7-Inch iPad with Retina Display Coming in October Priced at $200-$250?

[nannyg]

Yes!

For all of those who say something like "They already make an iPad Mini; It's called the iPod Touch", get a grip. Look at the two mock-ups side by side. They are nothing alike in size. They are FAR, FAR different in size than a 11", 13", 15", and 17" Macbook and think of the screaming if someone discounted the importance of any of those because they were too similar in size.

I have loved the idea of an iPad since a year before the first one came out and everyone here swore it would be a complete failure. But I have not bought one yet. The reason is that, despite it's being a fantastic product, it's a little bigger than it needs to be, and much heavier than it needs to be.

I guarantee it will be produced and that it will tap into a whole new market of users (while yes, cannibalizing a few sales). What I can't see, however, is a price point below $299. It doesn't need to be priced any lower. As many of you have pointed out, Apple doesn't have to undercut anyone. They have a superior product and everyone knows that and accepts that.

 

[Ryth]

Why do you hope this true? Do you really want another screen in middle between iPhone and iPad? I don't. Ridiculous.

Why do you hope it's not true? Do you really not want another screen in the middle between iPhone and iPad? I do. Ridiculous.

I mean it's not like Apple doesn't make something similar ....13"-15"-17"

The 7" iPad is a great idea. It will only make Apple the only game in town.

Lets see...a Nook, Kindle or 7" iPad...hmmmm...

 

[evilcat]

How are iphones so much more expensive? Does the phone component really add hundreds of dollars more in cost for the device that has a much smaller screen?

$200 for an iPod Touch... 3G on an iPad adds $140 dollars to the price, so that would make a Touch $350. The rest will be for the cellular chips that allow phone calls, the GPS unit, and their associated licensing fees.

 

[Syk]

Why do you hope this true? Do you really want another screen in middle between iPhone and iPad? I don't. Ridiculous.

Just because you don't want it doesn't mean others don't so it's not ridiculous.

I don't understand why people get upset with others wanting a choice. As long as Apple doesn't make it out of crap it'll be fine. If you don't want a smaller screen don't buy it.

You have to adjust to what your market is asking for. You don't have to go full tilt but you either make adjustments or go through the problems RIM is facing now by being complacent and stagnant.

 

[Reach9]

Because RIMs PlayBook is selling like sliced bread right now.

The Apple Store 2013, according to business analysts:
Image

Which business analysts are saying this? Link?

 

[dashiel]

If this is true and the prices is true. It will cannibalize ipod sales.

True, but Apple has never been afraid of cannibalizing or outright canceling projects if a better product can take its place. I’m not saying I buy these rumors – though having a Kindle Fire it’s a great form factor for certain activities, garbage OS makes it less appealing.

 

[840quadra]

The iPod Touch is a completely different product. It's not going anywhere.

I completely agree. I can't recall the last time I have gone without seeing at least one at the local wifi hotspots that commonly have teenagers hanging out. I usually see more of those, than I do iPads.

The iPod Touch still appears to be a good gateway drug into the iOS world for many people.

 

[johncrab]

Okay, here is MY iPad rumor: The next iPad will have an 82" retina display, will plug in and mount to the wall.

 

[TC03]

I don't buy it. There is no market for a 7" tablet. There is for a 7" ereader (Kindle Fire), but not for a tablet.

 

[Yamcha]

Yup I don't think It's going to happen..

 

[Ryth]

I completely agree. I can't recall the last time I have gone without seeing at least one at the local wifi hotspots that commonly have teenagers hanging out. I usually see more of those, than I do iPads.

The iPod Touch still appears to be a good gateway drug into the iOS world for many people.

How do you they don't have iPhones? Just saying...unless you are walking right up to them, it's pretty hard to tell the difference in the two devices especially if they have a case on it.

Most kids I know that have iPod Touches want iPads now or something bigger.

True, but Apple has never been afraid of cannibalizing or outright canceling projects if a better product can take its place. I’m not saying I buy these rumors – though having a Kindle Fire it’s a great form factor for certain activities, garbage OS makes it less appealing.

Agree..Apple doesn't care...if they are generating more sales on a higher margin device which could lead to more app sales, then it's a no brainer.

 

[currentinterest]

Pricing for the 7.85 inch would work if it were something like this:

$249 WiFi 8GB
$349 WiFi 16GB
$449 WiFi 32GB

$369 LTE 8GB
$469 LTE 16GB
$569 LTE 32GB

Many would go for the greater storage, and some would go for the LTE version as well; the margins would be made up there.

I also think it will be positioned as the bridge between the iPod touch and he iPad and be called the iPad touch.

 

[malman89]

Just taking the existing form factor and shrinking and locking the dimensions looks ugly and awkward.

Price for an ugly awkward iPad Mini or a Kindle Fire/Nook would be a toss up at best.

