Apple's iPad Mini: Thinner, Lighter and Narrower

bacaramac said:
Funny thing is, when the iPad first came out, everyone was saying the bezel was thick and needed to be smaller. Even I thought so, but once I bought the first iPad, I never looked back and love having the thicker bezel.
Click to expand...

I said it then and I'll say it again now after years of owning it:

I hate the ugly fat bezel around the sizes of the iPad. I have no physical need to put my entire thumb onto the top of the device. I can quite easily manage with say half the bezel it currently have.
 
Is anyone else wondering why it is that there are constantly new "Leaked" images of the alleged next gen iPhone, yet we have seen almost NOTHING for the rumoured iPad Mini? Surely, if workers are sneaking next gen iPhone parts out of the factories, they would be doing the same for the iPad Mini parts, but they are not. More so probably, as it is for a product category that doesn't even exist within Apple currently, where as the next gen iPhone is a given. It just doesn't add up.

Personally, I am fairly confident that we will see an iPad Mini announced in September. I am equally confident that the leaked images of the next gen iPhone design we have been fed are not what we will be seeing when the device is unveiled. Thankfully, we should only have to wait 4 more weeks to find out.

Personally, I can't wait.
 
Mobile Pricing Lineup: $200 iPod Touch, $300 iPad Mini (Hopefully it'll be $250 but I doubt it), $400 iPad 2, $500 iPad 3rd Gen.

I'm betting the iPad Mini will be $250 for educational users. Gruber says it's reasonable to expect a retina update in 2-3 years.
 
For the price I was never really interested in the iPad but might be interested in a small mini one. Can't wait to see them come out, maybe Apple can give me one for free when I drop $2k on my next iMac?
 
Looks good but using the 7" tablets in work find them just too small for doing email etc, and on a side note, I will laugh it Amazon/Google sue Apple for making a 7" rectangle
 
bacaramac said:
Funny thing is, when the iPad first came out, everyone was saying the bezel was thick and needed to be smaller. Even I thought so, but once I bought the first iPad, I never looked back and love having the thicker bezel.
Click to expand...
Yeah, it's really comfortable.
ricardobeat said:
Thing is, if it is as light as expected, you won't be holding it by the side, just gripping the bottom with your thumb/index or resting it in your hands.
Click to expand...
I've used a Nexus 7 and I don't like the smaller bezel on the side. It may be light, but I still prefer to hold it by the side.
Minority_taxi said:
You wont, it'll rest on your palm and your thumb will rest on a mm or two.
Click to expand...
See above. I prefer to hold them by the side, even if it's light.
 
I was at the football final at the Olympics on Saturday.

I saw two guys using what looked like iPad minis. I know there are probably many cheap chinese copies of iPads, but these looked exactly like the new iPad - just smaller. I could tell that it used iOS, and the printings on the back was similar to my iPad.

I took this poor picture, where you can get an impression of the size of the "iPad mini".

ipad_mini.jpg


It's hard for me to believe that this actually would be a real copy of the iPad mini, or maybe a prototype, as Apple usually manage to keep them away from the public. But now you know what I saw...
 
MythicFrost said:
I've used a Nexus 7 and I don't like the smaller bezel on the side. It may be light, but I still prefer to hold it by the side.
Click to expand...

I agree.

I own a Nexus 7 and it can be awkward when resting your thumbs on the side bezel. Perhaps those with larger hands will cradle it more towards their palms, but I personally just kept wanting to place my thumbs on the bezel like I do with my iPad and it felt restricted.

However a form factor between my Nexus 7 and iPad at 7.85 inches sounds compelling. I find when I use the iPad now it's a bit large for my use case, feels a little awkward. As a tablet, the 7 inch screen of the Nexus 7 seems too small for anything but reading. 7.85" may be the sweet spot for many people, who don't use an iPad for a lot of content creation.
 
koobcamuk said:
It was only a month ago people were saying that my Nexus 7 was a stupid size and 10" is the only good size for a tablet.

Now the very same people are saying they'll lay down money on an iPad mini.

Interesting world.
Click to expand...

I see. So, first off, presumably you've gone and cross checked the identities of these people and you can be sure that the same people have changed their views on this and it's not, in fact, the case that different views are being expressed by different people?

Even where someone has changed his/her view, is that really so terrible? Have you never changed you mind about something? Indeed, even if this change of heart is based on brand loyalty, are you trying to say that all your positions are entirely neutral and unbiased? Really? You've never been swayed by your feelings for a brand or even a person? Because you would be the first such person in the history of the world if that was the case and you'd probably best get yourself to the nearest research institutions so they can study your unique brain.

People are inconsistent. People are changeable. People react, sometimes wildly positively, sometimes wildly negatively and then mellow or shift over time. Their views change. They can be persuaded by good arguments or even just by clever marketing. They may even, shock horror! be unsure as to what has changed their view and just find that, over time, they have come around to an idea or gone off of it. I, for one, used to think the idea of buying albums in digital format was strange and a bit sad - you don't get the disk and the sleeve and all that nice stuff. Now, however, I think the idea of schlepping down to a shop to purchase a shiny plastic disk which will then go unused the moment after I transfer the songs to iTunes is utter madness and I have recently disposed off most of my old CDs because they were taking up space! See? What a hypocrite I am! Or maybe I'm just human and I sometimes change my mind.
 
