There seems to be a lot of unfounded speculation that Apple is suddenly going to go back on their stance and make an iPad Mini. It will never happen. I'll explain why.
1) Since Apple was lazy in their design and just kept duplicating their original iPhone screen dimensions in their code, an iPad 7" tablet would also have to be 4:3, and have to be some multiple of the "iOS math" pixel count. As it stands now, viewing HD video on a 10" iPad is identical to viewing it on a proper 16:10 HD Display on a 7" tablet, but with a ton of extra weight and ugly black bars around your video. The iPad is not ideal for watching movies already. Apple is locked into 4:3 because they didn't design iOS to scale graphics properly. That means on a 7" 4:3 tablet, you'd have a worse HD video watching experience than you would on a typical Android phone. Assuming Apple can at least match the 330dpi of the new iPad, you'd end up with a 7" 1280x1024 tablet sporting the resolution of old monitors before HD took over the world. You'd have about a 4.7" viewing area, or roughly the same size as on a Galaxy Nexus, but without the awesome AMOLED display.
2) Apple would have to admit that the whole "10 inches is the smallest a tablet should be" speach was just marketing rhetoric because at the time, there was no multiple of the original iphone pixel count that would look good at 7". They simply couldn't do it because of the limitations of iOS. Now that they can, they'd never be able to make a 7" iPad Mini that could come close to competing with the 7" screens more experienced small tablet vendors are making.
Granted, most Apple users will buy anything you throw the logo on, so I'm sure it would be a great success anyway, but it would be them going back on something they said while providing worse user experience than their competitors. I honestly think they were right, with a caveat.
10" is the smallest that Apple can make a tablet that users will like. Other companies appear to have gotten it right because they aren't hamstrung by the flaws in iOS, and the demands those flaws put on the kind of hardware that can be used. It would certainly be no match for the Nexus 7.
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Why Apple can't make an iPad Mini
In the past, the short answer would have been, "Because Steve didn't want to." With Tim's present administration, I think anything is possible. There seems to be more openmindedness now and Apple will most likely go to where the market seems to be. If they do go that way, I think a 7"+ tablet would be placed in the entry level niche, similar to
where the MacBook Air 11" is. I for one don't know if I would have a need for such a device, as my iPhone already satisfies much of my needs for a pocketable device. Bottom line is, if Apple feels that it will sell, without scavenging too much of the market from their other devices, they probably will come out with an "iPad Mini".
where the MacBook Air 11" is. I for one don't know if I would have a need for such a device, as my iPhone already satisfies much of my needs for a pocketable device. Bottom line is, if Apple feels that it will sell, without scavenging too much of the market from their other devices, they probably will come out with an "iPad Mini".
I am a self confessed Apple fanboy and own a current iPad and a MacBook Air. The Air gets used almost non-stop but the iPad stays in the cupboard most of the time because it's limited in what it can do and is too big and heavy to carry around just as an eBook reader. If I want to do any serious data input then I need a keyboard so I may as well be carrying around a laptop anyway. The 7" Nexus gets over that problem and has reasonable battery life to boot. I can't see the point of Apple decimating their current markets for a 7" iPad but if they do it will have a price premium over the competition say $349 for a 16Gb model and $299 for 8Gb. All the talk about screen ratios is hot air, you can just stream it on an Apple TV via airplay in any case.
When the iPad first came out, the MacBook Air was still in it's first generation and was somewhat limited in its specs. Now that the current crop of MacAir's have USB 3.0 & can be upgraded to 8gb of RAM & 512Gb SSD, it's not so anemic anymore and still less than a pound heavier than the new iPad-- it makes more sense to skip the 9.7" iPad for a 7" one. The only advantage of the 9.7", at least for my own use, is that it is better when reading magazines, graphic novels, textbooks or otherwise highly illustrated publications.
In the past, it's seemed like Apple only released a product designed specifically to fill a gap if that gap was large enough in size or there was a whole new market to open up. They released the MacBook Air for all the people that hadn't bought an Apple laptop because they were still too heavy (my mother is one such customer). The lightness and increased portability finally made laptops make sense to lots of new people. Tablets didn't really take off until the first iPad, because no one had made them make sense to massive numbers of consumers before that. Releasing a 7" iPad would be going after too small a market. Admittedly, I buy a lot of products with the Apple logo on them, but I have an iPad and an iPhone already; I don't need something to fit in-between. There may be some customers (who don't already have an iPad and/or iPhone) who'd buy it, but at this point I can't imagine those folks are going to be swayed by an iPad mini.
I have the Macbook Air. It's definitely my favorite netbook, but for software reasons I ended up using my eee book more. Just so much of what I need to do requires windows and it's smaller and lighter. Portability is a bigger deal to me than power, and the ability to swap batteries on the go. I was in love with the Air until the first time I ran out of battery on the go. I just buy a whole lot of crap because I can. It gives me a non-apple perspective on a lot of tech. I think of my Apple products as my "tuxedo" products. If I'm going somewhere I need to be seen and I need tech with me, I'll bring the ipad or the air or even sometimes the Macbook Pro (albeit, I have windows 7 on it and no osx at this point). But day to day, I stick with smaller or lighter more durable, and more economical electronics that I can more easily afford to break because I am hard on things. While pretty, the unanodized aluminum apple chooses to wrap things in scuffs easily, and dents very easily too. I had a kid kick a laptop bag at a convenience store with a 12" macbook pro in it, and it dented the thing horribly. Plastic doesn't dent like that.
