iPad Mini Update to Trail Next Full-Size iPad Launch by Several Months?

[neutrino23]

Very much looking forward to the iPad 5. I had the 2 and now use the 3. I hope to see improvements across the board.

5 million for the quarter seems low. I would think closer to 8 or 10 million.

 

[BBCWatcher]

It would be a good idea to stagger the iPad and iPad mini releases. Here's what I think will happen:

iPad 5

Introduced in July and starting at $499 (32GB model). The 16GB configuration will be dropped to improve the differentiation with the iPad mini. The iPad 2 will be discontinued. Compared to the iPad 4 it'll be slimmer and lighter, and the performance will be improved. A fingerprint sensor may make an appearance. The high resolution camera will be bumped from 5 to 8 megapixels.

iPad mini 2

Introduced around October. The existing 16GB WiFi-only iPad mini will be reduced to a $299 starting price (and perhaps with a little under-the-hood silicon reduction/consolidation), and all other iPad mini models will be dropped. Then the iPad mini with retina display would start at $379 (16GB). The iPad mini 2 will use something like (or exactly like) an Apple A6 (iPhone 5) or A5X (iPad 3) processor, and the fingerprint sensor may also make an appearance. It'll be slightly more portly than the current iPad mini in at least one respect (size or weight). The cameras will not be bumped.

 

[nikaru]

I find this interesting. Among my friends (I am in college) they are all disappointed that apple doesn't update their hardware as frequently as other companies. To non tech savvy people to wait 6 months to buy a new product is unheard of. They will just go out an buy the top of the line android tablet that came out days ago since they don't want to by a 5 month old device from Apple.

My ipad 2 still rocks!

 

[Fishticks]

When the iPad mini will go retina, it will even more cannibalize regular iPad sales: AAPL knows that, that's why they'll delay the release as much as possible.

 

[Smartass]

i dont think apple can afford to delay ipad mini. Competition is throwing out better and better tablets each month, and relaying on people that they wont be buying any new competitors tablets in the next couple of months just for the sake of "i love iOS" really isnt a good reason.

 

[olowott]

its the iPad 5th Gen for me.

The mini is awesome, just not for me.........for now

 

[iSunrise]

I find this interesting. Among my friends (I am in college) they are all disappointed that apple doesn't update their hardware as frequently as other companies. To non tech savvy people to wait 6 months to buy a new product is unheard of. They will just go out an buy the top of the line android tablet that came out days ago since they don't want to by a 5 month old device from Apple.

I would question them on whether they are very satisfied with what they bought or why they bought it in the first place. Being someone that just owns something, because they own something is not a direction anyone should be heading. Since you´re basically speaking about my teen years though, I can somehow understand that the younger people always want better things faster, because (especially Samsung) is getting increasingly aggressive with their line-up and young people adapt to a change in market behaviour pretty quickly.

 

[Nightarchaon]

This is simply Apples way of getting the "Must Haves" to buy twice, a Full size iPad "NOW" and then an iPad mini a few months down the line, its probably also the only way they can keep iPad sales up as the Mini has cannibalized the full size iPads sales something awful.

 

[bushido]

Sets everything up nice for a new ipad at WWDC.

Ipad mini can launch nearer the 5S.

If they announce it in June maybe we can see a July launch?

i doubt apple would release another iOS device before iOS7 is ready for a public release which wont be for another few months.

with all those rumored changes, devs probably need time to adjust their app icons for example and of course beta testing the software

 

[Neodym]

Do I get the iPad mini w/ Retina, or wait a couple of months to see if the 5th gen iPad has a smaller bezel?

According to the rumor the 9.7" iPad comes first and the mini later on. So you can easily wait and see whether the full sized iPad lives up to your expectations.

I dont understand the constant micro-upgrade cycle.

One part of the explanation probably is Moore's Law: With the transistor numbers roughly doubling every 18 months, this is about the timeframe for possible significant updates (performance, power-saving etc.) that might be appealing to the customers.

The cellphone industry usually offering 24-month plans for subsidized devices adds to it.

