A7X-Based iPad and iPad Mini Expected to Launch in 4Q 2013, Lower-Cost A6 iPad Mini to Follow in 2014

[gctwnl]

It's only about iPhone and iPad these days

Never mind that bloody new iPhone/iOS/etc. I already have an iPhone 5, I'll just upgrade iOS and enjoy the improvements.

Where is the news about a new 13.3" Macbook Pro Retina? I am desperately waiting for a 13.3 MBP that can actually handle retina properly.

It is all consumer gadgets, iOS games, etc. these days. Maybe it is time for a separate site that concentrates on the professional stuff like Macs, OSX, etc..

 

[JesperA]

Well, if they gonna go for a retina screen in the iPad mini they need a 4x GPU boost just to push the resolution with the same FPS in the games (kinda), so yeah, if they launch a retina iPad Mini, its not THAT far fetched that they would use kinda the same CPU/GPU config, after all, both the iPad 5 and the retina iPad Mini will need to push the same amount of pixels

 

[gnasher729]

So we've been hearing all this stuff about a new form factor for the full size iPad, and a fingerprint scanner for the iPhone 5S. Does anyone think it would be likely that the new iPads get the same scanner?

It's less important. That scanner (if it is actually added and not just a rumor) may save you a few seconds. That's nice if you pull your phone out of your pocket, do something for five seconds, put it back in your packet; may save half the time. iPads are not used like that. There is more continuous use. And there are lots of iPads that are lying on coffee tables in homes and have no passcode at all.

I would doubt the A7X being in the iPad mini. The only spec difference other than screen size between the full-size iPad and the mini would be ram, unless they bumped storage on the larger iPad without increasing cost. Otherwise there wouldnt be much to justify the price difference between the two.

"Only difference other than screen size" - please, for 95% of the buyers the screen size is absolutely decisive. 95% of 10 inch buyers would never, ever buy the 8 inch. And 95% of the 8 inch buyers would never, ever buy the 10 inch.

 

[Rogifan]

Here's what I think will happen:

Ipad mini refresh in COLORS, no retina, with a6 processor and 1gb ram, 16/32/64 launched at iPhone event. Price starting $299-329

Ipad 5 with new form factor, a7, 2gb ram, white/black/champagne 32/64/128 launched at late fall event (nov?), along with refreshed MacBook Pros, iMacs, and the new Mac Pro, + Mavericks official release. And one last thing: Apple TV 4 with apps, voice and maybe motion control (starting at 149-199 for 16gb), all just in time for the Christmas rush.

Ipad mini with retina display, a7 (scaled down for better battery life), 1gb white/black/champagne 32/64/128, starting at 329-399 (they will make us pay for that retina because they know how many people will have to have it!)
Launched spring 2014, izgo display, possibly minor form factor change.

Big question is what is going to happen to iPods. Their sales have dropped off dramatically. I suspect the iPhone 5c will render the touch almost redundant. They will scale back the price a bit as they move to discontinue. The classic will be discontinued. The iwatch will pick up the slack sometime in the spring or early summer, while the smaller iPods will be kept in place for the exercise and music playback enthusiasts and their big selling point will be streaming iTunes radio and continued standard iTunes functionality.

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Back to schoolers were on a budget, and what better time to clear out as much old stock at the educational price. Christmas is when people are more likely to splurge for new products I think.

If we were getting mini in colors surely those colored shelled would have leaked by now. And why would the mini be launched at a different event than the full sized iPad? Also I'm not sure Apple can wait until 2014 to release a retina mini. If the new nexus 7 can have a great display and get 12 hours battery life (according to AnandTech) then Apple should be able to do it with the mini.

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my guess is

ipad 5 - $499
ipad mini retina - $399
ipad mini - $299

future ipad pro 13" - $699

Why would Apple raise the price on the retina mini when they've never raised the price when iDevices went retina before?

 

[prowlmedia]

"KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who has a fairly solid track record in predicting Apple's product plans,"

If you mean, he looks at The buyersguide and releases from last year and just states the obvious.

https://www.macrumors.com/2013/01/16/apples-2013-product-roadmap-predictions-multiple-iphones-retina-ipad-mini-all-retina-macbook-pros/

Other than the things that are bleeding obvious...Haswell stuff - new devices in June and September.

A7 system-on-a-chip for better performance - WRONG (probably) - 6X
removal of non-retinas MBP - Wrong

Oh and where is the Mac Pro in your visions, sees-into-the-future guy?

KGI Securities is an investment company and this is just a shameless advert for them.

