Next iPad Mini to Have Retina Display?

[Rot'nApple]

Duh, like I didn't see that coming! Probably have a better camera too, you think?
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[mikefla]

The mini should have had a faster processor and a retina display to begin with. I was very disappointed with the device. For the cost we should have gotten much more for our money.

-Mike

[commander.data]

Originally Posted by strausd

I don't think an iPad mini will be a viable option for me until the third generation. The main thing I want is a retina display. The second thing I want is fluid performance. I have a third gen iPad and whenever doing anything on it, it is soooooo laggy. Early Android laggy. And it gets even worse when I get a banner notification.

The next gen iPad mini will have an A6, which has about the same GPU power as the A5X in the third gen iPad. So if the second gen has a retina display, it will be just as laggy. Third gen will be where the user experience is up to par IMO.

The A6 has equivalent raw processing power, particularly in shaders, as the A5X put it does not have as much memory bandwidth since it uses a 2x32-bit memory bus instead of a 4x32-bit memory bus. The memory bandwidth is needed to push the higher pixel count so an A6 retina iPad Mini would perform even worse than the iPad 3. A retina iPad Mini will have to use some form of A5X or A6X.

I agree that the next iPad Mini won't be retina. It's just too power hungry and adding thickness and weight would ruin the form factor. The next-gen full-size iPad is expected to be redesigned to be thinner and lighter. If the next iPad Mini is then thicker and heavier, it'll impact the distinction between the iPad and iPad Mini. As well, even with the bigger battery, the battery life of the retina iPad 3/4 is still worse than the iPad 2. With the current iPad Mini also having worse battery life than the iPad 2, it doesn't have the wiggle room to take further battery life hits.

I'm betting while the actual resolution of the next iPad Mini won't change from 1024x768, Apple will improve the perceived resolution. This can be done by laminating the display to the cover glass to eliminate the air gap which brings the display closer to the user and reduces reflections which will make the display look sharper. Apple can also go full color gamut like the iPad 3/4 and iPhone 5 as well as increase the contrast ratio in order to make each pixel more distinct from each neighboring pixel without actually making them smaller. This would improve the look of the display without a major increase in power consumption and be a sufficient stop-gap for a 2nd gen iPad Mini until retina technology is ready for a 3rd gen iPad Mini.

[carmenodie]

We already know that the mini will get the retina treatment so spare me all this drama.

[mac jones]

I thought it did already. Yikes i'm getting my money back.

[newcronos]

Originally Posted by b166er

Everyone is posting like this is so obvious... I know they do this to keep people upgrading every year...

So you want to be Colonel Obvious instead of just a Captain?

[W4Win]

Good news.
But why should I pay more money for a full-sized iPad when there's a better and mini one?

[mrsir2009]

No.

[haruhiko]

Originally Posted by W4Win

Good news.
But why should I pay more money for a full-sized iPad when there's a better and mini one?

Because it's bigger.

[anyway]

No. Don't disappointed me.

[koban4max]

Originally Posted by canucksfan88

apple marketing and businesses strategy at its finest.

(revision A) introduce a "revolutionary" new iPad mini and let people rave about it while omitting a screen that should have been standard

(revision B) announce a beautiful and even better than before iPad mini with a gorgeous retina high resolution display that is genius engineering ...which should have been on revA

(revision C) Retina display of ipad mini with A6 and....with stereo sound. (whoooo)

(revision D) Retina display with stereo and A6x with with new colors.

[montclaire]

It's really dreadful to look at the current non retina ipad mini. I welcome this but have to say it was becoming. No need to spy in foxconn. It will be with retina. Apple wants you to continue to buy it's products, they need to outperform previous quarter earnings.

[b166er]

Originally Posted by newcronos

So you want to be Colonel Obvious instead of just a Captain?

Not a chance removing the whole body of my post could have possibly changed the context. My point is, it was "obvious" the mini would be retina. Until it wasn't. Same with iPad 2. Same with 2012 iMacs.

[ThatGuyInLa]

$130 more gets you a full size, twice as fast Retina iPad. That's all that separates a Mini from Retina and CPU?

No.

Apple is not ready to admit Jobs was wrong.

Sales will show, the Mini is the King. The stereo speakers ON THE SIDE instead of the back are further examples of "the Mini is the right choice."

(posted with my iPad Mini, sold my iPad 3rd gen)

[ThunderSkunk]

I'm keeping this mini for a few years. Got all the space & connectivity I need, and the low-res screen keeps it lightweight, cool in your hand, VNCing fast, and charging quickly.

I'll upgrade when they build a Wacom digitizer layer in.

[GregAndonian]

In other news, it's been revealed that the next F-150 will have tires- four of them.

