I agree. The only thing that has stopped me from upgrading from my iPad 2 is the weight/thickness of the newer iPads. I like the Mini, but with specs identical to my iPad 2 makes it seem kind of pointless for me to fork out another $500+. When the new iPads are released I'm hoping the Mini will have retina and the big brother will be lighter/thinner, then I will make the upgrade based on my needs.
Better jump on the wagon now. 12-21-2012 is supposed to be the last day on earth.......
I certainly do.... The current regular ipad is too heavy to lug around, whereas the ipad mini compromises too much on its screen size
I actually prefer the larger bezel...it gives me somewhere to hold. Sure the iPad could lose a bit of weight but I still went for the iPad 4, it's a powerhouse! Thinner, lighter meh :/ From the front it will still look the same, gorgeous screen and all...
I agree with you on the bezel size. Considering that the full-size iPad is meant to be held with two hands more often, it would mean that the current bezel is a better option.
But considering that iPhone 5, iPad mini both utilized thinner bezels, I wouldn't be surprised to see a slightly thinner bezel, but not overly thinner.
as for the iPad being thin, I don't think we should anything more than 15% thinner. Making it too thin also would affect the heat dissipation. As it is, currently the iPad 4th generation hits temperature around 35C -39C. IGZO & MEMS technology could reduce the power consumption, and reduce the requirement of dual LED backlight to a single LED backlight. As somebody already pointed out, the battery size should come down, thereby reducing the weight. The approach would depend on Apple's plan of just retaining the 10-12 hour, or using the a slightly reduced battery size, and showing a massive improvement in the battery life.
I am hoping for a weight reduction of around 40%, which should bring the weight around 392g from 652g. Anything more would be a bonus.
As for the LTE models, I think they may switch into Qualcomm Gobi MDM9625, which should make it truly LTE friendly.
Can't wait for the launch in mid-2013.
I certainly do.... The current regular ipad is too heavy to lug around, whereas the ipad mini compromises too much on its screen size
I hope ure right with 40% lighter dude!
Yep, thinner bezels will really drop the iPad weight.
I very much doubt that the bezel will get thinner soon. They've had plenty of opportunity to do so since the iPad first came out, and it has stayed the same while much of the rest of the design was tweaked and changed.
They could definitely make it a lot lighter as battery and screen tech improves while keeping the bezel the same. I think that would make it a lot easier to hold and use.
Umm,,,no, a thinner bezel will make it easier to hold and use. The Mini is a test to see how the form is received by consumers. The next iPad will follow suit. IZGO will be the thing to make this happen- smaller thinner battery, thinner bezels, current Mini backing.
392 gram looks unlikely at this point. I'd say, at best, 500 grams.
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Uh, yeah. It would. Arguably, the glass and the aluminum are the heaviest components of an iPad, probably followed by the battery and magnets.
Drastically reduce the bezels would you allow to get rid of a lot of heavy glass - and aluminum.
Combine this with an IGZO display which results in 50% less LED bars and a much lower power consumption (thus a much smaller, and lighter, battery) and we could definitely break through the iPad 2's weight of 601 g.
I think you are really thinking about this in the wrong way.500g isnt a groundbreaking figure. a reduction of only around 152g or around 24% based on the current weight seems to be too little. the mini got a 53% reduction. agreed that it doesnt hve the retina and the corresponding battery size but defintely it shld shave more than jz 150g. Like u pointd out..Igzo shld help reduce the battery size and the led backlights...tht shld mean a sufficient drop. add to that the new gf ditto production or in-cell tech ..and a thinner enclosure..all of which shld see a good weight drop. the ipad 2after adding retina nd bigger battery gained 52g..but the mini version with similar specs nd 1.8" less screen weighed 320g with d same tech. this is y i feel is possible to push it around 400g..even though its jz a wish to get around 40%..but even 420g wld b gud enuf..lets keep fingers crossed
Huge mistake here. 1.8" less of screen diagonal is not equal to 1.8 cubic inch less.but the mini version with similar specs nd 1.8" less screen weighed 320g with d same tech.
I think you are really thinking about this in the wrong way.
If they started to use IGZO displays, and thus 50% less LEDs and a smaller battery, you'd again reach about the weight of an iPad 2. (The bigger battery + more LEDs were added with the iPad 3). So than we would be at 600 grams.
To shave of another 100 grams is quite difficult. The best way I can imagine to shave lots of weight of is by removing the magnets (for the smart covers), but it appears as if those smart covers sell extremely well so they won't do that.
In-cell-tech will not remove much weight at all. Very little in fact. It's like removing a hair from your head.
Also, let's not forget that they also need to add something new. They won't just give it a redesign and that's it.
Huge mistake here. 1.8" less of screen diagonal is not equal to 1.8 cubic inch less.
Arguably, the glass and the aluminium back are the heaviest components. The iPad mini has a surface of 269 cubic centimeters. The 9.7" iPad has a surface of 448 cubic centimetres. This means the iPad mini carries about a third less glass! And that also means a lot of aluminium is gone.
To go anywhere below 500 grams is tough if you want to continue to use glass and aluminium.
Those things you say: smaller battery, 50% less LEDs, IGZO display, etc. will bring us back around the 600 gram mark. They key is to use as little glass and aluminium as possible.