Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Third-Party Cases for Next iPad Mini Suggest Slight Thickening to Accomodate Retina Display
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
With that small of an increase, I'd guess most soft cases for the original mini will fit without a problem, but hard, molded cases will almost certainly not.
You know someone is going to scream bloody murder about that.
You know someone is going to scream bloody murder about that.
Negligible physical dimension changes in exchange for a huge improvement in the display. I'll take that any day.
I had a hard molded case for my iPad 2 and it still fit the 3, although not perfectly. This thickness increase in the mini is half that of the 2 to the 3 so I bet most hard cases will still fit just fine.
0.3mm of additional depth alone is unlikely to contrib much to weight. Let's use the density of lead (11.34 g * cm^-3) and the dimensions of the iPad Mini (200mm * 135mm). If they filled the additional depth with lead it would contrib 92 grams to the mass.
Given that it is more likely lithium (battery) that is filling the depth, we are probably looking at 4 grams of additional mass
That said, they could certainly change other things about the device to make it significantly heavier.
True, but with the width increase as well (not just thickness), I think many hard cases may be a very tight fit. The iPad 2 --> 3 was just a change in thickness.
0.3mm of additional depth alone is unlikely to contrib much to weight. Let's use the density of lead (11.34 g * cm^-3) and the dimensions of the iPad Mini (200mm * 135mm). If they filled the additional depth with lead it would contrib 92 grams to the mass.
Given that it is more likely lithium (battery) that is filling the depth, we are probably looking at 4 grams of additional mass
That said, they could certainly change other things about the device to make it significantly heavier.
Forgot to mention two important points of comparison. Firstly, 1 gram is roughly one paperclip. Secondly, the iPad 2 to iPad 3 difference in mass (which many people said they could perceive) was roughly 50 grams.
In short, the thickness alone won't drive a noticeable increase in mass. It would take picking denser materials for other components or filling more of the shell (already pretty tightly packed) to do that.
But the width increase is even less than the thickness increase. Do you know how much 0.2 mm is? Pretty much the same as the thickness of two sheets of paper.
For the Mini to have a retina display, it would have to fit 2048 x 1536 pixels into the 7.9" display. That is because Apple doesn't use dynamic scaling, it uses pixel doubling. The apps all have 2 sets of graphics if they are concerned about appearance, one for the older non-retina and one for the retina. The retina displays are double the resolution of the non-retina. That would mean that the Mini would have to have a screen resolution of 326 pixels per inch which matches the iPhone but probably would have lots of production issues at 7.9".
Retina mini is the perfect tablet
Thank god I didn't get suckered into getting a non retina mini, which was essentially a minute iPad 2 being released in late 2012, yuck
Thank god I didn't get suckered into getting a non retina mini, which was essentially a minute iPad 2 being released in late 2012, yuck
Already selling my iPad 3 retina and getting ready for mini.
Larger screen is good but I think mini will be better for me. Also, I won't have to spend too much on mini as I am getting $300 cash for my iPad 3. Mini should be at the same price point ($329).
I hope the weight is not too much and I want it easy on my wrists.
Larger screen is good but I think mini will be better for me. Also, I won't have to spend too much on mini as I am getting $300 cash for my iPad 3. Mini should be at the same price point ($329).
I hope the weight is not too much and I want it easy on my wrists.
The iPad 3 felt like a hot, heavy, thick slab compared to the iPad 2. I know that doesn't make sense because the increase was so tiny, but it DID. The heat in particular, coming from an iPad 1 was awful.