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Why Apple's 7.85-Inch 'iPad Mini' Isn't a 7-Inch Tablet

This will be a tablet marketed to the education sector.
$199 will get them a 16GB Wifi iPad. Perfect to iBooks Author generated textbooks. $399 each is way too steep for a school to supply all their classrooms. But for $199 each, a school can afford to put one in the hands of each student, or very close to it. K-12 is a market of people with hands that are smaller, just like the iPad Mini will be compared to the original.
What Apple does not want is for Amazon to push into education with a $199 tablet. They need something to compete in that space and they will put something there.
I also believe it will be a possibility for this device to be delivered as the remote for the Apple Television which we will see before the holidays. Custom big button interface will solve any small screen issues with that.
 
apolloa said:
This, totally agree, when you look at the Fire and Nexus 7, they are great for holding one handed, that mock up would never allow you to comfortably do that.



I'm sure their were, but $150 for an Apple iPad? Don't think so, unless Apple wishes to damage sales for ALL it's iPod's?

Just look here:

http://store.apple.com/us

iPod Touch from $199
iPod Nano from $129
iPod Classic from $249

So what do you think would happen to the sales of those devices if Apple launched a $150 or $200 or even $250 iPad? Apple is many things, but it isn't stupid.
Click to expand...

I was thinking exactly that.
 
Renzatic said:
$249 is reasonable, but I'm expecting it'll be more around the $299-$350 range. It's still priced low enough to be appealing to people who want the cheaper option, but still high enough that Apple can maintain their profit margins.

----------



Yeah, and I probably will here soon. But pressure sensitivity is a nice thing to have, and I lament it's absence on the iPad.

As is, a quick light stroke across the screen will net you the same results as pressing down with the stylus and dragging it across slowly. With a digitizer, a light stroke will give me a thin, light line, pressing down a thicker, heavier one. It feels a lot more natural and realistic.
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Probably $299. I can't see $350, at least for the base model, because it's too close to the price of the iPad 2, which has a larger screen and will have otherwise similar specs. I'd love to see $249, but that would cannibalize the sales of the larger, more expensive models too much (for Apple to maximize profit, it would have to make the same net profit per device, regardless of its size, which means that the margin would be larger on a percentage basis for the smaller device).
 
Renzatic said:
I'm hoping for $1000, cuz it keeps those scummy looking Android kids on their side of the train tracks. :mad:
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Good point. How much of an elitist could one be if it only cost $199? It's bad enough that they sell iPhones at 7-11. :D
 
MacinDoc said:
Probably $299. I can't see $350, at least for the base model, because it's too close to the price of the iPad 2, which has a larger screen and will have otherwise similar specs.
Click to expand...

I'm thinking the cheaper iPad 2 is just an interim move by Apple for people who don't want to pay full price for the current gen iPad, and will eventually be supplanted by the mini. The 2 is only only shelves as the frugal option because Apple doesn't have a less expensive product to offer in its place.

It fits more in line with their current pricing scheme with their other products. Like you can't get a brand new last-gen iMac as the cheaper option. The Mac Mini fills that role.

AppleScruff1 said:
Good point. How much of an elitist could one be if it only cost $199? It's bad enough that they sell iPhones at 7-11. :D
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Ha! Do they now? How jejune! I'll have to request my butler pick me up one of these low brow iPhones at our local convenience market (located 15 miles outside our gated community, thank heavens). It's always fun pretending to live like the little people. :D
 
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maybe it's the next iPhone that can be spread out into a flexible 7 inch screen... or folded back into a phone... take that Galaxy SIII
 
miniroll32 said:
It's only a daydream, but I'd love an iBooks device... thing... that only had the iBooks App and the store to go with it. Instant on to the bookshelf, instant off.

That to me would be a good excuse for a mini-iReading device, and it would no doubt be cheaper too.
Click to expand...

