Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Surveys are completely self-selecting. Not everyone has time for surveys and those that do likely have more time than money on their hands. Surveys on purchases are even less reliable than a political poll.

If I work full-time, when will I have time let alone interest in participating in a survey? I even fought tooth and nail to not answer a phone labour market survey that I was forced to participate in by the government. I mean, have been a hard working tax payer for over a decade and they wanted me to answer a bunch of stupid questions about my employment once a week for about 6 weeks in return for nothing. My taxes should be enough and I should have the right to say "no".

They had the gall to tell me that I had to tell them when I was going on vacation during those 6 weeks. Some free country eh?
 
Anybody on the market looking for a cheap tablet would look at Ipad 1 and 2 right now they will only come down further in price.

The 7" will be a bit of a flop as you are getting a less good product all round. I think they have misjudged it a bit and should stick to what they do with Iphone.

At a 7" screen your most likely to want a bigger screen unless you are in the market for a small tablet. People most likely go small as it's cheaper.

Yes it will bring the retail price down great, but people could find a used one in the second hand market (Ipad 2 far better product for the same price or less?)

Might leave the 7" tablet a middle market catching the non Apple buyers. Apple already sell lots of Ipads though so do they have to? Must do as they can't make money from second hand Ipads.
 
Would a Wi-Fi only iPad Mini be completely ridiculous? Yes, of course.

Would Apple actually release a Wi-Fi only iPad Mini? Yes, of course.

Apple is king when it comes to getting customers to buy products following their refresh cycle. Releasing a Wi-Fi version now and then later releasing a 3G/4G version later would follow Apple's business model.

So far, that business model has made a lot of profit, and has made many, many billions of dollars. But you are welcome to start your own company if you think you can do better.
 
Won't have 3G. How else will they market/sell iPad Mini 2 in a year?

+1. Heck, I'll go as far as saying it won't have an iSight camera on it either.

We've seen this game before. Sooner or later it's going to catch up to them.
 
Anybody on the market looking for a cheap tablet would look at Ipad 1 and 2 right now they will only come down further in price.

The 7" will be a bit of a flop as you are getting a less good product all round. I think they have misjudged it a bit and should stick to what they do with Iphone.

At a 7" screen your most likely to want a bigger screen unless you are in the market for a small tablet. People most likely go small as it's cheaper.

Yes it will bring the retail price down great, but people could find a used one in the second hand market (Ipad 2 far better product for the same price or less?)

Might leave the 7" tablet a middle market catching the non Apple buyers. Apple already sell lots of Ipads though so do they have to? Must do as they can't make money from second hand Ipads.

Absolutely not. I love the smaller screen and device, and the fact that it will weigh much less.
 
What a daft story! The way it's worded is as though Mac Rumors staff are actually upset at the suggecstion the iPad Mini will not have any cellular data system in it!
I mean, if the device was launched and all I could see the point, but seeing as it lives firmly in rumour ware land I find it very odd to write like that.

Oh well, apparently the mythical press invitations are going out tomorrow for the iPad Mini event, will they or won't they? hmm..

----------

Anybody on the market looking for a cheap tablet would look at Ipad 1 and 2 right now they will only come down further in price.

The 7" will be a bit of a flop as you are getting a less good product all round. I think they have misjudged it a bit and should stick to what they do with Iphone.

At a 7" screen your most likely to want a bigger screen unless you are in the market for a small tablet. People most likely go small as it's cheaper.

Yes it will bring the retail price down great, but people could find a used one in the second hand market (Ipad 2 far better product for the same price or less?)

Might leave the 7" tablet a middle market catching the non Apple buyers. Apple already sell lots of Ipads though so do they have to? Must do as they can't make money from second hand Ipads.

The Kindle Fire HD, Nexus 7, new Kobo Arc and Barnes and Noble 7" tablets are ALL more powerful then the iPad 1, plus they are all new, and the iPad 2 is still frigging expensive compared to those 7" tablets too.
 
here we go again, what with all the moaners on here. Yes I bought an ipad and yes I know it will be updated at some stage and mine wont be the latest, BUT does it still do everything it said it would do on the box when I bought it? YES!!!!!


get over it

what difference if it gets updated sooner or later? will you ipad stop working? if its new you can always sell it at a good price.

You know what companies go bust? The ones who call their customers "moaners". Sure, you don't work for Apple; but I hope they don't adopt a similar attitude.

As for that whole "does it do everything it said it would", that's a total BS argument. It's like you've never bought anything in your life or something - there's value and depreciation.