And with Apple products usually doing well in keeping their value, people are tempted to sell them while still getting money, thus a more frequent upgrade to the newer device seems less costly than using the old one until it breaks and then spending the full sum (without sales revenue) for a new device.

Oh and one more thing: Some people simply prefer to stay within warranty (especially with Apple, where the products are expected to 'simply work'), so upgrades are done according to the 1-3 years offered there.

 

[Nightarchaon]

When the iPad mini will go retina, it will even more cannibalize regular iPad sales: AAPL knows that, that's why they'll delay the release as much as possible.

I wish people would stop demanding a retina iPad mini.!!

it doesn't NEED a new screen to be "retina", its already close enough to make no difference (Same res as the iPad, smaller screen = small pixels anyway, i know i cant make out individual pixels unless i hold it stupidly close to my face)

Id rather they keep the resolution as is, because that will reduce the power consumption needs for a high res screen and more graphical horsepower and extend the battery life, something that's far more precious than a higher resolution screen you cant notice is higher resolution.

 

[Erasmus]

That is not a good comparison, since a retina Mini can do practically everything a bigger iPad can do (sacrificing only on screen dimension (not resolution) and a bit of performance).

I very much disagree with your use of "a bit of performance". I don't think going from a dual A6X with quad graphics down to a standard A5 is a bit. I call that a lot.

There is a graph in this thread, comparing iPad 4 to iPad 2 (which had an A5):
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1473698/

Not sure where it's from though.

 

[AppleMark]

I wish people would stop demanding a retina iPad mini.!!

it doesn't NEED a new screen to be "retina", its already close enough to make no difference (Same res as the iPad, smaller screen = small pixels anyway, i know i cant make out individual pixels unless i hold it stupidly close to my face)

Id rather they keep the resolution as is, because that will reduce the power consumption needs for a high res screen and more graphical horsepower and extend the battery life, something that's far more precious than a higher resolution screen you cant notice is higher resolution.

As an owner of the mini, I agree in part. However when the same company has a Retina display on a phone [and made a case for it], then it is no surprise that it is expected on a larger device.

 

[iSunrise]

I very much disagree with your use of "a bit of performance". I don't think going from a dual A6X with quad graphics down to a standard A5 is a bit. I call that a lot.

There is a graph in this thread, comparing iPad 4 to iPad 2 (which had an A5):
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1473698/

Not sure where it's from though.

Read it again, I was comparing a (new) retina Mini, not a current gen Mini. And everything faster than an A5 chip (that is in the current Mini) can deal with basically everything you can run on it easily.

You already didn´t gain much from the move from iPad 3 to an iPad 4 (A5X vs. A6X). An A7X is going to be even faster, but applications and iOS are limiting you in such a way that you get almost nothing in return apart from synthetic tests (the ones companies do to make you buy their devices). iOS is just too well optimized for current hardware.

There just are not enough applications that make use of it on the current iOS if you compare that with high-end PCs for example. An A6X is already blazing-fast and if Apple adapts that (or even an A7X-variant) to the new Mini, there won´t be much applications left (web browser, scrolling - although that is also RAM and bandwidth limited) that can show you any difference.

 

[steve119]

I have the iPad 2, fiancée has the mini, I just can't use the mini as I am used to the bigger screen. So probably will go for the next full size ipad.

Fiancée loves the mini, so will maybe get her the retina mini first if it comes out and use her as a Guinee pig lol

 

[ValSalva]

i doubt apple would release another iOS device before iOS7 is ready for a public release which wont be for another few months.

Agreed, no way there will be a new iPad at WWDC.

 

[WilliamLondon]

I find this interesting. Among my friends (I am in college) they are all disappointed that apple doesn't update their hardware as frequently as other companies. To non tech savvy people to wait 6 months to buy a new product is unheard of. They will just go out an buy the top of the line android tablet that came out days ago since they don't want to by a 5 month old device from Apple.

Products on a more frequent refresh cycle don't fare as well in the second hand market, while Apple has always done very, very well. You can buy a "5 month old" use it for 7 months, and sell it without losing much on the resale. That other device your friends just bought will be replaced in a month or two when the next one is released, rendering the ones in their hot little hands, both old an version and worthless on the second hand market. Faster refresh cycles mean shorter times that the products you own are "current".

