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Personally, I'd actually love a larger 15 inch retina iPad with having the ability to open multiple apps open at once and a larger keyboard display. I know this won't happen, but I'd rather have that then a smaller iPad.

That's called a laptop.

You'll see the smaller iPad/iTouch before you ever see a 15" tablet.
 
This isn't fragmentation in the sense that we talk about Android fragmentation. This is introducing another product into a line. It would still run iOS5.

The introduction of the iPod mini wasn't fragmentation; it was just the introduction of another, smaller product into the iPod family.

I know of two people in my office who'd like a smaller iPad. They are both women who want something more handbag-sized. They both say the current iPad is too big for them to consider. Seems perfectly reasonable to me.

It IS fragmentation when as a programmer you now have to check what device you are running on. It'll not be as easy as 'Oh, I'm on an iPad', it will be 'what size'. They could make a larger iPhone and kill it off nicely or add iPhone capabilities to a smaller iPad, but to make a smaller iPad, I think, could be a bad thing...

One thing, to take a historical look at Apple, that I respected about Steve Jobs return to Apple is that he looked at a company with too many products that was sucking at juggling them all. The 'product creep' seems to be coming back.

But then I am getting older and maybe this is the old codger in me just being in a snit...
 
Smaller? What a rubbish idea, could go a 12" iPad though.

Progression...

apple-iboard-imat-design-gadget.jpg
 
iPad displays are the usual lit up ones like all regular monitors, yes?

If so, it must suck to read books from. Perhaps they should make the display turn into e-ink when you want to read a book, if it doesn't do that already.
 
This is going to turn out to be one of those "Not what it looks like" rumors.
I still think this is going to be released in conjunction with the real Apple Television. It will be the remote. It will draw people into buying the TV so they can get the iPad. And it will not be sold separately at first. I believe this is what Jobs meant when he "cracked" it.
Playing off the success of the iPad will bring in the audience to the TV. The iPad is a great way to control a TV through the current AppleTV, but not everyone has an iPad.
So in classic Jobs fashion, Tim Cook will reveal 3 new products.
A new Ipad, A new Apple TV, A new Display. A new iPad, A new Apple TV, A new Display. Are you getting it? These are not 3 different products but one new revolutionary device. And the AppleTV will cease to be a "Hobby".

I agree that I think it's the remote also.

If you watch the Samsung Smart TV ads with them having to sit/stand close to the TV and move their hand, you can totally see how stupid and clueless Samsung is.

The remote/smaller ipad is going to be the interface for the TV. Wouldn't be surprised though that it also becomes another solo device
 
I'd buy it

if this came out I'd plop down < $300 in a heartbeat, tired of my kids stealing my iPad :p
 
I'd pick one up in a flash....if....

I don't know if the Kindle is popular because of its size or its price point (likely a bit of both).
But I do know that I would jump at a smaller iPad. But only IF it weren't made to match a price point but rather was a full fledged iPad but smaller.

I still want a fast processor, 15 gig memory and a nice screen. And I'm willing to pay for it. I just want it a bit smaller for portability.

What I don't want is a cheap Android competitor that doesn't give me the 'iPad experience'.

I worry that Apple may (as many here say they would like) just put out a $299 iPad Lesser rather than iPad Mini.
 
My worry is what they will cut to reach the price point $249 or $299?

1. Camera(s)? - will be missed for FaceTime
2. Single Core A5 ? not the A5X
3. less RAM? 512MB
4.

???

Personally I think they’ll keep it internally the same as the iPad2: A5, 512MB RAM, same cameras, etc., offer it in 8GB, maybe _only_ one capacity (whether it’s 8 or 16GB), and maybe change some of the case materials.

I’d also see them skipping a cell option on this device too. Make it a tablet in terms of how apps operate, but more like a Touch in terms of no 3G/4G and cheaper materials.

The only things I see being an issue:

Price - they’ll want it to be profitable but make sense as part of the whole product lineup (<iPad, >Touch)

Usability - by keeping the 1024x768 they avoid another fragmentation point, tap into a huge app market from day one, but only if there’s no issues with smaller screen elements
 
There is a huge market there

who would not be able to spend $400.