- YES, the iPad 3 said it was LTE compatible. Apple made the excuse that the frequency bands hadn't been finalised in the UK, and that it didn't matter because the technology wouldn't be in the market for years anyway. You think it's OK to say that one month and sell millions of people an incompatible product, and then a few months later turn around and relaunch the product? Now will those things people expected the first time but you assured them wouldn't be possible for years? Was the iPad 3 really the best iPad Apple could create? It doesn't seem so. That's dishonest to your customers.

- Similarly, the iPad is an absurdly high-volume device. There are tens of millions of people who just bought a new device that accepts the 30-pin dock, and those people have expectations for how long those devices last. Things like networking standards and cables do not change on the short-term. Hypothetical: there's a cool lightning-only accessory that I want; my 6-month-old iPad isn't compatible. The usefulness of the product has decreased, and fails to live up to the expectations when I bought it.

There is such a thing as consumer rights, and treating your customers with respect. Really, it would massively undercut the money Apple's millions of customers have spent on their iPad 3s in the UK. There's no denying that.

I used to be a really loyal Apple customer because of the respect they showed their customers. I'd like to see Apple's customers demand more of them, because right now it feels like it's being taken for granted that everything will be a hit.

I'm not going to suck up to Apple and say this would be fine. It wouldn't be.

It's hard to think of an analogy because this doesn't happen often: let's say you bought a brand-new petrol-powered Ford. They sell it to you because gas it cheap and electric motors are decades away, at best. They assure you that this is the best their engineers can do. Tomorrow (or some very short time later; insignificant next to the expected lifetime of the product) they discontinue that model you just bought (and they just sold you as the best that they could do) and replace it with the electric model you wanted in the first place, as well as all kinds of smaller improvements.

Does the car still drive? Yes. Does it live up to the promise of when you bought it? Factually, yes, but in all other senses no. Will you buy another Ford? I'm guessing not. You'd feel screwed over.

Like I said, I'm going off Apple. They're no longer producing their best work to create the absolute best products around (like the company of yore); now it's all about cynically culling features to create a shallow upgrade slope - drag the process out for longer with smaller improvements out of greed.
 
Last edited:
I think that the iPad mini might come with no 3G, no retina display, no FaceTime camera, and only in 8/16 GB versions. However, if the price is right, there could still be market for this thing.

But I have to be honest, if there is no FaceTime, I won't buy one :( So, I hope I am wrong with my prediction.
 
LOL, if they release it at $149, I'm buying one for everyone in my family. :D

Just so you know, at the £149 price each sale comes with a unicorn and talking monkey. I wanted to warn you, you can't have that price without the free accompanying gifts. I hope you have the space in your home for these new family members. You see, it takes a unicorn and talking monkey to deliver each device from fantasy land, where they all reside.
 
If true- they better be selling it for $199 or less otherwise it's a bust.
I'm in NYC and I still find myself in no wifi areas all the time.
 
We've seen this game before. Sooner or later it's going to catch up to them.

Unfortunately, it's been known for some time, that there's a sucker born every minute -- experience just grows old and dies ...

Should be an interesting week ahead.
 
Why would you produce a purse sized device and not make it 3G/4G?

Well, my Kindle is as you say, "purse sized", yet I don't have a purse (did I miss a free bundle offer somewhere, I only got a free box of tampons with mine, what a ripoff!).

Further, I opted for a Kindle that isn't cellular because it's not necessary to have a cellular connection for a device like this. If you need a connection on the road, a MiFi device is much better as it'll allow you to connect your laptop or any other mobile devices you own as well.

When I'm out and about with my Kindle, former iPad, laptop, I'm in WiFi zones that are free (school, work). The other times I'm underground or in a place those devices aren't being used. Why submit to an unnecessary cellular contract and pay a premium for functionality in the device that isn't really necessary. WiFi only is not a bad thing, and for the guy that talked about his kids only being able to use the device at home because they don't have 3G or LTE in the device, I'm stunned in so many ways I can't begin to explain the absurdity of that statement.
 
Well, my Kindle is as you say, "purse sized", yet I don't have a purse (did I miss a free bundle offer somewhere, I only got a free box of tampons with mine, what a ripoff!).

Further, I opted for a Kindle that isn't cellular because it's not necessary to have a cellular connection for a device like this. If you need a connection on the road, a MiFi device is much better as it'll allow you to connect your laptop or any other mobile devices you own as well.

