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'iPad Mini' Cases Consistent with Rumored Design Details

vincebio said:
i just dont get this...

does the world really need a smaller iPad?

Sure Apple tell us every year what we actually want....but im not sure we need this.

Im sure they will sell really well initially, but im pretty sure after a good run of sales, the full size iPad eat up all the sales.

Its a stupid product. Why design a tablet, tell the world how mazing everything is this size in your hand, then later on say, actually we can do it smaller too..

Its still too big to fit in a pocket, or too big to be a phone+, so whats the point in it exactly?

People with smaller hands lol?
Click to expand...

1st) the 10" form factor is too big, or better said, too heavy for some people.
2nd) price. Not everyone can give 500$ for the cheapest model of the ipad, when it's a secondary machine and cannot replace a laptop.
 
iPad mini?....pah it's not going to happen!

But when it does I will certainly buy, going down the pub the iPad is too big to take, but the iPad mini will be easy to slip into your jacket pocket.

I will buy in addition to my existing iPad which I believe is perfect for my needs.
 
thekeyring said:
This is one product launch that's going to be difficult to predict...

I can imagine it being more the 5th iPod touch... or a totally new device... but an iPad mini seems strange. The idea you'd walk into a store and say "I'd like an iPad" and they ask you which screen size you'd like seems unimaginable.

Or even that they'd release a new form factor halfway through an upgrade cycle, rather than have the 4th-gen iPad in two sizes.

I guess we'll see in the next month.

Also, has anyone tried iPad apps running on a smaller screen size - like testing iPhone apps on the rumoured 4" screen size?
Click to expand...

Ehh, when you ask for a MacBook Pro you have to choose a screen size...and now Retina or non-Retina. If you ask for an iPod you have at least three choices of device, let alone colors. This isn't a stretch at all.

If you run an iPhone app on an iPad at 2x resolution you will see the exact alleged screen size.
 
vincebio said:
i just dont get this...

does the world really need a smaller iPad?

Sure Apple tell us every year what we actually want....but im not sure we need this.

Im sure they will sell really well initially, but im pretty sure after a good run of sales, the full size iPad eat up all the sales.

Its a stupid product. Why design a tablet, tell the world how mazing everything is this size in your hand, then later on say, actually we can do it smaller too..

Its still too big to fit in a pocket, or too big to be a phone+, so whats the point in it exactly?

People with smaller hands lol?
Click to expand...

I had the same attitude about the original iPad... Now I own an iPad 2. Given the popularity of the Fire and Nook (and now Nexus 7), I suspect this thing will do extremely well.
 
ihuman:D said:
Do we care? Where are the iMacs? I'm sick of all this iToy crap.
Click to expand...

Then don't open the conversation. It's that simple.

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thekeyring said:
The idea you'd walk into a store and say "I'd like an iPad" and they ask you which screen size you'd like seems unimaginable
Click to expand...

Really?!? Then we must help you expand that tiny imagination of yours. Perhaps it's an age issue. I remember making up entirely fictitious worlds when I was a kid. Now, not so much. *sigh*
 
Iconoclysm said:
I'm sure Apple has already thought of all of these points, aren't you? As far as what it costs, 90% of the iPad is the battery...this would be exactly the same with a smaller screen (cheaper), smaller housing (cheaper), and smaller battery (cheaper). The rest of the components do not need to shrink.
Click to expand...
"As far as what it costs, 90% of the iPad is the battery..." - Okay. That'll get cheaper as you can only fit what you can in the space you have available. But if cost wise, the display is the biggest cost for physical parts.

"this would be exactly the same with a smaller screen (cheaper)" - Not neccessarily cheaper. It probably costs more to manufacturer more pixels on a surface area. Maybe this could stay around the same price approximately in comparison to iPad 2?

"smaller housing (cheaper)" - Maybe, but you may need to put costs up to place smaller parts together in a tighter space.

"The rest of the components do not need to shrink." - No way. Everything would need to be reduced. The PCB board and all the bits on it.

My guess for price would be around the current iPad 2 8GB model which is almost £100 cheaper here in the UK and this prev-gen device would disappear.
 
Tunster said:
"As far as what it costs, 90% of the iPad is the battery..." - Okay. That'll get cheaper as you can only fit what you can in the space you have available. But if cost wise, the display is the biggest cost for physical parts.

"this would be exactly the same with a smaller screen (cheaper)" - Not neccessarily cheaper. It probably costs more to manufacturer more pixels on a surface area. Maybe this could stay around the same price approximately in comparison to iPad 2?

"smaller housing (cheaper)" - Maybe, but you may need to put costs up to place smaller parts together in a tighter space.

"The rest of the components do not need to shrink." - No way. Everything would need to be reduced. The PCB board and all the bits on it.

My guess for price would be around the current iPad 2 8GB model which is almost £100 cheaper here in the UK and this prev-gen device would disappear.
Click to expand...

Display at a smaller size will be cheaper than iPad 3, cutting LCD panels smaller saves money. But yes, probably similar cost overall to iPad 2. There will not be a need for smaller parts, and the space would be the same since the battery will be smaller and powering a smaller screen. The PCB board does not need to shrink since 90% of the iPad is the battery and the electronics fit in a very small space. When you say "no way", I'd really love to know your reasoning since you can clearly see they are already small enough to fit. You should also take into account that if these parts were to shrink, the price would probably still be cheaper since it needs less materials to build.

There is no 8GB model that I'm aware of, 16 GB is the smallest I've seen in the US.

My guess is $299 - a $100 premium over the Fire and Nexus 7.
 
vincebio said:
i just dont get this...

does the world really need a smaller iPad?