$249 is a nice price point, remember the 3G/LTE version will be even more.

There is a market with lower price point.

In prepaid market is easy to get some level of 3G internet service than finding a broadband connection. starting point of $529 for iPad 2 + 3G is simply lots of money.

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Personally I think they’ll keep it internally the same as the iPad2: A5, 512MB RAM, same cameras, etc., offer it in 8GB, maybe _only_ one capacity (whether it’s 8 or 16GB), and maybe change some of the case materials.

I’d also see them skipping a cell option on this device too. Make it a tablet in terms of how apps operate, but more like a Touch in terms of no 3G/4G and cheaper materials.

The only things I see being an issue:

Price - they’ll want it to be profitable but make sense as part of the whole product lineup (<iPad, >Touch)

Usability - by keeping the 1024x768 they avoid another fragmentation point, tap into a huge app market from day one, but only if there’s no issues with smaller screen elements

1) 16GB is a must, 8GB is simply not enough.

2) other than the screen size, not sure how they will keep the 40% profit margin, hopefully NAND memory is cheap enough.

3) Back camera they might go back to iPhone 3GS camera module

4) I think there will be 3G/LET version with $129 more, simply it is profit there.

5) what are the other options?
 
I would love for this to be true because of pricing.. And really If it does happen to be true I think Apple will take a huge chunk of even more marketshare..

Why would anyone even consider a Amazon Kindle or Android equivalent If an iPad can be found between $249-299?
 
Looks like crappy kindle fires and cheap Android tabs are hurting Apple. If your 9.7 inch bread and butter tab is doing so great why hurt its sales even more? Steve is going to be pissed at Tim when he sees that his fingers are shaven down to nubs.
 
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.
Base on my iPod Touch usage, I would hope for 16GB and 32 GB versions at least. Also, sine the current iPad 2 being offered is 16GB, I don't think a 7" iPad with 16GB is unlikely.

And it could impact iPod Touch sales as my choice would be a new iPod Touch or 7" iPad. Based on my usage as long as the 7" iPad is available in at least 16GB, I will most likely get the 7" iPad and maybe do a battery replacement on my iPod.

I would only purchase a 7" or 8" iPad if it had a retina display and more than 64gb of RAM.
That's a personal preference. Personally I'd rather they not add yet another resolution for developers to work with.

Isn't the iPod touch already the iPad mini, or will that now be the iPad nano? lol
Or maybe they'll call it the iPod Reader. :D


iPad displays are the usual lit up ones like all regular monitors, yes?

If so, it must suck to read books from. Perhaps they should make the display turn into e-ink when you want to read a book, if it doesn't do that already.
If you adjust the brightness and the background color, the iPad and iPod Touch are good for reading books.
 
Some people find tablets limiting, so they use it primarily for reading, surfing the net, and playing games. For reading, a smaller tablet is better. For surfing the net, a bigger tablet is better, but since the resolution will be the same as the ipad 2, it will still work great. And for gaming, the smaller tablet will be better because its lighter and easier to hold. Apple, get that 7.85' iPad out here!
 
The idea people are talking about with the 7.85" iPad is that it will keep exactly the same resolution as the iPad 2 (1024 x 768).
Apparently, this is 163 dpi -- the same as the non-retina iPhone.
So the idea is, apps designed for the existing iPad will work and look good without any redesign, assuming the developer followed Apples HI guidelines. And therefore, no fragmentation.

I guess with the iPhone, they could just make the screen bigger without changing the resolution, which again, would reduce fragmentation, assuming that increasing the size of the UI elements rarely affects the UX significantly.

(Myself, I'm not sure -- I'd need to try it out.)

Why do people keep saying that because the resolution would be the same as the iPad 1 it wouldn't cause fragmentation??

If you keep the same resolution and reduce the screen size, you get smaller buttons and targets, while your fingers don't get smaller.

Apple's HIG defines the minimum size of a button target based on the pixel densities of existing iOS devices, relative to the size of the average human finger.

