Apple Introduces New 7.9-Inch iPad Mini Starting at $329

[mokend]

Hope Tim Cook's dog didn't complain too much when he pulled his sweater/shirt out from under him this morning. Really, Tim, get some style help!

Also, not many brothers in the audience. In fact, I couldn't see any. Not pointin', just sayin'.

Despite all that, will spring for a mini on Friday.

Thanks for pointing out that YOU did not see black people in the audience and Tim Cook not dressing well enough for YOU?

 

[JeremyWesley]

ios dev thoughts

1. Without a Hybrid e-ink / retina display, its not a ebook killer. No matter what apple may thing, E-ink is not dead, nor will it ever. its easier on battery life and its easier on the eye.

2. I believe apple has serious screwed the app store pouch. By moving all iOS device update to Fall time frame, that means we will see no app sale surges in April when the new iPad comes out, because its not.. As a app developer there were 3 seasons for sales: iPhone launches, iPad launches, and Christmas. They basically rolled everything into Christmas. POOR PLAN. App sales will dwindle all year long now and we will no longer have surges.

3. iPad mini its just a supper sized iPhone.. i give the critics that.. it is.. iPad wasn't so much but this is.. Where is the innovation.. give us a e-Ink Retinal Hybrid screen. or maybe its the next version so apple gets paid twice.. They have done it before. iPhone1 with no 3g. iPad1 with no camera. iPad mini with no e-ink. I guess its all part of the plan.

4. People will buy for Christmas, yea but they wont get it till February.. iPhone 5 users are still waiting almost a month to get their iPhone 5's

just one fan boys opinion

 

[dmelgar]

Stock price and shareholder confidence consider otherwise.

Stock price is amazingly depressed. PE ratio is like IBM or some other non growth stagnant company.
What says otherwise is how their earnings skyrocket each quarter. Stock price has not kept up. It's a screaming deal at $600 and change. Likely approaching $800 after Christmas.

 

[frabber]

need ipad mini car holder..

 

[Stella]

I expect the Mini will do extremely well, the price is good too. Slower processor than ipad 4, but I'm not surprised about that.

Only downside - no retina display, IMO.

As much as I dislike the iPad is general, I hope it continues to sell well.. and not too much influence on OSX... ( OSX is not a mobile OS like iOS and Apple should keep it that way ).

As for an ebook replacement, blah.. personally I buy an ebook to read, any functionality beyond will be an unwanted distraction. Of course, there will be plenty of people buying this for an e-book. Enjoy!

 

[iphoneclassic]

This bad marketing decision is the starting point of the downfall of Apple, whether you like it or not.

Cook is all American business man. Every quarter there will be new product launch to show good quarterly numbers to Wall Street.

They cannot make iPad mini much cheaper because this may cut into standard size iPad sales. At this point retina is the only factor differentiating iPad and mini.

I posted on the iPad 4th Gen thread "Our upgrade thread mill is twice as faster now"

 

[pizz]

Nice but Ill wait 6 months for the 2nd gen with retina, considering theres already a new IPad4!

 

[Nungster]

Why would an ipad 3 owner be upset that the ipad has been updated. I don't understand that. No one is making you buy every update. The ipad is now ever better, faster for the same price. This can only be a good thing.

Agreed. They have to shorten these product cycles because people are going to try and compare Galaxy Tab2 and Surface to new iPad, even though new iPad came out months earlier.

 

[nickn]

Retina display most certainly is relevant. Outside of the specs you can notice and see, specs DO NOT matter.

I think we can all concede that the iPad Mini is beaten in the display category. That being said, none of the other shortcomings matter to the same extent.

If specs don't matter, why should have Apple even bothered updating the iPad?*Why not leave it with the slower A5X? Why include the A5 in the Mini? How Apple about reuse the A4, or even the 3GS CPU? Is it because higher spec chips have better performance???

 

[wimdows]

Then don't buy it and go for a cheaper tablet.

Love my iPad 2's battery life and how quickly it charges.

I'd have gone for the mini had it come with a retina display. But £269 just because it is mainly smaller and lighter than the iPad 2? Nah-bloody-hoo.

I'll wait.

 

[mytakeontech]

iPad Meh!!!

 

[mdelvecchio]

The word play is truly amazing. "Still" up to 10 hours battery life? Shouldn't it be longer to begin with, considering it's a smaller display that's not even retina??

I'm surprised how openly they compare this to a iPad 2, something that's now 2 generations old.

