$5 x 20 million buyers = 100 million dollars......Apple does not throw in a $5 part upgrade on a whim.
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The iPad Mini will have A6. Here's why.
- Thread starter gladoscc
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$5 x 20 million buyers = 100 million dollars......Apple does not throw in a $5 part upgrade on a whim.
Can't imagine what big feature would be incorporated into and justify an iPad 4 - everything I've read and heard about is only worthy of an iPad 3S.
What if they did a small bump to the iPad 3, in the context of an iPad Mini announcement, and skipped the normal iPad release schedule next year? To be honest I feel it's too soon after iPad 3's announcement and release, but I've yet to hear/read about any feature that would justify/warrant a major release of the iPad, so they may (though maybe not right now) go the iPhone route and not do a major version bump to the iPad this next cycle.
All I meant was that there won't be an upgrade to the iPad till March. I keep hearing people saying that at the mini conference they will announce an iPad with lighting connector and A6 chip, no way.
Absolutely no way. But the CPU cycle is broken. It's no longer iPad -> iPhone. It's now "iPhone -> iPad -> iPad Mini -> iPod Touch" and the iPad refresh cycle is in the middle.
Oh I can think of few very easily.
Upgrade the touch sensor with Authentec style touch sensor. They add RF sensors to the capacitive touch sensors to see the 3d shape of the object making contact. This would be be great for palm rejection so screen could get much closer to edge. Plus could allow for much smaller touch to be registered. Which in turn could be used pressure sensitivity with both fingers and stylus. Allow for much smaller pointed stylus that feel more natural. If it's good enough it could tell the difference between various fingers or stylus and let app assign those to different functions. That to me would be the stylus touch combo done right.
So better touch sensing, A6 with higher spec and autolayout.
they could make big improvements to the screen. Knowing apps are either ready or soon will be. I could see them using that sort of tech to push the screen pixel count up. either as a bigger screen or higher dpi. Think they'd do one then the other. I think they could go 10.5inch screen even without RF sensing just on improvements to Capacity touch save that for when they go full face screen(iPad6ish) which would seem to be the ultimate design goal.
I think there is so much scope of where they could go as tech is ready.
If the Ipad Mini doesn't have a retina screen then it will NOT have the A5X; the A5X is huge (more 200%+ bigger than the A5) and is a GPU improvement over the A5 that would be overkill for a screen with a non-retina resolution, it would drain the battery and take up space without really improving performance over the A5 since it doesn't have to drive that many pixels.
So if the mini has a low-res screen apple will use either the A5 or A6, I'm guessing an A6 in the mini and then an "A6X" for the new "real" Ipad in march '13/
So if the mini has a low-res screen apple will use either the A5 or A6, I'm guessing an A6 in the mini and then an "A6X" for the new "real" Ipad in march '13/
Think people are really really REALLY misjudging what the potential market for an iPad Junior would be. It's not going to be a powerhouse, it'll be the equivalent of the iPod Touch line with a focus on a good quality product at a relatively low price designed to tempt people away from the likes of the Fire and Nexus 7. While nothing is set in stone I'd fully expect the iPad Junior to be 1,024 x 768, A5 processor, relatively low storage (maybe even just the one spec) and come in right around the 5th gen iPod Touch price (though probably with half the memory). The iPad will be the equivalent of the iPhone and get the high end stuff first, in this case probably with a focus on creativity. Maybe next year the current low end iPad offering goes away and a higher capacity iPad Junior fits in instead, who knows.
As for the next iPad SoC (and sorry, this is trying to address a few comments at once) Apple are ultimately dependent on when silicon is available. The A6 seems to be an A15 variant that Apple got into production earlier than most people expected but the PowerVR 6 series isn't ready yet so it soldiers on with the current gen and that's fine for the smaller displays of the phone. The retina display on the iPad however, well we've already seen how much grunt is needed to run that with the A5X. I'd fully expect to see an A6X this time around but with a MUCH smaller and more efficient package matching up the existing A6 CPU cores (maybe at a higher clock) to at least a dual core 6 series GPU. If the performance figures on that are right it'd be a big jump forward while letting them get a much thinner and lighter device out the door.
If this happens, I can predict what the journalists will write:
- "Inferior Copy of Existing Products, Superior Price (and not in the good way)"
- "There's An Afternoon I Can Never Get Back"
- "Apple's Arrogance Higher Than Stock Price"
- "New iPad: Mini on Size, Maxi on Ho-Hum"
- And the most positive article featuring the stupidest made up word in the history of language, "New iPad: Meh!"
You cannot copy existing products which are superior to the specs of yours and charge a higher price and expect a warm reception, at least not from tech journalists. Just trying to be extremely logical when looking at this - there's something else we're missing I think, because I have faith (naive, blind? perhaps!<grin>) that Apple isn't that stupid.