If you take existing iPad apps and put them on a smaller screen, many button targets will fall below the minimum size.

That means that apps would have to be redesigned for this iPad mini, creating yet another transition period where developers will have to make an iPad mini version of their app.

It wouldn't be as bad as what's happening on Android, and many apps wouldn't need that much work to be optimized for the iPad mini, but it would still be fragmentation as developers will have to target yet another screen format when building their apps.

And unlike what Google would like you to believe, there's no way of "automagically" rearange interfaces depending on the screen size and resolution without sacrificing a great deal of UI design efficiency. Just look at all these ugly Android tablet apps that have a lot of wasted blank space.
 
1) 16GB is a must, 8GB is simply not enough.

2) other than the screen size, not sure how they will keep the 40% profit margin, hopefully NAND memory is cheap enough.

3) Back camera they might go back to iPhone 3GS camera module

4) I think there will be 3G/LET version with $129 more, simply it is profit there.

5) what are the other options?


Good analysis. I was thinking 8GB purely as a cost consideration (and it would match the KF), but I agree, 8GB is pretty low, I guess 16GB really is the entry level capacity any more.

Yeah, that profit target I think will be tough with basically just a shrunken down iPad2. They should be able to shave off some cost with an internal redesign, maybe more chip integration, I guess it would have a smaller (cheaper) battery.

I don’t think Apple wants to go “backwards” too much in terms of performance and features just for price sake. I’m not sure they want to introduce a new product with an A4 (vs. an A5 or better), low RAM, sub 5 hour runtime, etc.
 
Why do people keep saying that because the resolution would be the same as the iPad 1 it wouldn't cause fragmentation??

If you keep the same resolution and reduce the screen size, you get smaller buttons and targets, while your fingers don't get smaller.

Apple's HIG defines the minimum size of a button target based on the pixel densities of existing iOS devices, relative to the size of the average human finger.

If you take existing iPad apps and put them on a smaller screen, many button targets will fall below the minimum size.

That means that apps would have to be redesigned for this iPad mini, creating yet another transition period where developers will have to make an iPad mini version of their app.

It wouldn't be as bad as what's happening on Android, and many apps wouldn't need that much work to be optimized for the iPad mini, but it would still be fragmentation as developers will have to target yet another screen format when building their apps.

And unlike what Google would like you to believe, there's no way of "automagically" rearange interfaces depending on the screen size and resolution without sacrificing a great deal of UI design efficiency. Just look at all these ugly Android tablet apps that have a lot of wasted blank space.
Well, because your fingers can still hit targets on a 3.5" screen. So being that its a 7.85" screen, even if its a small target, I think they'll be able to manage.
 
If some of the prognosticators are right that we are going to a post-PC world filled with tablet computing, than I think it is a little hard to believe that in this future tablet world that there will only be one size 9.7" and Apple got it perfectly right right off the bat.

I see price reduction in the iPod touch, an iPad Mini and the current iPads. The fragmentation issue that people bring up based on the different sizes is only a problem for developers when the market is small. The iPad market, which seems to be heading over the next several years toward the hundreds of millions of users size, will be big enough that developers can support different sizes.
 
I can honestly see Apple using the current iPad as a middle-ground for other products. What's to stop them releasing a smaller 7-inch or larger 12-inch model? Absolutely nothing. Some may say "What's the point?", but then people were saying that when the original iPad was released.
 
Smaller, but still doesn't fit in the pocket. If you're going to be carrying something the iPad, as it it, is great. But then again, at the price range, they are going directly after the Kindle; maybe it would change a lot?

But it will fit in my purse!

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7.85 inches is too small and won't provide the same satisfying experience of the resolutionary 9.7 inches on iPad 3.

That's kind of a silly statement coming from someone who has an iPhone listed in their signature.
 
That's called a laptop.

You'll see the smaller iPad/iTouch before you ever see a 15" tablet.

No, a laptop has a physical keyboard and mouse and closes shut. I'm talking about a big tablet. I never said they would make it and made it very clear that it something I would personally like.
 
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