Puonti said:
For all I know there might not even be a smaller iPad, but TN's been Apple's go-to display tech for their thin, value device category (iPod Touch, MacBook Air) so it would make sense.
Click to expand...

All of the MacBooks, except the retina, have been TN. I think the iPod touch may be MVA. TN is especially bad for tablets and smartphones because the viewing angles are much worse when the screen is used in portrait orientation.
 
elementskins said:
Is anyone else wondering why it is that there are constantly new "Leaked" images of the alleged next gen iPhone, yet we have seen almost NOTHING for the rumoured iPad Mini? Surely, if workers are sneaking next gen iPhone parts out of the factories, they would be doing the same for the iPad Mini parts, but they are not. More so probably, as it is for a product category that doesn't even exist within Apple currently, where as the next gen iPhone is a given. It just doesn't add up.

Personally, I am fairly confident that we will see an iPad Mini announced in September. I am equally confident that the leaked images of the next gen iPhone design we have been fed are not what we will be seeing when the device is unveiled. Thankfully, we should only have to wait 4 more weeks to find out.

Personally, I can't wait.
Click to expand...
If the iPhone5/gen6 is really the same as leaked one, the iPad mini surely will not show in 9/12. I don't believe there wasn't any leaked part for the iPad mini when the new iPhone is completely leaked...
But, if the "leaked iPhone" is fake, we may see the iPad mini.

I'm still not sure the iPad mini is a good idea. That must affect the iPad 9.7" sales. But if Apple's calculation shows that they will have higher total revenue...

Well I don't care the iPad mini personally. Why should I buy a smaller iPad;)?
 
koobcamuk said:
It was only a month ago people were saying that my Nexus 7 was a stupid size and 10" is the only good size for a tablet.

Now the very same people are saying they'll lay down money on an iPad mini.

Interesting world.
Click to expand...

I disagree - from what I see, people's opinions aren't changing. Either they're like me and have argued in favor of a smaller iPad all along (I've been waiting for 2 generations now!!), or they think the idea is stupid because "Steve Jobs said so and the current iPad is perfect lalalalalalala...."

Okay, I admit there's a tiny bit of hyperbole in that last phrase. :D
 
Patriot24 said:
[...]
Personally I think they'd be crazy to only release wi-fi models. One of the big selling points of a smaller iPad will be portability. Along with portability comes connectivity on-the-go.
Click to expand...

Yes. Cellular data connectivity and rear camera are two features that the Nexus 7 doesn't have. If Apple can ship an iPad mini with a bigger screen than Nexus 7, that is also thinner and lighter than the Nexus 7, with a rear (and maybe front) camera, that has optional cellular data connectivity, they'll have a winner.
 
elementskins said:
Is anyone else wondering why it is that there are constantly new "Leaked" images of the alleged next gen iPhone, yet we have seen almost NOTHING for the rumoured iPad Mini? Surely, if workers are sneaking next gen iPhone parts out of the factories, they would be doing the same for the iPad Mini parts, but they are not. More so probably, as it is for a product category that doesn't even exist within Apple currently, where as the next gen iPhone is a given. It just doesn't add up.

Personally, I am fairly confident that we will see an iPad Mini announced in September. I am equally confident that the leaked images of the next gen iPhone design we have been fed are not what we will be seeing when the device is unveiled. Thankfully, we should only have to wait 4 more weeks to find out.

Personally, I can't wait.
Click to expand...

1st off, the new iPad probably won't be available right away, thus they didn't have to ramp up production yet. They wouldn't release 2 major products at the same time, but they also won't have 2 separate conferences before the holiday quarter.

Therefore everything will be announced September 12, but have different release dates.

The iPhone leaked because they're gonna sell A LOT more of those, and they're smaller, anddd will probably be coming out first.

The leaked phone is what we're getting. There's no reason why it would be something different. And you're gonna love it when they unveil it and put those ads/high res images up...
 
What's with the name?

I hope they don't rename it like this:

"We are calling it the small iPad ..." - Tim Cook

There is the new iPad, and then there is the Macbook Pro with Retina Display. I guess it's about time Apple started realising they are stretching their names.
:mad:
 
waqas said:
I hope they don't rename it like this:

"We are calling it the small iPad ..." - Tim Cook

There is the new iPad, and then there is the Macbook Pro with Retina Display. I guess it's about time Apple started realising they are stretching their names.
:mad:
Click to expand...

Well it could be just the iPad. They don't differate the names of the MacBooks or iMacs by their size either.
 
New iPad is great but I hope capacities in all models get a bump and look forward to the new Nano and hopefully Classic.
 
If it weight less than 300 gramms i'm totally buying it :)

If not will consider other options :)

Waiting for the announcement of mini Pad :)
 
If I read that right it would appear that the iPad mini is to be smaller than the regular iPad. Who would have thought.
 
Just now, I picked up my Kindle 3 and held it the way I usually do when I'm reading - I'd never really thought about it before. As it turned out, my pinky ends up in front of the device along the bottom; three fingers are behind the Kindle's back; and my thumb is more or less along the side edge, but wrapped just enough around the front to push the "next page" button when necessary.

If the smaller iPad is light enough - I don't think narrow side bezels are going to be an issue, at least for me. The manner that people hold it, though, will almost certainly be affected by the overall weight. It's hard to imagine the existing 1.3 pound iPad having a narrow side bezel because it would not be easy to firmly hold onto it while using it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Back
Top