Hmm... might I suggest an e-ink kindle? $79. Portable. Easier to read on. 100 times the book selection and far cheaper prices, especially know with the iBooks scandal, and Amazon's offers, promos, coupons, discounts, and sales. iBooks is great as part of Apple's echo system... but stand alone, it's an awful outlet for ebooks imo.

apolloa said:
Between that iPad mock up and the Nexus 7, I'll take the Nexus 7 shape ANYDAY! That mock up is far too fat to be useful as a smaller tablet, you may as well not bother and just get the normal iPad.
As for $150 hahahahahahahahahahaha yeeeaaahhhh rrriiiggghhhhtttt!

As I have said multiple times I don't believe it will be $200, Apple will need to drop the entire iPod Touch range to launch an iPad with a $200 price tag.

I think we have far too many people jumping on the 7" iPad band wagon now and you just don't know what to believe as being possible.
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What I, and from comments I read many other people, dislike about 7" tablets is the size and form factor. They're not good two handed devices, and they become cumbersome after a short while with one hand use. That extra width might be the sweet spot. A tablet isn't a phone after all. And a 7" display just misses that sweet spot for the eyes. That .85 inches on each diagonal is a lot more screen space than it sounds.

The iPod touch still has a very valid place. No one wants to use a tablet as an mp3 player... and lots of kids/teens who that product is geared towards don't have smart phones. But this is why I don't ever see an iPad mini at $199, because they'll need to keep it spaced out from the iPod line. I can see $249 though.

Mad Mac Maniac said:
It makes you wonder. A great deal of the 7" tablet appeal was for an extremely small, light, and portable e-reader. Will making the iPad Mini 40% larger than these 7" tablets actually take away from this appeal?
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Hmm... interesting thought but I disagree. The 7" tablet NEVER took off. 5" and 6" e-ink readers sold more units over all. The Kindle Fire was the first 7" to actually sell... and the models prior (like the first Galaxy Tab were mostly unloaded in Fire sales or free with contract deals).

Not disagreeing with your logic, but mainly the appeal factor, because even still there isn't much of one. 7" for a tablet vs. a dedicated ereader is still a bit too small for most people. The Kindle Fire @$199 made it easier to sacrifice. The rumored extra space for an iPad Mini might just be that bit of a difference that makes people want it. that, and anything Apple puts their name on seems to sell like hot cakes.
 
I prefer a smaller iPad. I don't need the extra screen real estate, considering I'm somewhat content with my 4S' 3.5" screen.
 
apolloa said:
This, totally agree, when you look at the Fire and Nexus 7, they are great for holding one handed, that mock up would never allow you to comfortably do that.



I'm sure their were, but $150 for an Apple iPad? Don't think so, unless Apple wishes to damage sales for ALL it's iPod's?

Just look here:

http://store.apple.com/us

iPod Touch from $199
iPod Nano from $129
iPod Classic from $249

So what do you think would happen to the sales of those devices if Apple launched a $150 or $200 or even $250 iPad? Apple is many things, but it isn't stupid.
Click to expand...

Well, considering the iPad mini would arrive most likely with the iPod refresh (which was non-existent last year) I would expect a big change in that line up and pricing. Last year the classic was rumored to be EOL and go no updates, and if it survives this year, I bet it will get a much needed and long over due price cut.

I bet the classic iPod goes to 199, 189, or killed. And no refresh again, because there is not reason too. Last year it should ahve had a huge price drop. It's probably not even $50 in parts in that thing by now, and no R&D into that need to be recouped either.
 
I believe that there won't be a Ipad Mini.

Rather than that, i believe that this will be a complete redesign of the ipad. The most significant of these changes would be the removal of the bezel around the ipad or at least a huge amount of it.

I came to this conclusions based on 2 things :
1) The 9.7" Ipad screen is the same size as an entire 7.8" Ipad if the bezel were removed.

2) Its really hard to hold an ipad using the bezel with one hand due to the weight reducing its usefulness. Its easier to hold it like a book (ie your arm behind the device)


Doing so apple will be able to keep the retina display, reduce the size and weight and prevent the need for developers to adept to devices with difference screen resolutions and or measurements.
 
