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NO retina, NO sale. I find it hard to believe that all the latest Apple products introduced recently (iphone/ipod touch/macbook pro) all have retina displays, but this will take a step back and not feature one. I'm planning on getting one, but if no retina, I will wait until Virgin Mobile gets the iPhone 5 and just get that. Not going backwards with tech.

Ipad 2 isn't retina so at that price range Ipad mini and Ipad 2 might be around the same price. Only option is a smaller Ipod touch.

You can bet the next mini Ipad would be retina.
 
You're getting into Comical Ali territory if you still think this isn't happening.

"There are no American infidels in Baghdad. Never!"

God that's a blast from the past!...actually I have Comical Ali on a mug saying that which always makes me laugh...however I digress

Anyways if this ipad mini or whatever its going to be called will be produced in order to concentrate peoples mind on iBooks it really must have retina, what would be the point in trying to focus and promote iBooks but then say "actually we are not going to give you the best screen to read the books with", it just would be laughable.
 
Fingers crossed for a retina display. If so, I'm sold.

I won't discuss price, but figure even the innards of an iPhone 4 (not 4S, but 4) in a larger form factor with a retina display will make a compelling purchase.

All I want is a small iPad: an iOS device in a tablet form factor that I can tether to my mobile handset (currently a Galaxy Nexus, but could be convinced to get an iPhone 5).





(On a side note...why oh WHY didn't they design the iPhone 5 to be the same as the new iPod Touch? THAT is the slickest piece of industrial design I've seen since the Nexus 7)
 
My take

I've been waiting for an iPad Mini since right after the first iPad came out (I bought one on day 1) and then I got a Kindle 3 (keyboard) and decided the Kindle was close to the perfect form factor for me if it was a color LCD and ran iOS.

I've read virtually every article on the Internet that speculates about the iPad mini and here is my fairly informed take on what it will be:

- 7.85 in display, 1024x768. Sure, I'd like a "retina display" but the iPad 2 display resolution at the smaller screen size will look plenty good. The only way to get a higher resolution that would be completely compatible with existing iPad apps would be to use the iPad 3 resolution and that would not be possible now. Maybe, next year. I don't see any room for doubt on this. It would not use some resolution compatible with the iPhone because it will be designed to use iPad apps and not iPhone apps.

- Probably will have a model with a cellular radio and one without but might only be available with WiFi only. I see this as a toss-up.

- As thin as iPod touch gen 4, 7.2" thin, 10-12 oz, thin side bezels

A number of posts on many sites say there is no need for an iPad this size. I totally disagree. The iPad is too heavy and large for most media consumption. I have a Kindle Fire and a Kindle keyboard and an iPad 1&3 and the iPad 2&3 are just too large and heavy for many activities.

Price: $300 for non-cellular if there is an option for cellular. Plus $100 for cellular if available. 16GB in entry model. Apple's standard +$100 for increased memory.

I think this thing will outsell the iPad 2&3 in 6 mos. I don't think that Apple needs to directly compete with Amazon and Google on price. I don't see the iPad mini as primarily a low-cost iPad to compete with others but rather as a better form factor than the iPad 3 for most tasks.

I've been waiting for 2+ years for Apple to fill the size gap between the iPhone and the iPad. I've tried Android alternatives and have given up on them.
 
iPod touch has more memory, 32GB. Also, even though I don't think Apple needs to compete on price, $350 would set off alarms with all the money analysts that see this as a low-cost play instead of a form factor play.

iMore supposedly got info a couple of months ago that it would be $200 or $250. I just don't see that happening.
 
I'm not following your logic here. Ipod Touch 5 Gen is sold for 300 USD. How could this be priced the same ?

Apple has (pretty much) no competition in the music player market.
Apple has stiff competition in the tablet space.

Above $299 would be suicide.
 
This seems to rule out retina. Kind of a downer considering every new Apple product includes a retina display now. What ever happened to Apple constantly pushing the technological envelope? Now they are just putting 1.5 year old hardware in a smaller device.

God I hope not. Otherwise I say this will have FAIL written all over it. No matter what the AI posters claim about "user experience".
 
That is *your* opinion, and is completely counter to the entire Apple ethos. They don't produce products to be cheaper, they don't produce products to compete with others (because Apple missed the boat), they don't play catch up. They aren't a price-oriented product company, so if they do turn and head in that direction (that's a big *if*), it's a huge turn and one that signals a very different Apple in years to come.

If Apple is true to Apple, they will produce this Mini with superior specs, and they will charge for it. People will see the price and say, "but look at that device, it's got much higher resolution, still longer battery life, excellent cellular connectivity, it's fast, and on and on...". That's Apple, and that's what I expect from Apple if they are true to themselves. Copying products out there in an inferior way and selling for more money (but still at the cheap end of the market), that's not Apple at all.
Yeah if Apple starts competing on price that will be a disaster. Amazon and Google are selling their devices at cost. That's not Apple's business model. If they try to compete with those price points we get an inferior product. Build a superior device and people will pay for it.
 
