Apple Planning for 7.85-Inch 'iPad Mini' with IGZO Display Later This Year?

[furi0usbee]

Pricing is gonna be a major factor, iPad 2 (still the best tablet ever)
sells for £299.99t

You must not have an iPad 3.... the iPad 3 screen alone is better than the 2. I'd take the retina display... all by itself over the 2. So no, 2 isn't the best tablet ever I'm afraid to say.

I just used my new retina MBP side by side my year-old 15" MBP. No contest. The old 15" screen looks like the worst in the world compared to the retina screen.

Embrace innovation.

 

[Caliber26]

I can't see myself wanting a smaller iPad. The current size is perfect (IMO). It's not too small, where things feel cramped, but it's definitely smaller and WAY more portable than a laptop. For those times I'm on the go, and it's not convenient to bring my iPad along, I feel the iPhone is more than capable to handle all of my iOS needs.

But I guess this is good news for those who long for a smaller iPad. I certainly don't oppose it as long as it has no impact on me.

Edit: I'm wondering how this would affect the iPod Touch. Assuming they keep previous-generation iPads at the $399 price point, I'm guessing the smaller iPads would be priced somewhere in the $250-$300 range. I think most people would go for the bigger, newer, cooler iPad for just a few dollars more. Maybe they'll phase out the iPod Touch?

 

[NTurner42]

My wife thinks 7" is perfect.

ba dum chhh

 

[shady825]

I know I'm probably in the minority but I would actually really like a smaller iPad. 7.85-8 inch would be perfect in my opinion.

 

[boomboom2]

I don't see why people are against it. Just because you don't want one doesn't mean other people don't want it either. It's not like Apple is forcing you to give up your 9.7" iPad.

 

[Dwalls90]

Pass ... My iPad 3 is perfect IMO. I don't even need the portability of my laptop anymore.

In fact, next Mac I get, if I buy one ... would be a desktop as having a Macbook Pro and iPad provides too much cross over.

But I don't think this will come to fruition, it's a lot of fragmentation. Plus, with the iPhone and likely iPod growing in size this year and probably into the next few years, I don't think they need a tablet of this size.

 

[shady825]

I just used my new retina MBP side by side my year-old 15" MBP. No contest. The old 15" screen looks like the worst in the world compared to the retina screen.

The new iPad has destroyed my eyes. Every screen I look at now looks terrible.

 

[Apple Knowledge Navigator]

An iPad Mini? So at what point does an iPod Touch morph into a mini iPad?

Oh god this is like the "Half full/Half empty" argument...

 

[Sensation]

Dear Apple
Please stop stealing our ideas.
Love Google.

 

[Poisednoise]

That makes it sound as if the writer believes DigiTimes is the most reliable source around. A lot of people would disagree with that.

Actually I assumed the implication was that normally DigiTimes jump straight onto any rumour like this, therefore if even they think it unlikely, it's VERY unlikely...

 

[rendevouspoo]

With others coming out with a 7", why not? Why not take over that market as well? I know plenty of people that would buy due to the weight and size of it alone for things such as reading. Lying in bed, would you rather read from a Fire or iPad? In my opinion, just for that scenario, the Fire wins everytime. It would be smart of Apple to put this out, IMHO.

 

[Xtremehkr]

Jobs thought 7-inch tablets were too small. Apple’s user testing had revealed that “there are clear limits of how close you can physically place elements on a touchscreen before users cannot reliably tap, flick, or pinch them,” Jobs said. As a result, these tiny tablets would need to be sold with sandpaper, he predicted, “so that the user can sand down their fingers to around one-quarter of their present size.” He wasn’t finished: Because most tablet owners also have a smartphone, people would find that these tiny tablets didn’t offer anything they couldn’t do on their phones. “The 7-inch tablets are tweeners: too big to compete with a smartphone, and too small to compete with an iPad,” Jobs said. As a result, they “are going to be DOA.”