Skika said:
iPod is all about songs in your pocket. Well it became more than that with the introduction of the iPod touch. But regardless, an iPod will never be something you cannot put into your pocket.
Click to expand...

But the whole.. um.. "logic"... of adding a 7" device is *supposedly* that it's exactly that, a pocket tablet..

And let's not overlook that the best selling iPods are famously being used more on aftermarket wrist-watch bands than in people's pockets.. so much so, that Apple added additional watch faces to the most recent update of it.

The iPod hasn't been so much about "the pocket" as "media consumption" for a while now.. If Apple decides that a 7" device would sell well to that market, why wouldn't they market it as an iPod, rather than an iPad?
 
I think it also might be likely that the reason the 7" fire took off was because $199 is a lot easier to justify than $500 for a tablet; It was the first "legit" $199 tablet that you could get for less than that if you shopped around, one with a polished build of Android and decent build quality.

The subsidized 3G tablets were a disaster because of how complicated getting service for them got - in some cases you could add them to your account, in most the monthly fee was outrageous (between $30 and $50), and then there were contracts.

I don't know what else to say, just putting that out there because I thought it was interesting. Personally I think with a smaller iPad, the iPod Touch's days are numbered. Granted, the iPod Touch is simply an iPhone and the R&D costs are almost entirely absorbed by the iPhone's R&D because of that, there isn't really a financial reason to discontinue the iPod Touch if they still manage to make money on it. :)

I think with a smaller iPad, there's a better argument for them to continue making an iPod with physical controls, than there is an iPod Touch. From my argument above however, that probably isn't true financially lol.
 
boy-better-know said:
If Apple do release this iPad mini, I would bet all the money I have that it WILL be retina.
Click to expand...

I'm in on it not being a Retina display. Why? Because Apple is not going to fragment its iOS market any more. That means it's going to run either the 1024x768 or 2048x1536 resolution. Considering the technical feat it was to get the third-gen iPad to run the 2048x1536 resolution, I can't imagine a smaller device is going to be ready to run that so soon. Don't forget that a powerful battery is in the new iPad and takes forever to charge unless you use a wall outlet. I don't think the mobile horsepower is there for such a device at about 8 inches.

Considering where the competition is, 1024x768 will be just fine for a product that size. That resolution isn't really bad on a 9.7" iPad. You're just spoiled with the Retina display on other devices. I know I was.

If this thing comes out at $249, it will sell like crazy. If somehow it is $199, game freakin' over. The only reason I thought the Fire was a decent product was the price for what you got. It's an improved Kindle. But it's sure as heck no iPad. No Android-based tablet can compare an app library to what Apple has, so it would totally ruin the market for cheaper tablets.
 
Not interested in the mini, but, if true, I like the display size and ratio and the bezel width of the drawings.
 
laxic said:
I realized why Apple has the bezel as it does: it is maddeningly difficult to hold the device with one hand with such little bezel on the sides.
Click to expand...
With some trademark innovation software could potentially solve the problem; for example, by making the device with no (or little) bezel a bit wider than necessary, they could have it display a 'dead space' where the user is gripping the tablet, i.e - a black bar, and then just slide the viewport across in order to move the dead space to the other side for holding the device with the other hand. Just needs some good detection algorithm for when a user is gripping the screen rather than interacting with it.
 
The iPod Touch XL....I mean the iPad Mini will appeal to women (according to my wife) because it's small enough to throw in a purse, but large enough to make it useful (obviously, she is posturing for one). I hope that they offer an LTE version....
 
So basically what you've done there, Macrumors, is state the obvious. The rumoured 7.85" isn't a 7" tablet for the obvious reason that it has a 7.85" screen, pointless article :L
 
Not leading

Apple making a 7" (or 7.85") device would not be leading, but following competitors. I don't think competing devices are taking away from iPad because their compelling feature is size, but instead price. Apple does not always compete on price but instead on superior products that they think they do better than anyone else.
 
Wouldn't it be easier to just admit that Jobs was wrong? I'm sure he wouldn't have minded, he was only human... Wasn't he?
 
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