Also for starters, a $299 iPod touch and a $299 iPad mini make perfect sense.

If you want a pocket device with a Retina display and a good camera, you need to get the iPod touch. A mini iPad won't have a Retina display and it's camera will be worse. It will also have lower base storage than the iPod touch, starting at 16gb.

I don't see what the issue is, if you buy an iPhone 5 outright it will cost just as much if not more than any iPad. Size doesn't matter (truly!).

I expect an iPad mini to come in $299.
 
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(On a side note...why oh WHY didn't they design the iPhone 5 to be the same as the new iPod Touch? THAT is the slickest piece of industrial design I've seen since the Nexus 7)

Antennas. That little black bar on the back is a bit of an eyesore, IMO. when I first saw the leaked photos of iPhone 5 I hated the design. But now that I have the white one I think it looks absolutely drool worthy. Clearly a case of pictures not doing something justice.
 
(On a side note...why oh WHY didn't they design the iPhone 5 to be the same as the new iPod Touch? THAT is the slickest piece of industrial design I've seen since the Nexus 7)

The iPod touch does look slick in pictures, but when you see it in person and compare to the iPhone 5 there's no match - the iPhone 5 is clearly the more refined, sophisticated and higher end product.
 
Hahaha $100 less than the full-sized iPad. Laughable. It will either come in at $249 or $299. Either way, it will be significantly cheaper than the full-sized iPad. I'm guessing start at 8GB to have it start as low as possible, price-wise. I would buy an 8GB. Here's the thing, with iCloud, and Home Sharing, most people only need an 8GB for a Wifi only device. I will only use it at home, using Home Sharing for most media consumption. Now, they could easily make the 3G or LTE version start with 16GB because obviously if you are going to take it out you will need the additional storage.

I remember putting a bunch of music on my iPad 2 and I literally opened the Music app like once or twice, and just found myself thinking why the hell did I put music on this? With Home Sharing there is no need for music on these Wifi only devices which you keep at home.

you'll be disappointed. smaller form factor, higher portability, never left at home. besides, there's a lot more to ipads than music.

want music at $299? ipod touch.
 
iPad Mini vs iPod Touch 5

The new iPod Touch spex may point to the new Mini spex and features. The Touch is now a lean and mean and sleek machine. So Apple has created marketing space for the Touch when the Mini arrives. Best guess for the Mini: Less screen resolution then the Touch, less camera resolution, no siri, no passbook. So the Mini will not be as bright, light, useful, or fast. But it will be lighter, brighter, thinner, faster and much more useful than the Fire or Nook. And it will have a bigger screen and all those apps and will sell for $249us school price. So iPod Touch for kids at home; iPad Mini for kids at school. And for everyone in China. Good luck with the Surface, by the way.:apple:
 
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Anyone who thinks Apple needs to match the price of a Kindle Fire or Nexus 7 to sell the iPad mini doesn't understand value.

Apple could release an iPad mini that was identical in specifications to a Nexus 7 but at a 50% premium and not only would people buy it but they'd be making a good value choice to boot. Tablets are all about apps and ecosystem. That's why Android tablets are failing.

People are so hung up on the device that they fail to see what the real value proposition is. An iPhone is worth more than an identical spec device from someone else. An iPad is worth more than an identical spec device from someone else. Why? Because of iTunes, the App Store, Apple's retail stores and customer services, iOS, iCloud and all that other stuff.

Apple sells a digital lifestyle, not just gadgets. If I bought an iPad mini, as an iPhone, iPad and Apple TV owner the value proposition is immense. Even if I only owned an iPod and used iTunes the value of knowing that my new iPad would sync with software I already have and know how to use and would be able to sync my playlists and podcasts with minimal fuss would be a killer feature.

So, don't worry, Apple has not lost it's mind if this $299 pricing turns out to be accurate. An iPad mini would be worth that at least.
 
No retina, no buy. Simple as that. I don't think it's about saving the consumer money. If Apple did this, they would be doing it solely to expand their upgrade upgrade possibilities. If that's the case, Apple won't get my money.

I think Apple needs to remember their roots, get back to quality, and focus on their current products. They seem to have spread themselves too thin. Each OS launch has been worse than the last- in terms of stability, product launches occur with greater margins for error, and software development is becoming stagnant- take a look at Mac Server.

Please Apple, please- don't trade your quality for sales, because down the road, when everyone questions your quality (long time Mac users already do), you may find yourselves back in the 90's...:(
 
"People familiar with Apple's plans" ≠ Apple.
Jim Dalrymple ≠ Apple

They are all still educated guesses. Hopefully they are right though.

My point was that Jim Dalrymple's announcement isn't an educated guess and that his information does come from Apple.

Since I can't perfectly prove it you may as well say that the fact that Jim Dalrymple has insider information from Apple is just a rumor or "an educated guess".

I just can't win with your type of reasoning anyway. You can always just pull out "nothing in life is certain" or "everything is relative" to everything and while technically you're right, you're still a party pooper.

The original point was never that Apple officially announced the event, just that it has near 100% chances of happening.
 
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