 

[M-O]

My friend's iPad mini got stolen last week. He says he hasn't even missed it. LOL.

everyone knows you have no friends.

 

[darkknight14]

I think we could see the new iPad at WWDC, its the one device that is most out of touch with Apples current design focus.

 

[Erasmus]

Read it again, I was comparing a (new) retina Mini, not a current gen Mini. And everything faster than an A5 chip (that is in the current Mini) can deal with basically everything you can run on it easily.

You already didn´t gain much from the move from iPad 3 to an iPad 4 (A5X vs. A6X). An A7X is going to be even faster, but applications and iOS are limiting you in such a way that you get almost nothing in return apart from synthetic tests (the ones companies do to make you buy their devices). iOS is just too well optimized for current hardware.

There just are not enough applications that make use of it on the current iOS if you compare that with high-end PCs for example. An A6X is already blazing-fast and if Apple adapts that (or even an A7X-variant) to the new Mini, there won´t be much applications left (web browser, scrolling - although that is also RAM and bandwidth limited) that can show you any difference.

Isn't the iPad/iPad Mini basically just a portable gaming machine?

Considering the present iPad Mini is less than half the speed of the present iPad, I think expecting the next iPad Mini to be able to compete with the next iPad is far-fetched.

Sure, if you're going to compare surfing the net on each, you won't notice a difference. But if that's the case, one would be as well off buying a first gen iPad. It's the same argument as with any modern computer hardware. It's all good enough for basic tasks, but if you want to play games (or do heavy computational work) differences in performance between models become clear.

 

[lannisters4life]

This is going to be bad for me. I made the decision a long time ago that if the next iPad mini received a Retina display, I would be getting that, ONLY if the 5th generation iPad didn't receive a thinner/ lighter bezel to make the physical size smaller. Now I'm at a fork in the road. If this does happen, what do I do? Do I get the iPad mini w/ Retina, or wait a couple of months to see if the 5th gen iPad has a smaller bezel? Ughh

haha mate, i am exactly the same

no idea, but i think i'm on the side of the ipad mini, i change my mind every second day

 

[Erasmus]

I think we could see the new iPad at WWDC, its the one device that is most out of touch with Apples current design focus.

I think you'll find the one device most out of touch with Apple's current design focus is the Mac Pro

 

[Mr.damien]

I find this interesting. Among my friends (I am in college) they are all disappointed that apple doesn't update their hardware as frequently as other companies. To non tech savvy people to wait 6 months to buy a new product is unheard of. They will just go out an buy the top of the line android tablet that came out days ago since they don't want to by a 5 month old device from Apple.

And then realize that
1. There is almost no good app for android tablet than iPads
2. They will discover that they won't have OS updates as on iPads and discover that their brand new hardware will be outdated faster than the 5 months iPads...

That's what happened to my friends thinking the same of yours. Now they have iPads and the only tablet that could make them switch (if any) is the surface.

 

[69650]

If they were going to split the release dates to encourage sales of the iPad wouldn't it have been better to keep the March/April release date for the iPad and Sept/Oct for the iPad mini?

I think it's more likely they will go down the iPod route of one annual refresh at the same time for all iPads. Maybe hold one iPad + iPod media event in Sept to release the lot just in time for the back to college and holidays buying season.

 

[SBlue1]

I find this interesting. Among my friends (I am in college) they are all disappointed that apple doesn't update their hardware as frequently as other companies. To non tech savvy people to wait 6 months to buy a new product is unheard of. They will just go out an buy the top of the line android tablet that came out days ago since they don't want to by a 5 month old device from Apple.

6 Months is old? Wow... Why?

I bought an iPad 3 and I don't plan to update it unless it gets really slow or I break it somehow. I used my Mac Cube for 6 Years then had my white plastic MacBook for 6 years. My current MacBook Pro will serve me hopefully even longer since I don't use it that much anymore since I got my iPad.