WSJ: Thinner iPad and Retina iPad Mini Expected on Tuesday

[Chupa Chupa]

Anyone else tired of these non-stop should/could/expected posts?
Can't we just wait until tomorrow and then talk about what's actually real?

Not as much as I am of readers waisting posts to complain or make cliched remarks about such articles.

Let me put it this way: I'm not at all interested in the NHL therefore I don't go to NHL news sites or NHL sections of general sports sites to read stories unappealing to me much less work my way into a forum to tell all I don't care about trade rumors.

 

[yow.]

Both Retina iPads have the exact same number of pixels, why should one need a better GPU than the other?

No, a retina iPad and retina iPad mini don't need to have the same number of pixels.

"Retina" is a measure of pixel density. A smaller display (in inches) needs fewer pixels to achieve the same pixel density. e.g. the iPhone 5S has a retina display, but has fewer pixels than the iPad 4.

 

[gnasher729]

It will be interesting to see how this release does. With ios7 not hugely popular, and Samsung having just released tablets with true multi-tasking,

MacRumors readers are professional moaners, with the odd Android fan added to the mix who will obviously berate anything Apple could possibly do. 75% of iOS users have upgraded to iOS7 already, so saying it is not hugely popular is nonsense.

Samsung is great at filling feature lists, but not so great at making these features do something useful unless they copy Apple. iOS could have had what you call "true multitasking" from the first version. The problem isn't implementing multitasking, the problem is multitasking without draining your battery. Since Apple isn't concerned with filling feature lists but with the actual user experience, while Samsung doesn't give a ****, it's obvious that Samsung will fill the feature list quicker than Apple.

Let me put it this way: I'm not at all interested in the NHL therefore I don't go to NHL news sites or NHL sections of general sports sites to read stories unappealing to me much less work my way into a forum to tell all I don't care about trade rumors.

I'm not interested in the NHL either, but I make sure I post at least five times a day on some NHL site to tell them all how boring their sport is and that they should get a real hobby.

 

[technopimp]

There's no way that many things are going to get crammed into tomorrow. I'd say we'll be lucky with the iPads and Mavericks.

 

[Scott90]

No, a retina iPad and retina iPad mini don't need to have the same number of pixels.

"Retina" is a measure of pixel density. A smaller display (in inches) needs fewer pixels to achieve the same pixel density. e.g. the iPhone 5S has a retina display, but has fewer pixels than the iPad 4.

They don't need to have the same number of pixels, but they will. Apple is not going to want to introduce yet another resolution that designers will have to create artwork for.

 

[Rogifan]

Anyone else tired of these non-stop should/could/expected posts?
Can't we just wait until tomorrow and then talk about what's actually real?

Would you prefer another article about how Apple is allegedly reducing production of the 5C (accompanied by another round of "it's too expensive", "the colors are ugly", "it's cheap plastic" posts)?

 

[cdmoore74]

No, a retina iPad and retina iPad mini don't need to have the same number of pixels.

"Retina" is a measure of pixel density. A smaller display (in inches) needs fewer pixels to achieve the same pixel density. e.g. the iPhone 5S has a retina display, but has fewer pixels than the iPad 4.

You are 100% correct but why introduce another screen resolution? You already have 2.

 

[bbeagle]

Not as much as I am of readers waisting posts to complain or make cliched remarks about such articles.

Let me put it this way: I'm not at all interested in the NHL therefore I don't go to NHL news sites or NHL sections of general sports sites to read stories unappealing to me much less work my way into a forum to tell all I don't care about trade rumors.

Hahaha.... so true.

But you DO get the same Samsung/Apple mentality when someone writes an article about how American Football is the best sport ever, or how soccer is the best sport ever. For some reason, the American Football / international Football people LOVE to battle it out and proclaim the other will go away once the fans of one begin to watch the other. Quite hilarious.

I was in a pub in England, watching a soccer match (just taking part in the local culture when backpacking through Europe)... I talked with a soccer fan who went on and on with me for hours about how 'Once America starts showing soccer games on TV, or America gets a good soccer team, American fans will abandon their football and realize how perfect of a game international football is'.

I can see both sides of the American Football/International Football battle. There are so many false things that fans of each keep saying about the other. It's exactly the same with the Samsung/Apple battle.

 

[downpour]

Is that 'thin film' made of synthetic sapphire by any chance?

A virtually indestructible screen (nearly as hard as diamond) would be a nice upgrade

Considering it's made from aluminium (one of the Earth's most abundant elements), I really hope this is a direction Apple are going in.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sapphire#Synthetic_sapphire

 

[Macdick]

ipad Mini

ipad mini retina blah blah bla, a wanna something compare to surface pro ipad with ful osx running not toys !

 

[Gudi]

No, a retina iPad and retina iPad mini don't need to have the same number of pixels.

"Retina" is a measure of pixel density. A smaller display (in inches) needs fewer pixels to achieve the same pixel density. e.g. the iPhone 5S has a retina display, but has fewer pixels than the iPad 4.

