Photos of Purported 'iPad Mini' Parts Include Rear Shell and Front Panel

[Shanpdx]

I'm thinking they will do a silent spec bump on the New iPad with the iPad Mini announcement. I don't know if it will be heavily covered during the Mini announcement though if it happens as they say in a couple of weeks.

A6 is big improvement over A5X - so if it is covered, it will be covered heavily.

but question whether they can risk the production?

if the new iPad updated, then you have four new product in demand, iPhone 5, iPod touch, iPad mini and iPad - that is too much to meed the demand.

in the holiday quarter missed sale is missed opportunity

 

[apolloa]

Here's some bits someone 'claims' are from an iPad mini including parts we believe are from the Kindle Fire! But we thought we would believe them and post them anyway...........

Yeap, still sceptical.

And IF it is real and comes with 4G, A5, Retina. You can forget $350, more like $400 easy.

 

[somethingelsefl]

I feel like Apple (like many tech companies right now) has "Goldilocks Syndrome" with screen sizes.

This screen is TOO BIG. This screen is TOO SMALL. This screen is TOO WIDE. This screen is TOO NARROW. and on and on and on

 

[Small White Car]

The only thing I have qualms about with the iPad mini is the purported resolution – the Nexus 7" (1280 x 800) has a beautiful display, and a higher resolution than the purported iPad mini 7.85" (1024 x 768).

The resolution is mostly being chosen for developers' sake, it's not being done to cheap-out on the display.

If these small iPads have similar screen technology to the new iPhones (with the pixels being brought close to the glass) then I'd put good odds on these screens looking at least as good as other, slightly higher-resolution, screens.

Those resolutions are close enough that the visual gap could be closed if the iPad has any other screen advantages.

 

[The Samurai]

Only if we had some.... iMac / rMBP part leaks.... #OhWait #PostPC

 

[Shanpdx]

Battery life

But the iPad 2 is an older device, just as the iPhone 3GS was. I think Apple intentionally decides to keep the older device to have a cheaper entry model. I think Apple is actually trying to incorporate the Retina display into its new products over time. Not adding it to a new iPad would be a step back in my opinion. If the iPad Mini does not have a Retina display, I might not be willing to buy it, knowing that there is better technology available.

then it will cost about $399 - easily that retina display alone about $100 range.

Also another issue is the battery life - the battery in the iPad mini will be much smaller than the regular iPad - if you go retina display - they battery life will go down to 6 hours range - unless the A6 power savings are that good...

 

[Che Castro]

Carbon fiber is unlikely given how expensive it is, if the iPad mini is indeed going to sell for the rumored $249-299.

Plastic is more likely given the lack of Apple logo cutout on the back for the Wi-Fi antenna. Either that or anodized aluminum and they placed the Wi-Fi antenna somewhere else (more likely).

Retina Display is impossible. 2048x1536 at that size is just pointless and would require far more expensive parts (display, battery, GPU) and would make it thicker and heavier.

1024x768 is not a bad resolution for a 7.85" tablet anyway. Remember that you only get a few more pixel on the 13" MBP that sells for 4-5x the price and has 3x the screen surface.

The iPhone 5 has a retina screen and is not heavy

It can be done

 

[xodiak]

The question I think we are all thinking is when will we get the scratch test, or the gun shot test, or the dropping it from 3 floors up test, or how it holds up to a chainsaw. I mean after all if its real or not those are the things that matter right?

 

[pgiguere1]

The iPhone 5 has a retina screen and is not heavy

It can be done

Sure it could be done technically. I was more talking about costs. The iPhone retails for $650, over twice the rumored price of the iPad mini.

Apple like their high margins.

 

[euphlyusUNO]

I wonder which "segment" of products apple will put this under. Apple has always introduced products with specific purposes in mind. If this is indeed just a larger ipod touch or a smaller ipad, I don't see the point in its existence. How can they differentiate? What's the USP?

 

[BMNB1tch]

such a pointless product

 

[KALLT]

then it will cost about $399 - easily that retina display alone about $100 range.

Also another issue is the battery life - the battery in the iPad mini will be much smaller than the regular iPad - if you go retina display - they battery life will go down to 6 hours range - unless the A6 power savings are that good...

The iPhone 4 is now the entry model iPhone and has a Retina display. In the beginning of 2013, Apple will probably also get rid of the iPad 2 and make the iPad 3 the standard model, or at least make the iPad 3 cheaper to distinguish it from the latest model.

