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Retina iPad Mini Unlikely to See Widespread Availability in 2013

Welp, I won't upgrade my mini until it has Retina. I am also still using an iPad 3. I didn't plan to upgrade that because I really like the mini better.

Apple will be losing money from me on this.
 
unrose said:
these supply chain rumors are almost never correct.

I'm holding in my hand a 4th generation iPod touch, internally a 3GS driving a retina screen.

The ipad mini is 4x the volume of the device, with space for 4x the battery. The display technology has been perfected and power reduced since 2010. There are no new challenges about fitting this technology into the iPad mini.

The reason the original wasn't retina has less to do with engineering than with marketing: it wouldn't have hit the cost they wanted, and would have eaten too much into the higher ASP, non-redesigned iPad. And Apple's continuing marketing strategy is not always to release the best products, but to release products that make the previous ones look old. If they launched with retina, the upgrade this year wouldn't have seemed as compelling. Now they're going to update it with the 4s's camera from 2011, and a retina screen from 2010, and have an all new looking product for 2014.

That's the secret to Apple: the feeling that they're creating newness.
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Sad but true.
 
This just doesn't make sense to me. They can do the iPhone. They can do the iPad. They can do the MBP. They can't do the mini?

To paraphrase Archer: "what is it you don't understand?" "Well, obviously it's the core concept!"
 
mdelvecchio said:
good lord what are you talking about? the mini is doing its job perfectly -- i have the lightest, thinnest ipad imaginable with access to my rich iOS app landscape. it's perfect for my briefcase and helps me do my work. retina display is a nice-to-have for this use case, not a need-to-have.

ive never even seen one of these google tablets youre referring to.
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Why are you commenting on something you've never even seen?
 
Sounds like the same type of bottleneck situation that happened to the "late-2012 iMac". I know I ordered my 2012 iMac as soon as pre-orders were allowed on Apple's Online Store. And guess what? I got mine in time before Christmas.

The other slowpokes who didn't jump to order right away ended up getting theirs delivered in the following January/February.

P.S. --- Retina Mini is what I want too, just like everyone else. Non-Retina Mini = no buy.

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Rogifan said:
I'm expecting the mini to have retina display.
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I'd rather wait for a delay of another 2-3 months for Apple to have the iPad Retina Mini ramped up and available for shipment, rather than do a rush job and release an iPad Mini 2 that is non-retina.
 
Im sure it will come along soon.

Again, theres probably more important things going on at the moment, like your government shutting down because one side doesn't want cheaper healthcare, the debt ceiling decision in a few weeks. You know, those tiny things that control the rest of the world...... :rolleyes:
 
captain kaos said:
Im sure it will come along soon.

Again, theres probably more important things going on at the moment, like your government shutting down because one side doesn't want cheaper healthcare, the debt ceiling decision in a few weeks. You know, those tiny things that control the rest of the world...... :rolleyes:
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I don't think the rest of the world is run by what they do with the American Health Care system! America is still making stuff, it's economy is still moving. So long as the banks aren't trying to screw the planet over again we'll be alright mate.
 
captain kaos said:
Im sure it will come along soon.

Again, theres probably more important things going on at the moment, like your government shutting down because one side doesn't want cheaper healthcare, the debt ceiling decision in a few weeks. You know, those tiny things that control the rest of the world...... :rolleyes:
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Actually, the so-called "shutdown" of the US Government has little effect on everything else in the country. Like the fact that AAPL and MSFT and GOOG stock prices increased significantly the following day after the Shutdown. Nor did it do anything to increase the price of bread, milk or gasoline 2 days afterwards. While it did affect the paychecks and suspend the jobs of thousands of government-employed citizens, it has little relevance to the manufacturing operations of a private corporation like Apple. Your logic is misplaced at best.
 
TWSS37 said:
Wasn't meant to be sarcastic, just was advising. Just seems be splitting hairs at that size and weight. Personally, when I make tech decisions (since something new is ALWAYS around the corner) is, if the N7 is available now and the iPad mini 2 is TBD, would I be happier now with the product and live with some things I may not like? Or would I rather hold off? It's the time spent waiting trade off.

Given Apple track records of availability against what this article is saying, when do you think an iPad mini will be readily available? March 2014? Would 6 months be worth the relative weight difference of something that is negligible? At that point, why not just wait for the N7 3 which I am sure will even be lighter and thinner :)
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Well, I have to make decisions as an ipad mini user. Those who don't have either the ipad mini or nexus 7 probably will have different expectations and standards. But again, as an owner of an iPad mini, the weight difference I felt was noticeable enough to not want it despite the better screen. This is most likely due to me being so used to the weight of the ipad mini. It's nots just the weight of the nexus 7 that I have issues with, I'm also worried that the so called ipad mini retina will also be just as heavy, if not more.

Whatever your expectations are, my point is that weight or, shall I say, weight relative to surface area (perceived weight) matters quite a bit.
 
It will be there. I suspect you're going to have to be quick on the draw when online orders go live, or otherwise willing to queue for several hours in order to be absolutely guaranteed one before Christmas, but I've no doubt that the Retina iPad mini will be available this year to anyone who wants it enough.
 
I salivate at the thought of a retina Mini and will be first in line, but like others have thoroughly enjoyed the current one for nearly a year.

The Mini does text perfectly well in things like Alien Blue, Mail and even the Kindle app as you can up the font size. Equally, 720p/1080p video still looks great despite it obviously being downscaled. I'm normally an aspect ratio nazi, but I make the exception with the mini and expand video to fit via AVPlayerHD.

My only beef with the Mini is Safari, and for two reasons - the limitations of 512mb ram are all too apparent with regard to tabs. Also, it's the only app in which I feel the lack of retina is painfully obvious - the Mini doesn't do small text well, which is obvious on the majority of websites. I could use other browsers that can increase font size of course, but I'm unwilling to give up all the good points of Safari - faster JavaScript, iCloud syncing, reading list blah blah.

Personally, I plan on getting an iPad 5 this time around, and keep the mini for portable purposes only. I can't deny I just plain enjoy using the big iPad more.
 
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I was going to wait for a retina mini that is hopefully going to be announced soon, but then I won a normal mini in a contest today. And how do they say: Do not look gift horses in the mouth!
 
V.K. said:
I'm not a developer so please don't kill me for asking but what would happen if Apple didn't double the resolution but increased it by a different factor? 324ppi is something of an overkill for retina on a mini, isn't it? something closer to 264ppi of the full size ipad would be retina already on a mini and I imagine would be much easier to manufacture. say, if they bumped the resolution to 1600x1200 then it would be around 255ppi I think.
I realize that would be an inconvenience for developers but how much of one?
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It would be very annoying for developers and you would see very few apps that were optimized for the ipad mini. In most cases developers would have to special design for the new resolution.

If it was the same as the regular ipad retina everything would just work no redesign needed.
 
I would be extremely surprised if the mini got a retina screen, Touch ID, an A7 all at the same price points as now.

However, I would LOVE that to happen!
 
Steve Jobs might have said: "If the pixels are too large you're holding it too close". I think it's fine without retina and all the problems that would raise.
 
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