Apple iPad mini rumour roundup

You'd think they would at least try to base the rumours off reality.

7mm doesn't seem possible with our current battery capacity and technology.

Edge to edge display would have been around somewhere in some form with some kind of device.

Also, Apple does apply some form of practicality to a device, how would you be able to handle an edge to edge phone display in one hand.

Can't find anything on the intrawebs...
 
In terms of those specs it would come a poor second to the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7" 3G P6800.

This tablet has a 1280x800 Super AMOLED display, a dual core 1400MHz CPU and a 5100mAh battery. 3G is 21Mbps HSDPA, with 5.76Mbps HSUPA, quad band, so can be used anywhere, even in the Americas and Australia.

It comes with 1GB RAM, 16GB onboard flash memory, and takes a 64GB microSDXC flash card - the one in my hands is configured like that with 80GB of flash memory available.

It is quite thin at 7.9mm.

And this tablet has been around for some time.

PS : In terms of the e-mails disclosed to Samsung in the USA court case, Apple were discussing copying the Samsung Tab 7" with Steve Jobs, before his death. So I guess that Apple would have to make sure that they at least meet these specs - unless, of course, they decide to come out with a low spec cheaper model to compete with the Asus Nexus 7" at USD199.
 
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It makes sense from a costing perspective; Apple loves to fill out the pricing ranges on all their consumer class devices. A 7" iPad at $200-250 would fill in one major gap in the lineup. I hope they try to do retina with it though; had it with lower res displays. Nexus's 1280x800 is evidence that a low priced tablet can still have a relatively high PPI.
 
Funny, I remember reading that Steve Jobs emphatically stated that smaller than 10" would be ridiculous and that naartjie would never launch a smaller device. Obviously the success of the mid size devices is hurting lemon so they need to COPY the others. I hope someone sues their arse if they do launch.
 
AirWolf said:
Apple hasn't exactly gone after the lower end of the market with any of their other devices, so this would be a first...
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That's not really the case. In the States you can get an iPhone 4s, 4 and 3GS on progressively lower tiers of contract. The iPad2 is now R4000 which is relatively cheap for its size and specs even next to other similarly priced tablets.
 
cerebus said:
That's not really the case. In the States you can get an iPhone 4s, 4 and 3GS on progressively lower tiers of contract. The iPad2 is now R4000 which is relatively cheap for its size and specs even next to other similarly priced tablets.
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This isn't the States - lower end of the market < R2k ($250).
 
I wonder what Samsung would have to say if Apple decided to call the iPad Mini the iNote.
 
Doesn't Apple have anything better to offer to the market than change device sizes? Are we going to see anything new? Me thinks their innovation momentum is diminishing way too fast. Rivals are catching up with them way too fast as well. The next ONE year will be interesting - market shift going to happen and it doesn't look so good for Apple although they still have more cash to spend on acquisitions. That's my humble opinion.
 
vzta22 said:
Doesn't Apple have anything better to offer to the market than change device sizes? Are we going to see anything new? Me thinks their innovation momentum is diminishing way too fast. Rivals are catching up with them way too fast as well. The next ONE year will be interesting - market shift going to happen and it doesn't look so good for Apple although they still have more cash to spend on acquisitions. That's my humble opinion.
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Let me guess you've been repeating that mantra since the first iPhone came out right?
 
vzta22 said:
Doesn't Apple have anything better to offer to the market than change device sizes? Are we going to see anything new? Me thinks their innovation momentum is diminishing way too fast. Rivals are catching up with them way too fast as well. The next ONE year will be interesting - market shift going to happen and it doesn't look so good for Apple although they still have more cash to spend on acquisitions. That's my humble opinion.
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Plenty Apple threads on MyBB lately and that always tends to bring out the, "mark my words, this is the end for Apple" comments... vzta, I beg to differ. Apple owns, and I do mean owns, around 70% of the tablet market and I see no reason to doubt they wouldn't do the same in a 7" tablet sector. Again, this is a tech forum so I get that people will be pointing at specs BUT that's missing the point of these devices IMO. We all jailbreak or root our devices to make them all they can be but check the forum front page... There are 109 607 MyBB members... Apple have sold around 67 million iPads... They're not made specifically for us, they're made for the whole, wide media consumption world out there and seven out of ten of those consumers are saying, unequivocally, that they want an Apple device. Personally, I think a 7' iPad on the horizon is quite an exciting development from Apple and I can't wait to see what they come up with. IMO, the one thing I think Apple need to watch out for (if) they release a 7 incher, isn't other tablets like the Nexus, rather what a 7" iPad will do to iPod Touch sales... Just saying.
 