Keep up your minuscule improvements game Apple. People will buy this no doubt. But for me, I waited till the 3G for the iPhone, I can wait another year for a satisfactory iPad mini.

"The entitlement is STRONG in this one...hmm!"

 

[ajnicho]

iPad Mini is 1.3 times more expensive but 10 times beter.

In your opinion

Compare it to a £259 tablet. Not a £199 tablet

You don't multiply performance the same as you multiply price.

 

[almirramic]

Wrong decisions

Ugly iPhone 5; pricey inferior iPad mini, iPad 4th only 6 months after "the new Ipad;" badmouthing other tablets specifically and directly on stage; stale self-promotional presentations...

Apple is losing a lot of fans. I am still firmly one of them, but I am fairly disappointed in 2012. The only product in 2012 I really thought was a major leap forward and I felt compelled to buy was MacBook Pro with Retina display.

Most importantly, they are now a giant corporation and people do not like when a giant corporation behaves arrogantly. Unless they come up with a new product to revolutionize another aspect of peoples lives, this incremental progress will catch up with them quickly.

 

[Hakone]

Pass!

Donde esta la Retina?

The Bad:

Non-Retina (Seriously?) iPad mini
HD4000 GPU on Macbook *Pro* @ $1700

Good:
iMac!!!
mild Mac mini refresh.

Overall grade B-

 

[69650]

Wow the iPad Mini looks so much better than I expected. It's gorgeous. At first I was surprised there was no colour options like the iPod touch but having seen what they did with the new touch I think I prefer the all black and white/silver options they chose for the iPad mini. Looks so much classier.

I like the new 4th generation iPad although I was hoping they would increase the screen size to 10.1". My only problem is - do I buy it now or will there be a 5th generation iPad next March? I didn't buy the iPad 3 simply because it didn't support the LTE 4G band being launched in the UK and boy am I glad I didn't buy it after today's announcement. This makes me wonder if the iPad event next March will launch a bigger iPad alongside the others - maybe a 13" model.

It's like Christmas come early today.

 

[DakotaGuy]

This will be a very popular product for the holidays.

I think the price is a little high, but suspect the market will bear it.

It should have started at $349. Apple could have easily sold these for another $20. People are going to go NUTS over it!

 

[kas23]

I have an iPad 2, so Mini with no Retina Display = no sale.

 

[kirk26]

and suddenly 7inch fits perfectly in one hand

i thought "this is my thumb - and it goes from here - to here" is where its at

The Galaxy Note barely fits in my hand and I think I have big hands. Tim Cook's hands must be monstrous.

 

[billnye97]

But we, my fellow Brit, are enjoying two year EU mandatory warranty as well as the 20% VAT on top.

Americans get it cheaper but have much worse consumer protection.

Can't lick both sides of the lollipop.

Well I could buy it with my Chase credit card and get an extra 2 year warranty on any electronics that I purchase with the card. If you're American you just have to be a little more crafty in how you purchase something.

 

[Sodner]

Well disappointed in no retina but still picking up a white 16gb version for book reading and gaming.

Let the haters hate. Looks like a solid tablet to me. Again, you want plastic and bologna sandwich for $199 with crap apps, knock yourself out.

 

[urbanslaughter1997]

I've watched/followed every new product announcement from Apple since they announced the iPod Video. This was the first one I missed . . . and I don't feel like I missed anything. Don't like what I see happening at Apple, and I'm a HUGE fanboy.

 

[milo]

As for the price... $329 is spot on. It puts it at the premium end of the mass market, right where Apple should be. They don't need to go playing with the minimum margin competitors

If you want to be "premium" you have to have a premium product. That would be higher resolution than the $199 options, not lower.

The options for selling a product are to be the cheapest or be the best. Apple usually shoots for the latter, but in this case they ended up with neither.

http://www.apple.com/itunes/new-itunes/

That has been up for weeks, since the iPhone 5 announcement. Supposedly October, but if they didn't release it today I assume it will probably slip into next month (although maybe we get it when the new ipads start shipping).

 

[kasei]

And now it begins.... the crying and whining and complaining.

 

[dgdosen]

Without a Hybrid e-ink / retina display, its not a ebook killer. No matter what apple may thing, E-ink is not dead, nor will it ever. its easier on battery life and its easier on the eye.

As a nook reader (coveting a paperwhite) - I totally agree. I do think the retina display makes reading on an iPad great - especially for PDFs, but think this iPad mini will be as blurry as an iPhone 3.

LCD + Lo Res != Reading Pleasure.