 

[topper24hours]

It's less important. That scanner (if it is actually added and not just a rumor) may save you a few seconds. That's nice if you pull your phone out of your pocket, do something for five seconds, put it back in your packet; may save half the time. iPads are not used like that. There is more continuous use. And there are lots of iPads that are lying on coffee tables in homes and have no passcode at all.

Many of us here are excited about the possibility of multiple user log in on iPad via thumbprint. (read last few pages of commentary)

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Well, if they gonna go for a retina screen in the iPad mini they need a 4x GPU boost just to push the resolution with the same FPS in the games (kinda), so yeah, if they launch a retina iPad Mini, its not THAT far fetched that they would use kinda the same CPU/GPU config, after all, both the iPad 5 and the retina iPad Mini will need to push the same amount of pixels

It is to me. After all, the iPad 3rd gen pushed those pixels just fine... so did the 4th. I cant see them putting the newest in the "cheap" model.

 

[benjones]

Kuo is a tool.

Jumps on the back of previous rumours.

 

[spicynujac]

Yeah, I don't expect everything to get a lower price option. The iPhone is one thing... I just hope they don't spread to iPads, and Macs.

The Mac Mini already exists in the budget Mac department and at $500 I'd say the ipad is allready a budget device. When it first came out people were predicting it would cost $1,000 or more. Still, the mini is not exactly a bargain, so they must be careful how they price it.

 

[amphiton]

We need rMBP updates. Any news/rumours, guys?

 

[blackcrayon]

Well, if they gonna go for a retina screen in the iPad mini they need a 4x GPU boost just to push the resolution with the same FPS in the games (kinda), so yeah, if they launch a retina iPad Mini, its not THAT far fetched that they would use kinda the same CPU/GPU config, after all, both the iPad 5 and the retina iPad Mini will need to push the same amount of pixels

In that case though the regular A7 would be more than sufficient. Remember the regular A6 has just about the same GPU power as the A5X. And we can assume the A7 will be a significant boost over the A6 graphics wise. And of course the A7 would be cheaper, smaller, cooler too compared to the Xtreme version.

 

[Riemann Zeta]

I highly doubt that Apple would make the iPad mini and 5 the same aside from screen size. The battery life of a retina-ized mini with a full-power A7X SoC would only be a few hours (at most).

 

[Cali Fornia]

That's what it'll look like, believe me.

iPad 5 – $ 499/599/699 (32/64/128 GB) (faster, new design, more GB, fingerprint)
iPad 2 – $ 299 (16 GB) (lower price)

iPad mini 2 – $ 349/449/549 (16/32/64 GB) (faster, Retina, no fingerprint)
iPad mini – $ 229 (8 GB) (lower price, fewer GB)

 

[Tiger8]

No. iPad 3rd gen, sadly is starting to lag... =/

You mean with iOS 7? I have it with iOS 6 and so far so good. Then again I only browse the net and watch movies with it mostly

 

[Piggie]

I think it's ridiculous that Apple was almost the first to market with the iPad and similarly with retina screens on the iPhone, yet it now plays catchup each and every year.

Wish they'd bring back the innovation and stop waiting to see what everyone else is doing!

The problem for Apple is they don't make anything, apart from perhaps a case.

They are totally dependant on other companies (Samsung etc) to invent and manufacture items.

Tie this lack of own product, with a 1 year upgrade cycle and you can see the problem can't you.

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

The iPad mini based on the A6 and no retina display makes no sense.

Apple is getting very top heavy in it's product line and I think it's a very bad sign. Apparently someone at Apple thinks that if you throw a bunch of products at people, you will make more sales. Yeah, possibly, or you will turn them off because they can't make up their minds... Oh, and there is the inevitable 'purchase regret' that will burn at some people because they didn't spend the extra $50.00 for the 'x' model...

 

[blackcrayon]

The problem for Apple is they don't make anything, apart from perhaps a case.

They are totally dependant on other companies (Samsung etc) to invent and manufacture items.

Tie this lack of own product, with a 1 year upgrade cycle and you can see the problem can't you.

They design their own Systems on a Chip, and they write their own software (among many other things, you think Apple hires hundreds of engineers to do nothing?) Those aren't exactly minor details.

You're even drastically underestimating the importance of the enclosure- if all of their competitors could make better "cases" I guess most just choose not to most of the time.