Yes, by the marketing definition of Retina, the iPad mini doesn't need to have as many pixels as the bigger iPad for individual pixels to become indistinguishable by the human eye. But Retina is much more than a buzzword, its an engineering technique to achive an flawless transition from low-def to high-def screens by the means of pixeldoubling. Pixeldoubling is how Retina works and retina skin is how you explain the benefit to the customer. In that regard the Retina iPad mini is an overachiever, doing more than it must.

 

[doubleaa]

I talked with a soccer fan who went on and on with me for hours about how 'Once America starts showing soccer games on TV, or America gets a good soccer team, American fans will abandon their football and realize how perfect of a game international football is'.

What a wanker. We will never abandon tackle football. It's the world's greatest sport played by the best athletes on this planet.

 

[mikeoui]

A thin film instead of glass? Surely not.

This is already the case for the mini. I hate it because you can feel it move when you press on the screen in normal use. I could immediately detect it when I got my mini at release (which I quickly returned).

 

[gnasher729]

Since the benefit to 64-bit apps on mobile seems less clear than it does on the desktop right now, I'd expect this transition to happen even more slowly. This is in addition to the fact that the 5s is currently their only 64-bit-capable product,

It has been discussed to end, but the 64 bit processor has lots of advantages. And today, 75% of new phones sold are 64 bit. Very soon, 75% of iOS devices sold will be 64 bit.

 

[mikeoui]

Would it be a good idea if Apple replaced Macbook pro's power button with Touch ID? Personally, I'd love that. Who's with me?

The power button on the MBA and rMBP is a keyboard key. And I have a feeling the regular MBP is going to disappear at some point.

 

[Glideslope]

Is that 'thin film' made of synthetic sapphire by any chance?

A virtually indestructible screen (nearly as hard as diamond) would be a nice upgrade

Considering it's made from aluminium (one of the Earth's most abundant elements), I really hope this is a direction Apple are going in.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sapphire#Synthetic_sapphire

Think Liquid Metal.

 

[Gudi]

Also Steve Jobs definition of Retina displays is totally dependent on typical viewing distances. So every display is or isn't a Retina display, if you are holding it right or wrong. Thats why Retina means nothing and Pixeldoubling means everything. You can show a non-retina app on a retina screen in the same size and quality as on a non-retina screen by simply displaying four pixels for every one pixel of the app. This ability is the true essence of Retina. And than some people might hold the smaller and lighter iPad mini nearer to the eye than an iPad. So the extra pixels are not wasted.

 

[bbeagle]

What a wanker. We will never abandon tackle football. It's the world's greatest sport played by the best athletes on this planet.

Soccer fan: 'But your guys need pads and helmets to play. *******!'
Football fan: 'Your guys fall to the ground like you got shot, fake an injury, and then get up like nothing happened. Like 10 times a match!'
Soccer fan: 'You guys only play like for 3 minutes and the rest is standing around scratching your arses! '
Football fan: 'But your game is more boring than watching grass grow. The hard hits, exciting plays, nothing like that in soccer'.

.... and so on....

(but nobody ever compares hockey to basketball that way or baseball to cricket with such passion. It's amazing that it's just soccer and football where there is so much passion)

 

[KPOM]

I'm betting on an A6X in the new mini, not an A7.

An A7 might be more power efficient than an A6X.

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ipad mini retina blah blah bla, a wanna something compare to surface pro ipad with ful osx running not toys !

I think iOS' transition to 64-bit is about making it much more capable in the future. Remember, iOS has a much bigger market share than OS X. Microsoft is trying to turn Windows into a mobile OS because Windows is its position of strength. Apple may be trying to turn iOS into a desktop OS (or at least something close to a desktop OS).

 

[Battlefield 2]

But no touchid or gold? I'll wait till the iPad 6 if true. You lose Apple.

 

[Locoboof]

 

[oliversl]

"thin film" instead of glass, that does not sound good, not good at all!

 

[JetBlack7]

Think we will see an update today or even tomorrow after the keynote? Would be nice to have some bugs fixed.

 

[peterdevries]

Is that 'thin film' made of synthetic sapphire by any chance?

A virtually indestructible screen (nearly as hard as diamond) would be a nice upgrade

It would break as soon as you started using it.

The challenge of a good touchscreen in a portable device is being flexible to account for pressure in use and dropping while having a glass-like feeling and resistance to scratches.

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ipad mini retina blah blah bla, a wanna something compare to surface pro ipad with ful osx running not toys !

Judging by your sentence-building skills, the iPad mini is (in your definition) squarely aimed at you.

 

[dampfnudel]

The iPhone 5C doesn't have a 64-bit CPU.

The transition to 64-bit will be done starting with the high-end (9.7" iPad, iPhone 5S) and will move down to the low-end next year.

You guys should really lower your expectations regarding the iPad mini. You're less likely to be disappointed

Unless Apple has realized that people want to have the latest tech in the iPad mini as in the larger iPad and now it's being elevated to "high-end" status. I don't think Apple can just improve the display and call it a day, not at the prices they charge.