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Will the iPAD MINI 2 have 'retina' display and A6? Should I wait to buy the mini?

S

saintforlife

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Feb 25, 2011
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I really am torn right now. I really want the iPad mini as I've never had a tablet before. I always thought the iPad was too big to use as an e-reader, but the iPad mini is going to be perfect for me. Only things holding me back: Non-retina display and lack of A6 processor.

Having recently upgraded from the iPhone 4 to the iPhone 5, I see that the A6 processor makes a TON of difference. Everything on the iPhone 5 is so buttery smooth and fast. And that web browsing....is screams on the iPhone 5. I could never go back to my iPhone 4.

So should I over come the initial urge to get the iPad mini and just wait for the iPad mini 2? What is the probability that the iPad mini will have retina display? Can Apple make enough advances in the next one year in battery technology to make it possible? Or are we stuck with the low 163 ppi screen on the iPad mini for two generations at least? If we are stuck with the non-retina display for 2 years, I might as well get the mini now.
 
jabingla2810 said:
A6 almost certainly

Retina? I'm going to say no, not next year.
Click to expand...

Completely agree. It will probably see an increase to the A6 processor, and a RAM increase from 512 MB to 1GB of RAM. I don't see them upgrading the display to Retina for some time though.
 
It will 100% have retina. It would be the only product without it and apple doesn't want that at all. A6X and retina are pretty much a lock IMO.
 
Outdoorsben said:
It will 100% have retina. It would be the only product without it and apple doesn't want that at all. A6X and retina are pretty much a lock IMO.
Click to expand...

It's not going to get retina any time soon. Pushing 2000 pixels across on a screen as small as the iPad 3 was hard enough. They'll never manage it on a 7.9" screen. It would be ridiculous and pointless.
 
stevearm said:
It's not going to get retina any time soon. Pushing 2000 pixels across on a screen as small as the iPad 3 was hard enough. They'll never manage it on a 7.9" screen. It would be ridiculous and pointless.
Click to expand...

Yeah, because retina on the 3.5 inch iPhone was so pointless. (Really resisting the obnoxious rolleye emoticon here...)

The technical issues are heating and battery life (with less size to cram a huge one in). Hopefully it *could* be done but was too costly at this time.
 
It probably will have both, probably by introducing yet another new resolution between the current one and the Maxi. Ideally, they would shrink the iPad 3 & 4 retina down into the Mini so that they don't have to add another resolution but then the Mini would be the superior screen (more densely packed than the bigger iPad) unless they upped the resolution for the iPad 5. So either way, if retina comes to the mini, we probably get another resolution.
 
It will have an A6X and a retina display, and it will be here in 7 months.
 
No, I would not wait. From the looks of it, the iPad Mini 2 won't be out till next holiday season. That's one year away.

The 2nd gen will have some spec bumps but I too am not sure if it'll come with retina, but I pray I'm wrong. When the time comes, you can always re-sell your Mini for a new one anyways. So it's not like you're at a total loss.

If you don't have an iPad of any kind and you want the Mini, get the Mini now. Don't wait. If you have an iPad 3 but you're thinking of getting a Mini, I'd say wait it out unless you really need/want the portability of a smaller size.
 
rrl said:
It will have an A6X and a retina display, and it will be here in 7 months.
Click to expand...

I agree. Everybody better wait. So,you don't get screwed by Apple ya know.
Well at least until the next one comes out then y'all will start whining again.
 
stevearm said:
It's not going to get retina any time soon. Pushing 2000 pixels across on a screen as small as the iPad 3 was hard enough. They'll never manage it on a 7.9" screen. It would be ridiculous and pointless.
Click to expand...

"never" is a long time, but from what I have been able to see in the industry, next year would be too soon. Maybe 2014. Maybe. What I could see in 2013 is either a move to the A6 chip *or* a drop from $329 to $299. Given the kind of profit margins Apple likes to maintain (which, I remind all the people complaining on various boards since yesterday, has worked very well by them and apparently their *increasing* customer base), I would probably guess one of the two but probably not both.

But from what I see from the main two panel manufactures right now, putting out a panel with the same resolution and quality as the third or fourth generation iPads into the first generation iPad mini would not only be more expensive, but it would not save a huge amount of drawn power. And battery technology is still not moving as fast as things like cpu and ram technology. With the kind of volume Apple would need (tens of millions at fairly good quality control levels). . . no, I just do not see it. And that leaves aside the huge complaining that would happen if Apple were to put such a thing out this year or next year, and have it as expensive (or more expensive) than the fourth or fifth generation iPad.

By the way, I am not saying Apple could not use a somewhat higher resolution than is on the first generation iPad mini. Clearly there are panels out there (though the numbers and quality control can be reasonably debated). I am saying the above if Apple continues to want to double things so the scaling will be "easy" and so developers have a limited number of profiles to code for. Clearly Apple could have made use of "black bars" and/or other kinds of scaling like they are doing with the iPhone 5. I would assume the business and marketing justification for something bigger than 3.5" made them do that, especially given on how important they seemed to find the need to stay with the current "width". I guess those same business and marketing decisions came out on the side of not extending the screen even a little (rather than double) was the right way to do it for the iPad mini. And from the conversation at work today, Apple will still sell a bunch.
 