Regarding battery, you also should not forget that the iPad Mini has a smaller screen as well. I’m quite confident that Apple will find the right balance to preserve a good battery life.

I’m just not convinced that Apple would consider introducing a new product which has a lesser quality standard just to be more competitive on a specific market. That’s not the way Apple works. I think Apple might only consider an iPad Mini to enter a new market and compete with other models, but not due to the consideration of price.

 

[Che Castro]

The black back looks like this here

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1455202/

 

[euphlyusUNO]

such a pointless product

Even after my previous comment and this one, I might still buy this toy if it's under $249 for the base variant, my wife has an ipad, I want one but won't spend $500

 

[unplugme71]

Looks like it comes with a 30 pin connector.


jk

 

[Blakjack]

I have a big iPad with no need for a mini iPad.....so Apple shouldn't make the mini since I don't want them to. Because if they did that, it wouldn't make sense for me to buy one since I have a big one, so I wont buy it and because of that, I don't want anyone else to have one either.

 

[WilliamLondon]

such a pointless product

Thank you for that. I was on the side of liking it very much, finding something like it very useful and planning on buying one, but I now see that would be stupid to think such of, as you say, "a pointless product."

My big reservation about this product is how well it'll display PDFs - with a screen this size, will the resolution be good enough to read PDFs on it easily, or will PDFs really only be well viewable on the regular iPad screen? I haven't played with the Kindle Fire HD yet, but will definitely check it out if this product doesn't get launched.

 

[wolfpackfan]

So tired of seeing iPad mini rumors.

Then don't read them. Problem solved.

 

[Jibbajabba]

A shell ? Damn, I already missed my twice-daily mockup front page news.

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Then don't read them. Problem solved.

Hard not to when it is constantly front page is it.

 

[whoknows87]

everything we saw for the i5 we already knew from leaks, so there you go ladies and Gents the New iPad Mini, you wont be surprised

 

[JHankwitz]

Either they're anodizing the aluminum like the iPhone 5, or they've moved to a plastic back to keep costs down.

If Apple expects to remain in the game, they’re going to have to cut costs and come out with a product that is cost competitive. Plastic is inexpensive, light, durable, and doesn't block WiFi. Since iPads are becoming the mainstay in schools, capturing that market is critical. The mini-iPad will be small enough to carry around school, and at an affordable price would enable every kid in the nation to get one, maintaining Apple dominance.

I hope Apple learned a lesson from when they were by far the top producer of personal computers and others came along and undersold them on price and captured 95% of the market in just a few years. This could be the same thing all over again. Apple must produce something affordable for the masses or may need to release the next great thing if they expect to survive, and I don’t think an Apple TV will cut it.

 

[Thunderhawks]

Wait, so let me get this straight. A Ukrainian snuck this out of Brazil??

A Polish guy would have just taken the home button.

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such a pointless product

Would it change your mind if this was really a very large ipadphone aimed at the Galaxy SIII ?

Those people seem to like bigger stuff.

 

[D.T.]

My big reservation about this product is how well it'll display PDFs - with a screen this size, will the resolution be good enough to read PDFs on it easily, or will PDFs really only be well viewable on the regular iPad screen? I haven't played with the Kindle Fire HD yet, but will definitely check it out if this product doesn't get launched.

I think it will be very good, especially relative to its form factor.

The iPad 4:3 ratio is great for reading documents (in portrait orientation), the display size will still be pretty sizable (almost 8"), and even with a 1024x768 (for maximum app compatibility), that's still a slight improvement vs. iPad 1/2 (~164 PPI).

I love reading on my iPad, and use PDFs all the time (lots of technical documents). Heck, I regularly switch to reader mode in OSX Safari (purging on the noise), and Save-As to PDF directly to my DropBox, then easily open it on the iPad

 

[apolloa]

I predict:

Infinity Blade: Dungeons = launch title for the iPad mini!

Bring it!!!

Hmm, well they showed of Real Racing 3 on the iPhone 5 at it's keynote and where is that!!!??? Bloody teases I tell ya.

 

[powers74]

Black back? Carbon Fiber, maybe? Or like the iPhone 5? Really hard to tell by those pictures but the back doesn't look like it's been milled out of aluminum, like the iPhone parts. Maybe it's just stamped aluminum like the full size iPads. Just my opinion.

Original article also says "will be announced Oct 17 and released Nov 2." Can't wait!!!

are you kidding? Look at the corners. Looks milled to me...