Sure Apple tell us every year what we actually want....but im not sure we need this.
Click to expand...

Let me guess, you know what everyone really wants right? I desperately want an iPad, in fact I had a 2 for a month, and sold that, and got the 3. Then I sold that because I wasn't using it. It was too big for what I was using it for, and not big/powerful enough for other things I wanted to do on it.

There is a huge market for this device. Not everyone has a need for an oversized iPad mini. :) In fact I think the markets for an iPad mini and an iPad Pro would be much greater than the market for the current iPad.
 
I'm buying if this is true.

I have a Nook Tablet that I use on the train ever day, and I have to say that I would take a 7+" iPad over it and probably any android tablet any day.

The regular iPad (which we have at home) is too big for me to lug along with all the other crap I have to carry.

This would be a perfect size! :eek:
 
Iconoclysm said:
Display at a smaller size will be cheaper than iPad 3, cutting LCD panels smaller saves money. But yes, probably similar cost overall to iPad 2.
Click to expand...
Agreed. :)

There will not be a need for smaller parts, and the space would be the same since the battery will be smaller and powering a smaller screen. The PCB board does not need to shrink since 90% of the iPad is the battery and the electronics fit in a very small space. When you say "no way", I'd really love to know your reasoning since you can clearly see they are already small enough to fit. You should also take into account that if these parts were to shrink, the price would probably still be cheaper since it needs less materials to build.
Click to expand...
I'd disagree as Apple has always strived to put the biggest battery possible. Cutting out 2.5" of the diagnonal space is quite a lot (not sure in surface area that is). The board will no doubt reduced in someway or another. Likely reducing the cost not by much.

There is no 8GB model that I'm aware of, 16 GB is the smallest I've seen in the US.

My guess is $299 - a $100 premium over the Fire and Nexus 7.
Click to expand...
My bad. I'm thinking the iPhone. A $100 premium over the Fire and Nexus 7 will make it less appealing?

I'm hoping the product won't ever appear.
 
vincebio said:
i just dont get this...

does the world really need a smaller iPad?

Sure Apple tell us every year what we actually want....but im not sure we need this.

Im sure they will sell really well initially, but im pretty sure after a good run of sales, the full size iPad eat up all the sales.

Its a stupid product. Why design a tablet, tell the world how mazing everything is this size in your hand, then later on say, actually we can do it smaller too..

Its still too big to fit in a pocket, or too big to be a phone+, so whats the point in it exactly?

People with smaller hands lol?
Click to expand...

If Apple says you want it, you want it. Even if you don't.
 
Tunster said:
Agreed. :)


I'd disagree as Apple has always strived to put the biggest battery possible. Cutting out 2.5" of the diagnonal space is quite a lot (not sure in surface area that is). The board will no doubt reduced in someway or another. Likely reducing the cost not by much.


My bad. I'm thinking the iPhone. A $100 premium over the Fire and Nexus 7 will make it less appealing?

I'm hoping the product won't ever appear.
Click to expand...

A smaller screen means they'll need less battery though, and will probably still manage to have longer battery life than an iPad 2. It seems to me that using the same board as the iPad 3 would be the biggest cost saver, since there will be plenty of those left over when the iPad 4 launches.

A $100 premium for a better product with better components and more apps shouldn't be asking too much. There's probably wiggle room in there, maybe $249 or something close like $279.

I do want this device to exist, though I hadn't really considered it before. I will have a Surface Pro which will defeat the need for a full iPad, and I'm already lugging around a Kindle Touch (I say lugging but it's practically weightless). A smaller iPad will eliminate the Touch and still give me a use for iPad apps when the Surface Pro replaces my work laptop.
 
wrkactjob said:
iPad mini?....pah it's not going to happen!

But when it does I will certainly buy, going down the pub the iPad is too big to take, but the iPad mini will be easy to slip into your jacket pocket.

I will buy in addition to my existing iPad which I believe is perfect for my needs.
Click to expand...

I'll be buying as well!!
I've never understood some of the arguments, here... If you don't like, don't buy!
(...but when and if it IS released, you know what kind of posts will spring up afterwards, don't you? Get ready...!
A million and one 'Is it manly/feminine', 'What color should a guy get' and 'How do you carry your iPad Mini' threads.

(**This is me shaking my head**)

You heard it here first, folks!!
Mark my words!!! Can't WAIT to see who's first.
 
Iconoclysm said:
I did not say that the price of the battery was 90% of the cost of the iPad, I was referring to size of components (which you would have figured out if you continued to read).
Click to expand...

I did and that was unclear as you discussed both size and price and the discussion seemed to be focused more on price. But sorry if I misunderstood your post.
 
Forget the Mini, where's a new update on the iPod Touch? Some of us don't want a Smart Phone (data plan) but still want the PDA functions of iOS in a pocket sized device. A Mini-Pad would still be too big for pocket, and with unlocked iPhones costing 600+ dollars that's not an option.
 
Geckotek said:
I did and that was unclear as you discussed both size and price and the discussion seemed to be focused more on price. But sorry if I misunderstood your post.
Click to expand...

It's ok, I re-read it and can see how you might have thought that. When I said, "as for the cost" I was only referring to the topic not the price of the components.

----------
Dorje Sylas said:
Forget the Mini, where's a new update on the iPod Touch? Some of us don't want a Smart Phone (data plan) but still want the PDA functions of iOS in a pocket sized device. A Mini-Pad would still be too big for pocket, and with unlocked iPhones costing 600+ dollars that's not an option.
Click to expand...

I just bought the iTouch last month and used it for a week before returning it. It can't handle iTunes Match very well, locks up constantly, and is generally slow all around. It needs a serious update.
 
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