Julien said:
Really, I will name 1.5 non-retina's to every 1 retina Apple product you name.:eek:
Click to expand...
You do realize I was talking about Apple products. Figured that was a given.


stevearm said:
It's not going to get retina any time soon. Pushing 2000 pixels across on a screen as small as the iPad 3 was hard enough. They'll never manage it on a 7.9" screen. It would be ridiculous and pointless.
Click to expand...
It'll get done. It's on the iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch. No reason why it can't be on the in-between.
 
iPad Mini Retina Display

The iPad Mini is a great device nevertheless. I think Retina Display would've made its value even higher, but it's all about profit margins. If Apple wanted to keep the same profits while adding Retina-Display, consumers would've had to pay $350! It's greedy, but Apple has the power to keep customers rolling in. If anyone has time, I found this post interesting: http://detectapple.com/apples-ipad-mini-retina-display/
 
Tough call. As my critical requirement is not being met, my response is going to be lukewarm. But as with everything in technology... it keeps getting better so the longer that you wait, the better will be your experience IF you can wait.
As I wait for the iPAd Micro ( 7" please), I will be buying the next iteration of the Nexus 7 :)
Sorry Apple :mad:
 
Appleseeds said:
I agree. Everybody better wait. So,you don't get screwed by Apple ya know.
Well at least until the next one comes out then y'all will start whining again.
Click to expand...

I hear you OP. I really want the mini now but w no retina display, thats a deal breaker! OP, if you plan on doing reading...you have to get retina. You should get refurbished ipad3 and then buy mini when it comes out w retina.

----------
Rsto95 said:
The iPad Mini is a great device nevertheless. I think Retina Display would've made its value even higher, but it's all about profit margins. If Apple wanted to keep the same profits while adding Retina-Display, consumers would've had to pay $350! It's greedy, but Apple has the power to keep customers rolling in. If anyone has time, I found this post interesting: http://detectapple.com/apples-ipad-mini-retina-display/
Click to expand...

Why does it say the mini has the A6 processor? I thought it had the 5
 
Rsto95 said:
The iPad Mini is a great device nevertheless. I think Retina Display would've made its value even higher, but it's all about profit margins. If Apple wanted to keep the same profits while adding Retina-Display, consumers would've had to pay $350! It's greedy, but Apple has the power to keep customers rolling in. If anyone has time, I found this post interesting: http://detectapple.com/apples-ipad-mini-retina-display/
Click to expand...

I read the article and this key point seems to have eluded the Apple business strategy team...
"The reason the Kindle Fire is able to sell for $199 is because Amazon ditches device profits in hopes that users will purchase applications, music, and e-books."
Well all modern turnkey technology from the Kodak Brownie till now operated under this model. Apple is convinced that it's followers are willing to overpay for HW just for the cache of the Apple Logo (heck they ought to just sell Apple stickers for $1.00 a piece).

What strikes me as odd is that the smaller the screen size, the closer the reading distance is and hence, the greater that the resolution (density) should be ! Apple has taken the opposite approach. Beats me why Apple did that other than they can probably convince customers that a Goat is a Cow :D
 
saintforlife said:
I really am torn right now. I really want the iPad mini as I've never had a tablet before. I always thought the iPad was too big to use as an e-reader, but the iPad mini is going to be perfect for me. Only things holding me back: Non-retina display and lack of A6 processor.

Having recently upgraded from the iPhone 4 to the iPhone 5, I see that the A6 processor makes a TON of difference. Everything on the iPhone 5 is so buttery smooth and fast. And that web browsing....is screams on the iPhone 5. I could never go back to my iPhone 4.

So should I over come the initial urge to get the iPad mini and just wait for the iPad mini 2? What is the probability that the iPad mini will have retina display? Can Apple make enough advances in the next one year in battery technology to make it possible? Or are we stuck with the low 163 ppi screen on the iPad mini for two generations at least? If we are stuck with the non-retina display for 2 years, I might as well get the mini now.
Click to expand...

I'd say forget about retina display, and go for an iPad mini (if portability matters that much to you, that is).

I've been using iPad 2, and I've had some experience on iPad 3 as well. What I noticed was that, when the content is very engaging, such as when reading a wonderful book or playing an action game, or even when watching a good movie, you will not notice the screen resolution whatsoever. You will enjoy reading/playing on a non-retina display every bit as you'd do on a retina one.

On the other hand, if you plan on doing nothing much other than staring at the screen itself, that's when screen resolution becomes truly important. In that case, going for iPad 3/4 is a no brainer. Furthermore, if you find yourself being constantly distracted by the visible pixels on the non-retina screen, that means the content is not engaging enough, and it is time for you to look for something better to do on your iPad. Of course, moving your eyes a slight distance away from iPad helps, too :)
 
Last edited:
blackbelter said:
I'd say forget about retina display, and go for an iPad mini (if portability matters that much to you, that is).

I've been using iPad 2, and I've had some experience on iPad 3 as well. What I noticed was that, when the content is very engaging, such as when reading a wonderful book or playing an action game, or even when watching a good movie, you will not notice the screen resolution whatsoever. You will enjoy reading/playing on a non-retina display every bit as you'd do on a retina one.

On the other hand, if you plan on doing nothing much other than staring on the screen itself, that's when screen resolution becomes truly important. In that case, going for iPad 3/4 is a no brainer.
Click to expand...
Ditto
 
wit5h the size factor, it will be hard to have retina, due to retina needing a much bigger battery to power a retina screen for "10 hours".
 
jonfarr said:
wit5h the size factor, it will be hard to have retina, due to retina needing a much bigger battery to power a retina screen for "10 hours".
Click to expand...

I think you are right. Right now the battery technology severely lags behind other things in terms of making devices smaller. In a very un-Apple like fashion, they had to make the iPad 3 thicker just to put a bigger battery in it. I bet that was the last resort for Apple. I don't see battery technology catching up any time soon. We may actually be stuck with the non-retina display for 2 gens at least on the iPad mini.
 
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