Apple Reportedly Looking to Launch ‘iPad Mini’ Priced at $249-$299 in Q3

[Bear]

dont know about you, but personally i still dont see much point in a smaller ipad.

I actually do see a smaller iPad being viable product.

Wouldn't that be a little disrespectful to Steve Jobs?
He said he didn't like 7 inch tablets... (Didnt he? Or am I imagining it? :s)

I'm not sure what the actual reason was, but I suspect it may have had something to do with screen technology and not a high enough resolution on a smaller screen just yet.

Smaller, but still doesn't fit in the pocket. If you're going to be carrying something the iPad, as it it, is great. But then again, at the price range, they are going directly after the Kindle; maybe it would change a lot?

It depends on the pocket. My jacket and coat pockets tend to be large enough. Also, think of women's handbags - the 10" iPad might not fit so well where a 7" one would. ANd yes the Kindle Fire proves there's a market for a 7" iPad

Down to personal taste I guess. I prefer using a Kindle if I"m stood up on the tube, or just on the tube in general as it's smaller. I can see a smaller iPad being useful for busy commutes.

A rather good point.

dont know about you, but personally i still dont see much point in a smaller ipad.

Wouldn't that be a little disrespectful to Steve Jobs?
He said he didn't like 7 inch tablets... (Didnt he? Or am I imagining it? :s)

Smaller, but still doesn't fit in the pocket. If you're going to be carrying something the iPad, as it it, is great. But then again, at the price range, they are going directly after the Kindle; maybe it would change a lot?

While this sounds good, I think it's a mistake.

Apple has chuckled about Android fragmentation and observed the mess that Google, et al, are in, and now they want to dirty their water by introducing something else that will fragment their market? Why?

A 7" iPad at the same resolution as the iPad 1 and 2 will not cause market fragmentation. The Android fragmentation is partially the numerous different screen sizes and resolutions. It's all the fact that not every Android device gets Android updates and the various customizations that each Android manufacturer has made.

I'd absolutely buy this for my kid. In addition, there's no way I wouldn't buy the full-sized iPad for myself.

This might not be the worst idea.

This makes a lot of sense, especially if a 7" iPad is near the price of the iPod Touch.

 

[303aegiszx]

Smaller? What a rubbish idea, could go a 12" iPad though.

Do you realize how big 12" is? Might as well go use a laptop.

12"...That is MASSIVE. For a portable device, it should in no way be bigger than 11". There's a reason why these products rely heavily on R&D.

For many users, 7-10" is perfect. It is the right sizing.

Tablets are meant to be, and should be, the size of a notepad, agenda, contact book, sketch book, etc.

 

[essential]

Many of you might think this sounds crazy, but I've wanted to figure out of way to put an iPad in my dash of my car instead of a CD Player, but the iPad size is just to big to fit. A touch is to small and a full sized iPad is to big, an iPad-mini might just do the trick, and it would be awesome if possible.

I'm all down for larger product lines, various size iPads and iPhones.

 

[mattg3]

If it has retina display the competition might as well throw in the towel.

 

[bushido]

dont know about you, but personally i still dont see much point in a smaller ipad.

better to read books, i got an iPad 2 but i still bought an Kindle a few weeks ago because its just easier to read and to carry

 

[Elbon]

I'd buy one

I'd consider buying one of these. I don't need or want a full-size iPad, and the iPod Touch is a bit too small for things like watching movies or reading e-books. Price point is a lot closer to what I'd be willing to spend, too.

 

[MTShipp]

Not gonna happen.

 

[madrich]

Yeah!

I would buy it. I have an iPod Touch, but like a bigger one.

 

[Tyrion]

Why would they cripple it out of the gate by making it non-retina? Otherwise it'd be an interesting form factor for those who find the normal iPad too heavy and bulky.

 

[uknowimright]

lol @ a 12" iPad, great idea...

 

[oliversl]

At 250 US$, the iPod Touch should be gone. I don't really see that 7" iPad happening.

 

[phillipduran]

dont know about you, but personally i still dont see much point in a smaller ipad.

PRICE!

I think that is one of the largest points to consider about this. At $250 even the cheapskates cant find a reason to not pick one up.

 

[duffmanth]

If Apple came out with a smaller iPad in that $250-300 price range, I would buy it. The current iPads are way too expensive for what I consider a toy that people WANT, but nobody NEEDS.

 

[roasted]

If it has retina display the competition might as well throw in the towel.

^ LOL. Yeah, because retina display is the only viable feature on tablets.

 

[Thunderhawks]

dont know about you, but personally i still dont see much point in a smaller ipad.

This is for all of those who want a bigger iphone in Android size.

