Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Is the $399 iPad Mini Retina a rip off or well priced?

  • It's ridiculous! $399?!

    Votes: 103 24.5%
  • It's well priced for a great new upgrade with 64bit + retina!

    Votes: 201 47.7%
  • It's ok - I'd rather pay another $100 for the $499 iPad Air!

    Votes: 93 22.1%
  • Not impressed with either - I'm keeping my current iPad.

    Votes: 24 5.7%

  • Total voters
    421
overpriced? Lol. The seller sets the market. Not the buyer. I don't see any other company making anything even close.

Nintendo !!!!!! Apple is reminding me more and more of Nintendo they are like F you to developers and consumers. Seriously $399 for a mini retina !! Insane.
 
Touch ID may be great on an iPhone but who really needs it on an iPad. Not me for sure!!

You forget what TouchID could enable and what I think Apple will eventually add to iOS: Multi-User Logins, which is more important on tablets as they tend to be shared devices in a family, at least more so than iPhones.
 
I don't understand all this hate for the price.

The 1st gen. was not retina and it used older tech. The new mini is essentially an iPad Air just in a smaller form factor. Almost all the same specs, power, but with even better pixel density (if that matters).

Do people seriously think that the $100 difference between the mini and Air all comes from the materials needed to shape the aluminium and for the display?
 
The mini was originally intented to be a cheap alternative to the regular iPad, but given the popularity of the form factor they changed that strategy and now made it a full fledged small version of the regular iPad.

It's as simple as that.
 
The mini was originally intented to be a cheap alternative to the regular iPad, but given the popularity of the form factor they changed that strategy and now made it a full fledged small version of the regular iPad.

It's as simple as that.

I guess but shouldn't they have dropped the regular mini to $250 then and still provide that cheap alternative?
 
I don't understand all this hate for the price.

The 1st gen. was not retina and it used older tech. The new mini is essentially an iPad Air just in a smaller form factor. Almost all the same specs, power, but with even better pixel density (if that matters).

Do people seriously think that the $100 difference between the mini and Air all comes from the materials needed to shape the aluminium and for the display?

The average customer does not stop and think that 1st gen used 2 year old tech. It was released and perceived as an affordable and smaller form factor, which it was. Now, Apple created that perception in attempts to grab market share for the smaller tablet market. So, it's understandable for customers to be confused as to why it's now $399, only $100 cheaper than a full sized iPad.
 
I thought $399 was great until I saw this:

Screen_Shot_2013_10_22_at_9_05_42_PM.png
 
I feel the price of the Mini is unjustified given the delta between it and the Air in terms of overall experience. With the Air receiving the Atkins treatment, ease of use with a MUCH larger display eliminates the need for the Mini at its price point, IMO. If the retina we're priced at ~$369, it would have made more sense.
 
the nexus 7, and dell pro venue 8 outclass the retina mini for dollar ratio BUT the ipad mini is very reliable
 
Sad it wasn't $329 like the original and even more sad to hear it's not available till later November. Why can't they just give a dang date!

If it's like last year wrt supply, it will be late jan before they become readily available.
The higher price and the lighter iPad Air may shift more demand back to the $499 price point, which is probably what they are trying to do to increase their margins while managing constrained supply for the retina mini.
 
I feel the price of the Mini is unjustified given the delta between it and the Air in terms of overall experience.

Sorry, but what delta? They are identical spec, apart from a few cents of aluminum. Folks can literally (exclusively) choose between screen size and portability, and somehow people are choking on the price of the cheaper option. Where is the loss?
 
the nexus 7, and dell pro venue 8 outclass the retina mini for dollar ratio BUT the ipad mini is very reliable

its a mac forum. Unless the Nexus gives us super powers or girls that look like Kate Upton throwing their panties at us. We aren't going to look or acknowledge that other tablets exist. I haven't upgraded since the 3 and have been kind of disappointed with apple lately. They seem greedy now. Reminds me of Nintendo with the Super Ninendo came out they were kind of dicks now everyone hates them. Would love it if Google and Microsoft made comparable tablets but the surface is a piece of junk not at a Zune level but is pretty bad. I was not a fan of any of the android tablets I have tired either. No one is really competing with them. I have honestly not seen anyone using anything other than a iPad or a kindle fire.
 