This rumor is persistent but I think SJ said it best.

In his own words:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxoAF0Jvhqc

 

[Stetrain]

I think that this is really probable.

A year or two ago not so much, but the Kindle Fire (and to a lesser extent the Nook tablet) have proven that there is a real market for a small, relatively cheap tablet. More an e-reader on steroids than the current iPad and other 10" tablets.

This year the Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire 2 will define that market even more. If Apple can deliver a similar product with the advantages of their hardware and software design at a competing price it could sell very well.

Other companies seem to be struggling to hit that $199 price point, often making very little money on the hardware itself. I think that Apple could leverage their scale of purchase and production to make it profitable for them. They build large numbers of high quality metal casings for other products, they buy flash memory in huge quantities, and they already have a new, low cost, low power processor with the die shrunk A5 that's now shipping in the reduced price iPad 2.

 

[hexx]

With others coming out with a 7", why not? Why not take over that market as well? I know plenty of people that would buy due to the weight and size of it alone for things such...

for a while, it just didn't sound right

 

[WeegieMac]

Here's one. It's called the Nexus 7.

Yup, the device Google ARE selling at a huge loss per unit by selling it at $200, essentially having to pay people to buy one as opposed to the tens of millions willingly dropping up to £649 on an iPad.

 

[kiljoy616]

So any stats how many people would actually buy a large iPod Touch vs a normal iPad?

 

[jamesnajera]

Yippie... even more work for developers.

IF it does happen, we do not even know the resolution that will be used on the smaller tablet. It could be 1024x768, which is the same resolution of the iPad 2.

 

[polaris20]

And it's gonna cost $399!

Oh, wait...

edit: With apple selling the ipad 2, it's like the iphone mini rumor.

I think that if this were to happen, it would replace the iPad 2 in the line-up. I think the continuation of the 2 was just a stop-gap measure until the Mini was ready, for that price point.

 

[jjofc11]

ONE SIZE iPad

Come on guys don't insist, this rumor has been out for years and nothing, i dont see a reason to make a 2" smaller iPad

 

[thejd]

IGZO display? Yes. 7.85" form factor? No. After using a Galaxy Note in South Korea as a phone/tablet combo I can definitely say that size is not all it's cracked up to be. iPad for truly tablet stuff, iPhone for pure mobile. I don't see anything I between as viable.

 

[ThomasJL]

I wonder if the iPad Mini is the new PowerBook G5...

 

[kiljoy616]

I think that this is really probable.

A year or two ago not so much, but the Kindle Fire (and to a lesser extent the Nook tablet) have proven that there is a real market for a small, relatively cheap tablet. More an e-reader on steroids than the current iPad and other 10" tablets.

This year the Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire 2 will define that market even more. If Apple can deliver a similar product with the advantages of their hardware and software design at a competing price it could sell very well.

Other companies seem to be struggling to hit that $199 price point, often making very little money on the hardware itself. I think that Apple could leverage their scale of purchase and production to make it profitable for them. They build large numbers of high quality metal casings for other products, they buy flash memory in huge quantities, and they already have a new, low cost, low power processor with the die shrunk A5 that's now shipping in the reduced price iPad 2.

ROFLMAO oh thanks for that funniest of jokes.

You forget the most important thing, they don't need to. Just like the TV they just don't need to at this time. When Google or anyone else finally comes out with a real alternative that is REALLY eating into Apple's profit margins then maybe I can see them looking at doing something out of character.

If they start making garbage then like 15 years ago it will be a company in decline. I like to think they learned from history.

 

[barkomatic]

If Apple just increases the iPhone screen size to at least 4 inches -- that will be my iPad mini.

 

[Sirhcnailuj]

this isn't apple...

 

[MacAgnostic]

Mockup of 7.85-inch iPad next to an iPhone (courtesy of CiccareseDesign)[/center]

Funny how the bezel, home button and camera are "mini" also.