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The iPad UI should still work at 7.85". I think the .85 will make a difference. If they were to do it, the bezel should also be reduced significantly so that the physical size is completely different to the 9.7" iPad.
 
No disrespect, but the dead tell no tales.

Apple is a market leader and has control over the supply chain. I would love to see a smaller, cheaper iPad. I have tried the Samsungs and they are no interest to me. Bring on the iPad mini! Destroy Amazon!:D

I don't see much point of this. If ever, it's going to be heavily stripped down with features to make the price. They go for big profit margins unlike android manufactures.

Anyway, since when Apple responses to competitors' products, especially haven't even proved to be successful?
 
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I don't personally see a need for a smaller tablet either, but the public certainly does. The Kindle is the one and only tablet that's been able to hold it's own against Apple, and it's because of two things, the price and the size.

My Dad, for example, just bought a Kindle Fire after considering an iPad. He wanted something smaller, something lighter and more comfortable to hold for hours while reading a novel. As silly as it seems, as an e-reader the iPad is a bit big.
 
I see this as a good thing, assuming the rumor is true. I would bank on it being essentially an iPad 2 in a smaller size--meant to kill off the existing iPad 2 that is currently still being offered. I'd also expect to see it offered with only 8GB of memory to keep the price down.

It won't lead to fragmentation if it's offered before the iPad 2 is killed off. The resolution of the screen is identical. The only thing I can see potentially needing to be changed would be an additional icon size, to make them fill the screen a bit more--but that's not necessarily a must.

While I personally prefer the retina display and the size of the new iPad, I can understand the fact that other users have different preferences.

Some people simply aren't interested in making the $500+ investment in a full sized iPad. Especially users who want it primarily as a communication device. They don't need a lot of storage, or a large screen.

Schools, who want to use the new iPad textbooks are also great candidates for this smaller, cheaper model. Primarily because of cost.

Then there are the people who simply won't carry a full-sized tablet and won't invest in a mobile device they are just going to keep at home. This smaller size will be more mobile for many people.

I also see it cannibalizing existing iPod Touch sales, which are dropping every year. It makes sense to introduce a new lower priced entry point into the Apple ecosystem.
 
Count me in on a mini, Can't justify having a iPad,iMac and iPhone so the mini would be used on train journeys,quick browsing etc maybe a few minor games, but knowing me i'll think why not buy the full iPad for £150-£100 more, Decisions. Decisions
 
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There's a market for it...not sure why people keep saying there isn't. Even if it's somewhat smaller, if Apple can take Kindle market share, it's a win-win.

Also, don't be surprised if this device becomes the iPod Touch or iTouch.

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Count me in on a mini, Can justify having a iPad,iMac and iPhone so the mini would be used on train journeys,quick browsing etc maybe a few minor games, but knowing me i'll think why not buy the full iPad for £150-£100 more, Decisions. Decisions

If they give it a flash and good camera, then it becomes the go to device for shots over the iPhone and iPad, especially with the better/larger display. Wouldnt be surprised to see it have Retina also...I mean if the iPhone has it...then this would. I would use this on the road for checking shots, video, etc over an iPad..much easy to carry around, drop in a coat/jacket pocket.
 
dont know about you, but personally i still dont see much point in a smaller ipad.

Neither do I but with the new Retina it could work for certain usages, Still for reading or watching video for use with kids I could see it work. Not going to get one if it comes out, but I do see a limited cliental. Still I am with you on the merits of this rumor. :rolleyes:

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Yeah i thought of kids xmas pressie when reading about this.

At the moment I have twin 3yr old boys who can't get enough from my new iPad, always wantig a go.. would love to splash out and buy them one each...but I think giving really young kids an expensive gift like an iPad is really excessive... but a dinky mini iPad at a lower price might not be that bad... Then again, if Apple do a price slash of the iPod touch, that'll probably be even better.

Apple has no incentive on poor people side of the market. I don't see this happening.

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No! Go bigger. Give me my 13 and 15 inch ipad!

13 inch dam now that would be nice, 15 may be to big with weight but 13 could be just perfect for me.
 
I would only purchase a 7" or 8" iPad if it had a retina display and more than 64gb of RAM.
 
A slightly smaller sized screen isn't really very useful.

We already have iPhones and they fit in your pocket.

That said, these would still be really popular.... but it would be down to the price, not the screen size.
 
I bought a 7" Android tablet, thinking it would be the cat's meow as it would be more portable. I ended up not really liking it. :( I think Steve was correct in saying that a 10" screen is about as small as you can go and still be enjoyable to use. I ended up selling it and now use a retina ipad. :D
 
Aren't there cellphone providers that offer phones this large? lol

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A slightly smaller sized screen isn't really very useful.

We already have iPhones and they fit in your pocket.

That said, these would still be really popular.... but it would be down to the price, not the screen size.

I've been saying this about netbooks for years. Why do people need a smaller laptop and a larger phone? It's a market that doesn't make sense to me yet people are buying them.
 
Honestly, I wouldn't mind a 12" iPad Pro with quad-core processor, 2GB ram, 128GB of storage, 802.11ac WIFI, and pressure sensitivity for creating artwork. But will it happen? I can dream.

That's funny because I was just talking to a nice chinese guy who works in the local chip shop (take-away) and he said he had a variety of sauces....

So you may be in luck ;)


:)
 
It's a Kindle-killer

Everyone's missing the point here. If introduced, it's designed as a Kindle-killer. Assuming it's light enough, it's the iPad people can take to bed for pre-sleep reading. My wife, a confirmed Apple person, uses her Kindle this way, and loads it with books when she travels. The books, of courses, are bought from Amazon's site. Apple wants to shift people back to its book-store, away from Amazon's. If it does everything else the iPad does, that's gravy, but not Apple's intent.
 
rumors about an iPad "mini" are bull*$*hit

Apple is just starting to launch the new ipad during Q3 in more countries

and the iPad 2 is still on the catalog (16 Gb)
 
I think there would be a huge market for this in education--especially as a primary device in K-12 schools, and, to a lesser extent, as a secondary device among college students.
 
If I could use this as an external view-finder for my GH2, that would be awesome. Apart from that though, I am having difficulty visualising how this could fulfil the needs of anyone over 1 meter tall.
 
Apple has already grasped so much of the tablet market that a 7.85 inch ipad would make perfect since at a low price point. The smaller ipad obviously would not have the same high end processing power as the new ipad or ipad 2. Think the original ipad with the A4 processor just enough to tease the user to want to upgrade the higher end model with a larger display. This would be good for students with the ibookstore or for web browsing, media playing, and light gaming. This would not fragment the iOS because everything would still be the same developers would just need to tweak their apps just as they did when the retina display ipad came out. In my opinion Google is responsible for the fragmentation of Android. I blame the OEMs and unfortunately Google allows them to do so.
 
Wouldn't that be a little disrespectful to Steve Jobs?
He said he didn't like 7 inch tablets... (Didnt he? Or am I imagining it? :s)

Completely absurd comment. What is this fetish about Steve Jobs? The world has come to an end and there can be no further innovations that were not foreseen by the god?
 
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