Every year I upgrade to the newest iPad and then a couple months later I sell it when because I just don't have enough use for it.

For this year in a tablet, I want to stream Directv, home automation (control my receiver, projector, nest, and car functions), and occasionally watch a couple of movies, but I prefer to watch movies on the big screen in the theater room.

I'm struggling to justify $399 or even $499 on a secondary device with such limited uses in my home. For $329 I probably would have bought the Mini on impulse.

I am also a huge Amazon guy (love Prime and my Paperwhite V2). Im strongly considering the Kindle Fire HDX at $229. I currently use a iPhone 5s. What are some of the downsides in going this way? I prefer to stay with Apple, but I can get almost get 2 Kindle's and leave them around the house as a remote in place of 1 Mini.

Someone talk me out of this ha!
 
It's nice, and it's predictably priced, but it does beg a question. Is the Mini as relevant today, bearing in mind just how much Apple has reduced the size and weight of the full sized iPad. My gut reaction (and how I voted) is I'd rather pay the extra.

The Air still isn't as portable. I can fit the first gen Mini in my cargo shorts' pocket and inside the pocket of my fleece outerwear and in other garment pockets as well.

I'm sure the new Mini will fit but I do see your point other than that as far as the weight, not so much the size though.
 
iPad mini with Retina display now weighs more, at 0.73lbs. Makes it a harder choice to choose between mini or full.

I think the pricing is spot on. I get an iPad air, in a smaller, lighter casing, and an even sharper screen, for $100 less.
 
I prefer to stay with Apple, but I can get almost get 2 Kindle's and leave them around the house as a remote in place of 1 Mini.

Someone talk me out of this ha!

Im a big apple fan but also a big efficiency fan. It doesn't make sense to tie up bigger dollars into something with limited uses and a small % of your day. If you know the ipad won't get much use and the kindle will have near as good a resale value and you won't use it for other things, the kindle is a good choice. Having said that, stuck in the same situation, I would get a gently used v1 mini.
 
Im a big apple fan but also a big efficiency fan. It doesn't make sense to tie up bigger dollars into something with limited uses and a small % of your day. If you know the ipad won't get much use and the kindle will have near as good a resale value and you won't use it for other things, the kindle is a good choice. Having said that, stuck in the same situation, I would get a gently used v1 mini.

My problem is with the screen on the v1 Mini. It is unusable to me.
 
It's well priced when compared to the iPad air. It's basically a smaller iPad air that's $100 cheaper. But when compared to the Nexus 7 it's over priced. The iPad 2 at $399 is the true mistake. What's wrong with a $399 iPad 4?
 
Sorry, but what delta? They are identical spec, apart from a few cents of aluminum. Folks can literally (exclusively) choose between screen size and portability, and somehow people are choking on the price of the cheaper option. Where is the loss?

Delta in experience. The Air, with its reduced size equates to greater portability. With there only being a $100 difference, the Air is a much better overall solution, IMO.

The iPad was enormous compared to similarly sized tablets with the same diagonal screen dimensions due to the native aspect ratio and borders around the screen. The Mini allowed them to hit a lower price point and greater portability.

I guess I'm just saying the Air seems to me, to fit the needs of a wider audience now, with the experience a larger screen affords.

/rambling now. :eek:

----------

It's nice, and it's predictably priced, but it does beg a question. Is the Mini as relevant today, bearing in mind just how much Apple has reduced the size and weight of the full sized iPad. My gut reaction (and how I voted) is I'd rather pay the extra.

My stance exactly. :)
 
I will take a pass on the new $400 mini.

I have an iPad 3 which does everything I need it to do. My wife has the mini which serves her needs. I was considering a new mini to take to work to watch netflix but not at $400. $30 off on the original mini is absurd.
 
I think it's a good price. Same specs as full size plus more ppi for $100 less. Good deal. Everyone said all they wanted was retina. They got that plus the current gen proc. people bitching about touch Id is silly. I love touch id but up until last month I never even knew I wanted it.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.