 

[Les Kern]

I think the 9-10 inch size is pretty much perfect but then it's clear that many people have taken to the smaller, 7 inch, size. I can imagine some uses for such a device but, for my needs, it sacrifices too much in flexibility for what it gains in portability. This, of course, depends on what you use it for. If I were a more casual user with a greater focus on reading books and basic web browsing and a lesser focus on complex apps and content creation the sums may well add up differently.

The shape matters too. I've played a bit with a friend's Playbook. It's a very nice device. Solidly built with a very nice screen. It felt very small to my hands and eyes, accustomed as they are to the iPad, but it was the wideness of the screen which seemed most restrictive. It felt like a letterbox compared to the broader, more square shape of the iPad.

Perhaps a 7.85 inch device with the same aspect ratio as the iPad would be a better compromise. Larger than a 7 inch device and less narrow. At a sub $300 price point, as long as they get it right on the specs, the iPad mini could be a hit.

Clear thinking.
I just have no idea about this. The first thing that came to mind is that this would just be an answer to the smaller Android offerings, but Apple never really cared about "heading off at the pass". Would it cannibalize the larger iPad share? The price point just might make people buy that over it's cousin, BUT what are the margins? I have a Transformer and like you I don't care for the wider aspect ratio all that much.
This is a tough one.

 

[BlindGoldfish]

This actually justifies dropping the numerical aspect in the iPad lineup. You wouldn't want to say iPad 3 and iPad 3 Mini. It's just going to be iPad and iPad Mini (or Nano or whatever).

 

[JustMartin]

I've been sceptical about this as well. Seemed to me that something like that would be too big to be pocketable and too small to be useful. But I've just gone and measured a regular old paperback book and that's a smidge under 8 inches. So, I reckon it could be viable. I take my iPod Touch to the gym and watch video as I reckon the iPad is just too big. But, something in between those two sizes might work quite well.

 

[Les Kern]

A cheap iPad to compete with Kindle and lock more people into the iTunes/iOS store ecosystem?

Only thing that makes sense!

Indeed. It IS the only thing that makes sense.

 

[fruitycups]

Since when did apple start following the market?
Please dont do this

 

[Ambrose Chapel]

It depends on the pocket. My jacket and coat pockets tend to be large enough. Also, think of women's handbags - the 10" iPad might not fit so well where a 7" one would. ANd yes the Kindle Fire proves there's a market for a 7" iPad

A rather good point.

I see so many women on the subway reading a Kindle...don't know how many would use a 7" iPad instead, but I agree that there is definitely a market for 7" devices.

 

[bobenhaus]

[url=http://cdn.macrumors.com/im/macrumorsthreadlogodarkd.png]Image[/url]


Kotaku reports on claims [Google translation] from Chinese web portal NetEase regarding Apple's plans for the launch of a smaller "iPad mini" in the third quarter of this year. According to the report, Apple is planning to launch with six million units of the device at a price of either $249 or $299 in order to combat forthcoming Windows 8 products, although smaller Android tablets such as Amazon's Kindle Fire have also been viewed as targets for Apple.The well-connected John Gruber has claimed that Apple has a 7.85-inch iPad in its labs, but he does not know whether the product will ever make it to market. Various claims of Apple moving closer to production of the smaller iPad have also been surfacing as rumors continue to swirl.

Image


Mockup of 7.85-inch "iPad mini" next to iPad 2 (courtesy of CiccareseDesign)​

Last December, we posted a paper mockup showing what a 7.85-inch iPad would look and feel like, coming to the conclusion that onscreen elements would remain usable even as the standard iPad resolution of 1024x768 was squeezed into a 7.85-inch display rather than a 9.7-inch screen. A 7.85-inch "iPad mini" display with a resolution of 1024x768 would carry a pixel density of 163 pixels per inch, exactly the same density as the non-Retina iPhone and iPod touch models. Consequently, content meeting Apple's interface guidelines would display at acceptable sizes on such a display.

Article Link: Apple Reportedly Looking to Launch 'iPad Mini' Priced at $249-$299 in Q3

Apple is becoming a mass producing machine. This will be the downfall of Apple. No more qaulity but quanity.

 

[fruitycups]

Smaller, but still doesn't fit in the pocket. If you're going to be carrying something the iPad, as it it, is great. But then again, at the price range, they are going directly after the Kindle; maybe it would change a lot?

really so apple starts going after the market, since when?

I thought apple was always the one that didn't care about what the market says, but was the one that always created products for perfection..

if apple does this.. there will be too much compromises. apple will start falling apart. lets hope this doesnt happen.

 

[topmounter]

"counter attack"...??? oh brother...

 

[Boisv]

Wouldn't that be a little disrespectful to Steve Jobs?
He said he didn't like 7 inch tablets... (Didnt he? Or am I imagining it? :s)

Steve Jobs doesn't know what he wants until you show it to him.