[strausd]

Originally Posted by commander.data

The A6 has equivalent raw processing power, particularly in shaders, as the A5X put it does not have as much memory bandwidth since it uses a 2x32-bit memory bus instead of a 4x32-bit memory bus. The memory bandwidth is needed to push the higher pixel count so an A6 retina iPad Mini would perform even worse than the iPad 3. A retina iPad Mini will have to use some form of A5X or A6X.

I agree that the next iPad Mini won't be retina. It's just too power hungry and adding thickness and weight would ruin the form factor. The next-gen full-size iPad is expected to be redesigned to be thinner and lighter. If the next iPad Mini is then thicker and heavier, it'll impact the distinction between the iPad and iPad Mini. As well, even with the bigger battery, the battery life of the retina iPad 3/4 is still worse than the iPad 2. With the current iPad Mini also having worse battery life than the iPad 2, it doesn't have the wiggle room to take further battery life hits.

I'm betting while the actual resolution of the next iPad Mini won't change from 1024x768, Apple will improve the perceived resolution. This can be done by laminating the display to the cover glass to eliminate the air gap which brings the display closer to the user and reduces reflections which will make the display look sharper. Apple can also go full color gamut like the iPad 3/4 and iPhone 5 as well as increase the contrast ratio in order to make each pixel more distinct from each neighboring pixel without actually making them smaller. This would improve the look of the display without a major increase in power consumption and be a sufficient stop-gap for a 2nd gen iPad Mini until retina technology is ready for a 3rd gen iPad Mini.

My guess is that Apple won't put an "X" series chip in the iPad Mini. Granted, this is only the first iteration, so this is all speculation.

My personal speculation is that they will continue to use year old chips in the Mini to keep costs down, and will not include "X" versions for the same reason. So in my mind, the first chip to give decent performance with minimal lag will be the A7, which will come with the 5S. So the mini will get it the year after. But again, just speculation.

[andycr]

No **** sherlock.

[ThatsMeRight]

Originally Posted by JAT

So, no comments on the first DROP in iPad tech? Just as edge-lit TVs are a pitiful excuse for LED tech that is barely (and perhaps not) as good as the old CCFLs, this is a downgrade. Let's hope it is wrong. Would not buy.

Member #378190


Member #717373

Hmm, could it be these are different people making different comments? Maybe you guys should prove your point with actual references. I mean, we do have over Seven. Hundred. Thousand. choices.

It wouldn't be a drop. All iPads had one single LED bar except for the Retina display iPad. Why? One LED bar doesn't provide enough light for a Retina display. Due to the high pixel density, the light can't pass through.

Reducing it to one bar saves energy. Saved weight. Makes the device thinner.

[AppleScruff1]

Originally Posted by ThatGuyInLa

$130 more gets you a full size, twice as fast Retina iPad. That's all that separates a Mini from Retina and CPU?

No.

Apple is not ready to admit Jobs was wrong.

Sales will show, the Mini is the King. The stereo speakers ON THE SIDE instead of the back are further examples of "the Mini is the right choice."

(posted with my iPad Mini, sold my iPad 3rd gen)

I won't be surprised to see the iPad 5 with stereo speakers, slimmer bezel and similar design to the mini. It will also be one generation ahead on processor and probably have more RAM.

[Jimrod]

Well I can honestly say I'm happy with my non-retina iPad 2 screen and from what I've seen of the condensed version of that in the Mini it looks great - I actually wasn't as impressed with the retina one on a friend's iPad 3 as I thought I would be, not the jump I found coming from an iPhone 3GS to 4.

People get so hung up on resolution but it's not the only point in terms of quality of a good screen! I find my iPhone 5 display a bit of a crappy step back as it's yellow/green tinted which seems to be the new standard - it's not just "warmer" as people say, to be precise mine is 106% green, 92% blue and 81% red - that isn't warmer, it's greener and leaves people with sickly skin tones. My iPad 2 is near perfect with colour, the iPhone 4 a little blue but not to the same extent and it doesn't have as detrimental an effect on colours.

For all this playing "catch-up" with HD and the Android guys - I just bought a Kindle Fire HD for my mother for Christmas and all the reports about the great screen left me a little underwhelmed - it's OK but not as good as the Apple screens, the black levels aren't as good and there are visible lines when you look closely, I don't really care about the resolution if you can see the lines between the pixels (I've got crappy eyesight) but it seems to be the number 1 concern of everyone...

[Kenetic0320]

Hardly shocking news! This is the reason I didn't get the mini... I knew the retina version would be coming very soon

[SchneiderMan]

Should that really be a question?

[Shearwater]

It seems to be no surprise to people that Apple will screw them again with 'another iPad launch'!!!

[Defender2010]

A lame attempt to grab more site traffic with news that has already been speculated over many times....this site is getting worse! Fail!