When I'm out and about with my Kindle, former iPad, laptop, I'm in WiFi zones that are free (school, work). The other times I'm underground or in a place those devices aren't being used. Why submit to an unnecessary cellular contract and pay a premium for functionality in the device that isn't really necessary. WiFi only is not a bad thing, and for the guy that talked about his kids only being able to use the device at home because they don't have 3G or LTE in the device, I'm stunned in so many ways I can't begin to explain the absurdity of that statement.

I completely disagree. I have a slew of apple devices iphones, ipods, iPads...and the device I wish had a cellular connection the most is my Nexus 7. this size is the perfect all in one device. I can care less if my phone is with me, and sometimes, the ipad is just too big to bring around. a 7-inch tablet, with cellular capabilities is the best of both worlds. Reason an ipad would make a huge difference is that while I dont care about my phone, I still have the ability to TXT with imessage which is important to me, and the most frustrating thing about just bringing my Nexus around. Yes Wifi is everywhere, but not everywhere is free, and when it is free, it is throttled so much that it is clearly worse than edge sometimes! Bring on the LTE iPad Mini!
 
I completely disagree. I have a slew of apple devices iphones, ipods, iPads...and the device I wish had a cellular connection the most is my Nexus 7. this size is the perfect all in one device. I can care less if my phone is with me, and sometimes, the ipad is just too big to bring around. a 7-inch tablet, with cellular capabilities is the best of both worlds. Reason an ipad would make a huge difference is that while I dont care about my phone, I still have the ability to TXT with imessage which is important to me, and the most frustrating thing about just bringing my Nexus around. Yes Wifi is everywhere, but not everywhere is free, and when it is free, it is throttled so much that it is clearly worse than edge sometimes! Bring on the LTE iPad Mini!

You mention you don't care about your phone being with you - that puts you in the smallest minority of people on the planet, you're an incredibly atypical user.

But in my post I also said, MiFi is a great option. Plus all your other WiFi devices can use the connection too.

You don't *need* a cellular connection in every single device - that's just succumbing to those big bad cellular company's (quite successful) plans to get you to hand over your wallet to them on a monthly basis. It's not a make or break decision for a media consumption device, especially when there are other ways to connect.
 
Won't have 3G. How else will they market/sell iPad Mini 2 in a year?

Theory would make sense except the iPad was always available in WiFi & 3G or LTE versions. The original iPad 3G was delayed a month so could be the same story w/ the Mini. That scenario would certainly jibe with the rumor of 10m units being produced for launch.

The fastest way to keep the production lines pumping is to have them all pushing out the same model. It's gift season so people don't have the luxury of waiting weeks for delivery. These have to be in stock when the customer comes in or goes online.
 
I'm still not sold on all this iPad Mini nonsense.

Were you also not sold on the fact that the new iPhone was going to be called the iPhone 5? :rolleyes:

There's a market for smaller tablets. Apple needs to get a competitive tablet in this area.

wifi only = NO GPS, NO COMPASS
wifi only = NO SALE

LTE and 7" size was the biggest draw for me.

Pretty sure current iPad WiFi only models are selling just fine. ;)

Apple, kill yourself.

I was going to buy the Nexus 7, but I need 3G.
I was waiting for the new iPad mini, because I prefer it (a lot). No 3G.

Damn!

No 3G, No iPad.

Chill dude. It's an iPad. No need to get all dramatic about it :rolleyes:

Lol.but it's ipad mini or ipod touch?lol

tumblr_lnwltqhA7R1qzj7lm.png
 
The Kindle Fire HD, Nexus 7, new Kobo Arc and Barnes and Noble 7" tablets are ALL more powerful then the iPad 1, plus they are all new, and the iPad 2 is still frigging expensive compared to those 7" tablets too.

Unfortunately for those tablets, many of them feel laggier than iPad 1 let alone iPad 2. Even Nexus 7 which is by far the smoothest of them all doesn't feel as consistently smooth as iPad 2. Personally I'll hold out for the inevitable Retina version but a smaller cheaper iPad will be very compelling buy over all those tablets.
 
I have a hard time seeing how Apple will compete with the likes of Google and Amazon unless there are two tiers of iPad minis; an entry-level one with WiFi only and a high-end one with a retina display, camera and LTE.

They would need a really basic model they could sell cheap as a loss leader/halo product but also a more expensive one that blows the competition out of the water (or at least doesn't drown amongst them).

The pricing of the new iPod touch lineup is troubling though.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.