j4ck455 said:
I wonder what Samsung would have to say if Apple decided to call the iPad Mini the iNote.
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I think it would depend on who is manufacturing the screens. :D
 
greg0205 said:
Plenty Apple threads on MyBB lately and that always tends to bring out the, "mark my words, this is the end for Apple" comments... vzta, I beg to differ. Apple owns, and I do mean owns, around 70% of the tablet market and I see no reason to doubt they wouldn't do the same in a 7" tablet sector. Again, this is a tech forum so I get that people will be pointing at specs BUT that's missing the point of these devices IMO. We all jailbreak or root our devices to make them all they can be but check the forum front page... There are 109 607 MyBB members... Apple have sold around 67 million iPads... They're not made specifically for us, they're made for the whole, wide media consumption world out there and seven out of ten of those consumers are saying, unequivocally, that they want an Apple device. Personally, I think a 7' iPad on the horizon is quite an exciting development from Apple and I can't wait to see what they come up with. IMO, the one thing I think Apple need to watch out for (if) they release a 7 incher, isn't other tablets like the Nexus, rather what a 7" iPad will do to iPod Touch sales... Just saying.
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To clarify, my comment does not at all mean the end Apple. I'm merely pointing out that there is nothing Apple is bringing out that is revolutionary. That means, nothing to distinguish Apple exclusively from competitors. For that reason, rivals are catching up with them. They will no longer have that power and control they have had in the market for the last 4 years. In the next one year, this is my view:
1. Will people stop buying iPhones/Tablets? No
2. Will Apple lose market share? Yes
3. Who will be Apples biggest threat? Samsung (to iPhones) and MS (to Tablets)
Let me also add that by going into the lower range tablet market to compete against Google's Nexus and Amazon Kindles, it will help Apple's market share but profit margins are likely to come under pressure.
Even RIM was at one point was strong in the enterprise market but they stopped innovating and started losing market share (not so though in SA), and so was Nokia.
The bottom line is, I haven't seen much innovation from Apple in over a year. For that reason people's expectations for the iPhone 5 and iPad 3 are very high. I hope for their sake the meet those expectations.
 
So... refreshing their iPad and Macbook Pro lineup to have the highest resolution and best quality displays of any device in their respective classes (by some distance) doesn't qualify as innovation? You're expecting them to come out with a new product class every year? But when they do create new classes within their existing products you dismiss it becomes something similar already exists in the market? Your standards are indeed high.
 
vzta22 said:
To clarify, my comment does not at all mean the end Apple. I'm merely pointing out that there is nothing Apple is bringing out that is revolutionary. That means, nothing to distinguish Apple exclusively from competitors. For that reason, rivals are catching up with them. They will no longer have that power and control they have had in the market for the last 4 years. In the next one year, this is my view:
1. Will people stop buying iPhones/Tablets? No
2. Will Apple lose market share? Yes
3. Who will be Apples biggest threat? Samsung (to iPhones) and MS (to Tablets)
Let me also add that by going into the lower range tablet market to compete against Google's Nexus and Amazon Kindles, it will help Apple's market share but profit margins are likely to come under pressure.
Even RIM was at one point was strong in the enterprise market but they stopped innovating and started losing market share (not so though in SA), and so was Nokia.
The bottom line is, I haven't seen much innovation from Apple in over a year. For that reason people's expectations for the iPhone 5 and iPad 3 are very high. I hope for their sake the meet those expectations.
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Then let me ask you this... Can you point to another tech company that has in the last year, as cerebus pointed out, refreshed a tablet and laptop, who also introduced a new desktop/laptop OS, who are also planning a 7" product launch and an update of their phones as well as a new mobile OS? Also, since we're in a rumor thread, lets not forget that there might be an Apple Television around the corner. I think Tim Cook and the boys are having a stellar year.

cerebus said:
So... refreshing their iPad and Macbook Pro lineup to have the highest resolution and best quality displays of any device in their respective classes (by some distance) doesn't qualify as innovation? You're expecting them to come out with a new product class every year? But when they do create new classes within their existing products you dismiss it becomes something similar already exists in the market? Your standards are indeed high.
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Indeed.
 
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cerebus said:
So... refreshing their iPad and Macbook Pro lineup to have the highest resolution and best quality displays of any device in their respective classes (by some distance) doesn't qualify as innovation? You're expecting them to come out with a new product class every year? But when they do create new classes within their existing products you dismiss it becomes something similar already exists in the market? Your standards are indeed high.
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Yes it doesn't qualify as innovation. Any competitor can make an even higher resolution. Can you claim a patent for a "resolution" as new innovation? But then I'm not an expert on patents. My expectations from Apple are high.
 
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vzta22 said:
Yes it doesn't qualify as innovation. Any competitor can make an even higher resolution. Can you claim a patent for a "resolution" as new innovation? But then I'm not an expert on patents.
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...or tech.
 
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