I am in the A5 camp for the Ipad mini. Apple reworked the A5 to 32nm in Ipad 2 very late in the production cycle. It is a big waste of money and effort for the rework if the reworked A5 is not using in other product. A6 supply is going to be suspect. Samsung probably has their hand full in producing A6 for Iphone 5. Why would Apple bet another product like Ipad mini on A6 yield? There is just too many technology risk betting on a brand new CPU. Gross margin is another issue as well. All the design cost for A5 is probably written off already so the gross profit margin for an Ipad mini will look a lot better using an A5 than A6. And finally, there is really no reason (other than our wish) to have an A6 in ipad mini. The competition is not running away with performance. It is more imperative that Apple get closer to competition in the selling price than winning the performance war. We are talking about a low end product where cosumers really don't care about performance number so long as the CPU performance daily function sufficiently smooth.
I don't buy any of the anti-A6 arguments, except if Apple puts the A5 in an entry level device to save $5, that's fine with me. But if I'm going to buy a maxed out Mini at ~$500 or more, then it better have the best processor possible.
If Apple is not going to put the best in the maxed out version, then why upgrade from my Kindle Fire? As long as I only use the Fire as a reader then it's fine. It's only when I try to use it for email or Web browsing that it comes up short. When flying it would be great to have good email and Web browsing on a reader device.
I'm beginning to think like the folks that say wait for iPad Mini2. But then of course Apple could do the right thing and I'd be all over it.
If Apple is not going to put the best in the maxed out version, then why upgrade from my Kindle Fire? As long as I only use the Fire as a reader then it's fine. It's only when I try to use it for email or Web browsing that it comes up short. When flying it would be great to have good email and Web browsing on a reader device.
I'm beginning to think like the folks that say wait for iPad Mini2. But then of course Apple could do the right thing and I'd be all over it.
I think you are right. It's similar to how Sony behaved during their Playstation 1 and Playstation 2 era. They felt all they had to do was slap the SONY badge and it was an instant seller. They got a rude awakening when the Playstation 3 launched. Now they are dead last in the console wars. Their arrogance and laziness got the best of them.
Pretty ironic both sell computers and gadgets.
The potential iPad update today shouldn't be referred to as the "iPad 4" or as the "fourth generation" either... If an Apple product should ever have a "1/2" update, it is this one. Just like the iPad 2 update when the Retina iPad came out.
At least in my opinion.
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This is exactly how they think... That's $100 million off of the bottom line.
but, if putting the A6 into the iPad Mini and possibly into an update to the iPad 3 as well means the A6 cost's go down... that would save costs on the iPhone. We will see enough
At least in my opinion.
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This is exactly how they think... That's $100 million off of the bottom line.
but, if putting the A6 into the iPad Mini and possibly into an update to the iPad 3 as well means the A6 cost's go down... that would save costs on the iPhone. We will see enough
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The iPad mini is here to serve two markets - 1. as a cheaper alternative for those who can't afford or are unwilling to purchase an ipad & 2. as a more mobile option for books and similar content - this is the reason iBooks 3.0 will be released as well. Kindle Fire is at a good price point but still not a massive competitor to the iPad but it more or less allows Amazon a monopoly on the book market for Tablet devices.
Personally, the iPad mini makes no sense for me as I have an iPhone, iPad and a Kindle for books. The Kindle Fire would not be an option for me as I would rather use my ipad for tablet duties and my Kindle for book reading.
If things take off with the iPad mini and books and they can get their bookstore in order then I could see Apple introduce an eInk reader and go after the book market in an aggressive way.
** Forgot to say, due to all this, I don't think there will be a need for the iPad mini to have an A6 at this time.
Personally, the iPad mini makes no sense for me as I have an iPhone, iPad and a Kindle for books. The Kindle Fire would not be an option for me as I would rather use my ipad for tablet duties and my Kindle for book reading.
If things take off with the iPad mini and books and they can get their bookstore in order then I could see Apple introduce an eInk reader and go after the book market in an aggressive way.
** Forgot to say, due to all this, I don't think there will be a need for the iPad mini to have an A6 at this time.
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FWIW- I just picked a Fire HD for my wife and it loads web pages faster than my iPad 3.
Apparently it has some sort dual Antenna for wifi and I must say it works pretty darn good.
I would like to see this in the mini.
The tablet market has matured, and Apple may feel like it cannot make only one update per year and call it a day anymore. Not when competitors crank out new Android tablets every few months -- and get a lot of press and hype that only Apple used to command.
so you think they'll sell the 64gb version at a $200 premium over the 32gb version as opposed to their typical $100 price bump, BUT ALSO think they'll sell the 32gb ipad 2 and ipad 4 for the same price eh?
I would highly doubt the mini will have anything other than the typical A5@32nm. Putting a vastly superior, more efficient CPU into a budget model doesn't make sense when the iPad 3 is stuck with the mediocre A5X. Apple really should have done something better with the A5X (making it a 32nm chip would have allowed for higher clock speeds and better thermals, but I guess even then it wouldn't have the Krait-like CPU core of the A6).
Hahahahahaha.
Burned!!!
I find it so funny these posts about people thinking they know apple and they know more about marketing than big companies.
Now what are you gonna say fella? Bye bye.