 

[kaiseryeahhh]

I think...

iPad 5 (iPad retina, the new iPad...)
iPad 2 (low cost iPad with non retina display and upgrade to lightning)
iPad mini (low cost iPad mini)
iPad mini retina (with A6x)

 

[Rafterman]

That's what it'll look like, believe me.

iPad 5 – $ 499/599/699 (32/64/128 GB) (faster, new design, more GB, fingerprint)
iPad 2 – $ 299 (16 GB) (lower price)

iPad mini 2 – $ 349/449/549 (16/32/64 GB) (faster, Retina, no fingerprint)
iPad mini – $ 229 (8 GB) (lower price, fewer GB)

There is ample evidence that a 128GB iPhone is being released next week. So, I would guess that if iPad 5 and iPhone each offer 128GB, so will iPad Mini.

I would also agree with those who say there will be no spec difference between the iPad 5 and Mini. The screen size difference is all the differentiator that is needed.

 

[Neodym]

I think they'll do another event with MBP, MP and iPads.

iPad and MBP/MP aim for completely different markets. Especially with the new MacPro Apple would not want an iPad to steal attention (or vice versa). As Jim Dalrymple already dismissed next tuesday being a general iOS event (including iPads), I'd expect two more events (MacPro/rMBP and iPads) coming this year.

Even spending 500€ (assuming that the base model will be 32GB) will be a heck of a decision. Being a student with 0 income is not smart to spend money on a little toy.

You could still buy refurb or 2nd hand and save a lot of money, even going for a Retina iPad.

 

[Terrin]

So this guy just sticks his finger in the wind and then when rumors (WSJ, Bloomberg) appear to prove him wrong he claims Apple changed their plans rather than is guesses were wrong.

If we're to believe him, Apple had no plans to release a retina mini this year but within the past month or two (or since his last prediction) did an 180 and are now going to release one? What??

To be fair, Apple likely is considering a variety of products and is testing them. Apple likely responds to market pressure. For instance, Google just released a Retina quality Mini class tablet for less money. Apple wants to stay competitive.

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They design their own Systems on a Chip, and they write their own software (among many other things, you think Apple hires hundreds of engineers to do nothing?) Those aren't exactly minor details.

You're even drastically underestimating the importance of the enclosure- if all of their competitors could make better "cases" I guess most just choose not to most of the time.

Yes, like making enclosures and writing high end software is easy. People also do not understand that companies like Samsung often make the components to Apple's specifications. Apple also has to evaluate various components and figure out how to make them all work together.

 

[HangmanSwingset]

I could actually see this happening. For one, the retina iPad mini would probably cost the same as the current model. But of they're going to release a lower cost iPad mini, why not wait until early adopters have bought the ones with the higher specs? That way buyers can't just opt for the lower cost one and leave the better model on the shelves. It's genius, really.

 

[Cali Fornia]

There is ample evidence that a 128GB iPhone is being released next week. So, I would guess that if iPad 5 and iPhone each offer 128GB, so will iPad Mini.

I would also agree with those who say there will be no spec difference between the iPad 5 and Mini. The screen size difference is all the differentiator that is needed.

No, they will have some more aspects to differentiate between iPad 5 and mini 2 – otherwise, one can't justify a price difference of $ >150 for just a little bigger screen.
So: iPad 5 will be around $150 more expensive but feature a better processor (A7X vs A6X in iPad mini 2), will have the fingerprint sensor and will have higher storage capacity besides the bigger screen.

 

[Terrin]

The problem for Apple is they don't make anything, apart from perhaps a case.

They are totally dependant on other companies (Samsung etc) to invent and manufacture items.

Tie this lack of own product, with a 1 year upgrade cycle and you can see the problem can't you.

This comment is ignorant. Apple designs its own processors, its own software, its own power supplies, its own data transfer technology, and the list goes on. It holds patents touching almost every component found in its devices.

Moreover, engineering is partially about solving a problem. To make a product with certain functionality, Apple has to evaluate available technologies, make improvements where necessary, and figure out how to make various components work together.

Just because it does not own factories, and uses some off the shelf components, does not mean it does not play a part in designing many of the components it uses.

 

[smoking monkey]

iPad and MBP/MP aim for completely different markets. Especially with the new MacPro Apple would not want an iPad to steal attention (or vice versa). As Jim Dalrymple already dismissed next tuesday being a general iOS event (including iPads), I'd expect two more events (MacPro/rMBP and iPads) coming this year.
.

I agree. But who knows what they will do. Logic says you're right about 2 events but last year the had iPads with iMacs...

 

[Rafterman]

No, they will have some more aspects to differentiate between iPad 5 and mini 2 – otherwise, one can't justify a price difference of $ >150 for just a little bigger screen.
So: iPad 5 will be around $150 more expensive but feature a better processor (A7X vs A6X in iPad mini 2), will have the fingerprint sensor and will have higher storage capacity besides the bigger screen.

$150 is not a big difference for a larger screen.