I think that Apple priced the iPad Mini 1 high, so when they add Retina they can keep the price at $330.
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iPad mini would you be willing to sacrifice battery life and performance to get a retina screen
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I think that Apple priced the iPad Mini 1 high, so when they add Retina they can keep the price at $330.
It also gives room for them to drop the current mini to 229 and now it's perceived as a bargain.
No.
You'd also sacrifice price.
Eventually, we'll be there technologically. Right now, we're not.
The cost breakdown of parts is around $190, I doubt they would sell it for only $40 more.
The retina display would draw more power, including for the CPU to drive it. So the device would need a bigger battery to have acceptable time between charging. Larger battery would make it thicker and heavier. Twice seems like too much, but it was the OPs point.
I have an iPad 3 and the screen on the mini seems like a step back. But being able to put the mini in my suit jacket pocket and in any winter coat pocket would be a game changer for me. No need to carry a briefcase to work or a man purse on the weekend. Extra weight wouldn't really matter to me too much as long as it fit in a pocket. I could also put the mini in cargo short pockets during the summer.
I think I'd like it light though to carry in coat pockets. So I'd probably take the current screen over a heavier HD screen version of the Mini.
No. Like a lot of people, I would gladly sacrifice a couple hours of battery, and some $$. But not weight and thickness. Not the small bezels either.
I guess I don't understand the twice as thick and heavy thing basing it off of going from the ipad 2 to the 3. The ipad 3 isn't twice as thick and twice as heavy with the retina display as the ipad 2 so why would the mini be when its all around smaller anyway.
Definitely, and boy, have we had an invasion (infestation?
) of those "experts" the last week or so .
Agreed. Can someone post any objective evidence that supports these claims? Let's look at the iPad 2 versus iPad 3. The iPad 2 weighs 600 grams and iPad 3 weighs 650 grams. A 50 gram difference and that is under the assumption that it was the addition of the Retina is the only thing that caused the increase of 50 grams. And since the Mini's screen size is smaller, I would expect the weight difference to be 30-40 grams from non-RD to RD. The Mini currently weighs 308 grams. This increase in weight would be around 10-13%, not even on the same planet as a 100% increase. Next, thickness. The iPad 2 is 8.8 mm. The iPad 3 is 9.4 mm. Difference is 0.6 mm. The mini is 7.2 mm. So, place a RD in the mini, the thickness with increase by less than 10%, also no where near the claims of a 100% increase in thickness.
Give it up people. Weight and thickness are not the reason the mini is Retina-less. It has everything to do with profit margins and available apps. In fact, you'll see it next year. Have patience.
Double the weight and thickness is an overstatement, but in terms of being significantly thicker and heavier, yes, there is objective evidence to support OP's point.
It is the only thing, and the net weight increase could also reflect weight reductions from moving to thinner aluminum and glass (just like it did in the iPad 2). But let's assume that 50g is indeed a result of the larger, higher capacity battery and that other changes cancel out. The iPad 2 battery pack is around 133g* at 25Wh (5.32g/Wh). With 50g more weight going wholly to the battery, the iPad 3 would therefore be 198g at 42.5Wh (4.66g/Wh). However, at the same density as the ipad 2, it'd be ~226g, meaning they'd need to have slimmed the aluminum/glass case materials by about 28g in addition to fitting the bigger batter. In either case, fairly similar overall, which you'd expect since the fundamental battery technology is the same.
Now, the mini would need a 27.5Wh battery assuming the same fundamental technologies are in play (a ~66% capacity increase to get the same life). At 4.66g/Wh, that's 128g. At 5.32g/Wh, that's 146g.
Compare that to the current mini, with its 16.3Wh battery weighing between 76g-87g. That's a difference of 40-70g for the beefier battery. There's nowhere for that battery to go but deeper, adding about 1.6mm to the thickness of the mini based on the current unit's 2.5mm thickness. So in other words, the weight/thickness penalty is somewhere in the 20% range. That's significant and much more noticeable than the iPad 2 to iPad 3 weight increase that many complained about, but obviously much less than 100%.
As with weight, you can't just split the difference. There's proportionally much more space to work with on the surface area of the bigger iPad, so the change in thickness is much more pronounced. Likewise, the heaviest materials in the iPads are the casing, display, and battery, so the smaller device shifts much more toward the display and battery since the shell materials can be thinner and lighter, but the other bits (mainboard, etc.) are essentially the same.
If weight and thickness were the only things in the way, it'd have been released already. The biggest issues by far are much more mundane: no such display currently exists at any price, much less one within the cost range that would work for a tablet, not to mention the hardware requirements to run the display put it firmly outside of the 7" class.
Wow allot of people say they would compromise on battery life.
I for one wouldn't 10hrs seems like a good spot to keep.
Think about things like traveling doing a 6hr flight from LA to NY on to top of commuting.
10 hours is a good point. Those people saying they would compromise are those that are close to an AC outlet this is a mobile device it should last from morning to night.
People are also pointing out that iPhones and iPads have retina and batteries are good.
It's not the same iPhone yha thats fine but much smaller display. iPad 3/4 are larger and have more room for a larger battery. Retina's take allot more power and at the current size of the mini retina efficiency is not there, and if it is it would be more expensive then it's iPhone/ipad3,4 counter parts.
If you haven't seen an iPad mini taken apart go google it and take a look at the battery. I think you will have better respect for it after.
I for one wouldn't 10hrs seems like a good spot to keep.
Think about things like traveling doing a 6hr flight from LA to NY on to top of commuting.
10 hours is a good point. Those people saying they would compromise are those that are close to an AC outlet this is a mobile device it should last from morning to night.
People are also pointing out that iPhones and iPads have retina and batteries are good.
It's not the same iPhone yha thats fine but much smaller display. iPad 3/4 are larger and have more room for a larger battery. Retina's take allot more power and at the current size of the mini retina efficiency is not there, and if it is it would be more expensive then it's iPhone/ipad3,4 counter parts.
If you haven't seen an iPad mini taken apart go google it and take a look at the battery. I think you will have better respect for it after.
I for one purchased the mini for the size and batter life. If I want the retina I'll use my iPad 3 and deal with the extra weight and size. They all have a purpose but for me the minibus about the extra portability and great battery life.
I can take it with me in the cockpit and fly all day long with students and still use it at night at home on a full charge. It didn't happen with the iPad 3. I found the larger iPad was just a bit bulky to lug around all day. The mini fits inside my headset bag.
I much prefer the great battery life over a retina display. The mini's display looks great to me.
I can take it with me in the cockpit and fly all day long with students and still use it at night at home on a full charge. It didn't happen with the iPad 3. I found the larger iPad was just a bit bulky to lug around all day. The mini fits inside my headset bag.
I much prefer the great battery life over a retina display. The mini's display looks great to me.
As I'm certain it wouldn't be twice as thick nor twice as heavy, yes I'd sacrifice a negligible amount of weight (say around 30-50 grams), thickness and battery life for a high quality screen. I bought a mini for a test run and am returning this weekend. Love the form factor but every time I open a browser and read the text I get instant buyer's remorse. I could have lived with the subpar screen quality fairly easily if the mini were about $100 cheaper than it is.
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