 

[69650]

Seems logical to me. Apple have done this kind of brand extension before with great success. The iPod Nano and keeping iPhone 3GS are two good examples.

7" iPad with processor/components/screen from the iPad 2 to save on BoM.

$299 for the 8GB model and $399 for the 16GB version.

The iPad 2 will be discontinued at the annual iPad refresh in March 2013.

Probably see an upgraded iPod in Sept with same size screen as new iPhone and 128GB version to replace the iPod Classic. Refresh keeps the same price points and larger memory differentiates it from the iPad Mini.

 

[TallManNY]

price might be too good to be true but there is some competitors they would crush if they did do this

The thing is, they are already crushing those competitors. At some point apple might need to start worrying about antitrust and monopoly issues. If they push everyone except the e-ink crowd out of the space, there might be legal issues.

I think 7" is coming. The size just works for a lot of uses and it would be easy to make. But I don't think it will be a low end or cheap machine. How about $300 or $400 with LTE. I think that would still sell like hot cakes.

 

[bushido]

bye bye iPods, it was fun while they lasted

 

[polaris20]

If we can assume for a moment that a 7" iPad is coming (and that's a big "if"), I would think that the likely situation would be that they'd ditch the iPad 2 @$399, and replace it with this at the same price point.

This would be quite similar to the iPod Mini days, where there was an iPod Mini that sold for not a lot less than what you could buy a regular iPod for, but it was compelling due not so much to the price, rather the size.

Selling it at $250 would tell me that they're discontinuing the iPod touch, and I just don't see them doing that. There's no way they can sell a 7.85" iPad for the same price or less than an iPod touch and maintain their margins.

 

[Tsunami911]

Oh no!

Apple PLEASE don't make the same mistake Amazon did. Don't cripple this device with only 8GB of storage!! That would be a deal killer for most people and I certainly could not recommend it to anyone.

I don't care how much storage you have in the cloud...there is no substitute for decent on-device storage. Especially when you have some apps weighing in over 1GB in file size.

 

[Colpeas]

Not gonna happen. Same old **** but another day.

 

[drblank]

Why racking your brain that much, Apple? I just want a Mac Pro refresh!

Yeah, and a Mac Mini and Laptop refresh. The iPad mini is either going to be a replacement for the iPod Touch or just simply a smaller one for those that really only need that size product for a portion of the user base. I can see some using an iPad mini, but I think it will be a smaller market (but still big enough to offer) as the iPad.

As the iPad, iPhone market becomes more solidified in terms of how these things are being used, Apple gets more feedback and sees other trends for them to address. If it worthwhile making it in several different sizes, then they'll probably do it. I think those that would buy the iPod Touch are those that might buy the iPad mini instead.

 

[iBreatheApple]

No no no.... PLEASE. I don't feel we should be competing with budget devices.

 

[ericinboston]

price might be too good to be true but there is some competitors they would crush if they did do this

Right...that's my point too...if Apple is willing to give up their precious giant marktup/margin, they could introduce a very cheap 7" iPad and CRUSH any 7" competition and VERY LIKELY crush all tablet competition once and for all (like mp3 players).

Or Apple can play out the war and wait another 9 months to release a new iPad line and see what it competes with in 2013 and see how far along other competitors' models/offerings have come.

 

[barkomatic]

If Apple released a retina mini iPad for $200 it will be hard to justify $499 for a 9.7 inch model.

A non retina mini iPad with a slower, cheaper processor and little on board memory is very doable at $200 to $250 and would decimate the Nook, Kindle and every other tablet of that size. It will probably debut with 16GB though by then though.

Sadly, I think this will undercut the market when I sell my new iPad around December.

 

[Syk]

Because RIMs PlayBook is selling like sliced bread right now.

The Apple Store 2013, according to business analysts:
Image

LOL that picture made me laugh. The PlayBook had tons of issues that RIM didn't bother to address and kept setting dates and not meeting them but RIM probably was they stood still and kept pumping out the same phones with a different name. They are trying change that but it may be too late or it won't be a turn around any time soon for them.

I don't think Apple would allow it to get that bad

 

[jeffedsell]

I would seriously buy the hell out of this.

I've been asking for this since the iPad 1. After the Retina Display on the iPhone it seemed like a total no-brainer - an iPad with the same resolution but Retina Display density would be a 7-inch iPad.

The only thing that might get in the way is the idea (I almost typed iDea) that Apple sees the iPad as one thing, and it's what the new 3rd-gen iPad is: 10", high pixel density. But I think if that were the case, they wouldn't still sell the iPad 2 at a reduced price, and would instead be phasing it out.

Plus, while the Fire hasn't been an overwhelming success, it's doing okay. But a 7" iPad would probably knock it right out—who would buy a limited version of an Android tablet, when you could get a full-featured iPad for just a little more?

(Of course Steve said "absolutely not" to this in the past. But he also said "absolutely not" to video on the iPod, and look what happened a few weeks later.)