ! So True !!
 

saintforlife

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Feb 25, 2011
1,045
329
I like how a bunch of people who don't have any relation to Apple other than buying their products are stating assumptions as fact. Remember when you guys were saying the iPad wouldn't get a retina display? Remember when you said it'd be stupid to put a retina display in a Macbook?
Wow, so much insight. Thanks for chiming in. Did you even read the reasons why I said it will not happen for at least two generations? Technology needs to catch up. It takes time. The screen resolution, app compatibility and retina crap is not exactly rocket science. It is pretty straight forward and simple really.
 

iHeartsteve

macrumors 68000
Feb 12, 2012
1,554
900
Time will tell.

Wouldn't it be funny if apple added retina display by June? I guess people who think apple will release upgrades every 6 months. That would just be insane.
 
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