1) The iPhone screens are 3:2, so it's not like 4:3 is the only aspect ratio iOS has ever seen. It's probably not too difficult to add another aspect ratio. And even if it was, it's not going to stop them from doing it. Either they still don't think a 7" tablet is a good form factor, so it doesn't even matter if iOS can work well there, or they now think it's a valid market, in which case the potential profits of creating such a product would motivate them to make whatever software changes were necessary in iOS, despite the cost or difficulty.
2) I don't think a company would ever choose to never make a device that could potentially make them a ton of money just because they once publically said it was a bad idea. In fact, Apple has backpedaled before on things like this. The example I can think of right now is that camera app they banned from the App Store until they took out the option to have the volume up button act as a camera shutter because it confused customers. Then in a later version of iOS, they added that exact feature in themselves.
I personally think we will see a smaller iPad, but it will still be 4:3. That will make it easier for the current apps to be automatically scaled and developers won't have to completely redo their UIs. I agree the widescreen video situation isn't the best, but that's about the only place where the 4:3 aspect ratio is clearly not the best choice. Everywhere else having a 4:3 vs. a 16:9 tablet is just personal preference. I doubt we'll see anything announced before Spring 2013. Apple seems to rarely break their product patterns, and that's when they release iPad stuff.
2) I don't think a company would ever choose to never make a device that could potentially make them a ton of money just because they once publically said it was a bad idea. In fact, Apple has backpedaled before on things like this. The example I can think of right now is that camera app they banned from the App Store until they took out the option to have the volume up button act as a camera shutter because it confused customers. Then in a later version of iOS, they added that exact feature in themselves.
I personally think we will see a smaller iPad, but it will still be 4:3. That will make it easier for the current apps to be automatically scaled and developers won't have to completely redo their UIs. I agree the widescreen video situation isn't the best, but that's about the only place where the 4:3 aspect ratio is clearly not the best choice. Everywhere else having a 4:3 vs. a 16:9 tablet is just personal preference. I doubt we'll see anything announced before Spring 2013. Apple seems to rarely break their product patterns, and that's when they release iPad stuff.
I'm honestly not sure anymore. Apple does the "attack attack attack" thing for defense now. I'd never have thought it, but we may see a situation where they rush an incomplete product to market very quickly to knock down the rise of the 7" tablet. Not because they want to, but because it would be the only way they can stop Android from taking the tablet market by the end of the year. Even if it's not perfect, the loyal Apple fanbase will buy it anyway. They'd keep their market dominance in tablets, which is the only market they have left to dominate. Unless they have a legal remedy up their sleeves. It's a lose-lose either way. Google really thought out the Nexus 7 if you look at it from a high level perspective. Even incredibly biased apple users like MG Siegler love the Nexus 7. They have to do something.
I guess all the rumors are that a 7.85" tablet is coming this fall and being priced at "significantly less than $499". That seems to imply it'll be at $199 same as the Nexus and Fire. But the problem is the iPod Touch starts at $199. Maybe they'll drop the price on those.
Usually in this situation they brand a gimmick. Like when they took a 6 year old pixel density technique Samsung invented and rebranded it "retina". Few people know those screen were used on the Sony Vaio Z and Sony Vaio P as early as 2006. Or when they started making everything out of aluminum. Or when they bought Siri. It's always gimmick based. My guess is they'll go magnesium, and call it something. Durashell or MagnaDura or whatnot, and claim a proprietary alloy. Just something non-technical types can repeat over and over.
The ipod touch is way over priced, but that's because it has no competition. I would guess that they will make it 16g or drop the price, or drop the product entirely in favor of the ipod grande?
I'm guessing $249 for the ipod/pad 7", maybe at 16g. Memory is cheap, except at apple.
I'm guessing $249 for the ipod/pad 7", maybe at 16g. Memory is cheap, except at apple.
The issue as I see it is Apple's product margins. Currently the estimates I've seen show the margin on the iPad 3 at a bit over 50%- Techinsights estimated the cost of the new 4g iPad at $310. From what I've read the cost of manufacture doesn't vary that much with screen size changes- but we'll say $100 for dropping the retina display and the 4g radio and the smaller size. That would mean $210 to manufacture an iPad mini- say they sold them for $299, that would mean a margin of 30% (which most companies other than apple would love to see). The big question is how that would affect their sales- would people buy a 10 and a 7 inch (good), would the same amount of people buy the 10 inch and people who would have bought a 7 inch android buy the apple mini (good) or will a large chunk of people who would have bought the 10 inch buy the cheaper and much lower margin 7 inch (very bad)? Apple could improve the margin by doing what Google has done- use lots of plastics and some cheaper materials and fiddle with the specs, but I don't think they will.
Its not like Apple will go out of business with lower margins, but it could adversely affect their stock price.
On the other hand, a great iOS 7 inch tablet could wreck Google's tablet strategy (and Nexus 7 sales), which could be worth it for them.
Its not like Apple will go out of business with lower margins, but it could adversely affect their stock price.
On the other hand, a great iOS 7 inch tablet could wreck Google's tablet strategy (and Nexus 7 sales), which could be worth it for them.
That's what I'm saying. Cheap 7" is an astounding success for Google right now. They have to do something. I'm now of the opinion that they are going to give up on a lot of Steve's claims and just make a tablet normal folks can justify. Right now Apple is chasing the competition by making tablets smaller and phones bigger. It's a shame. They used to innovate. The rumor today is that they are going OLED but they are calling it "incell" or something like that. It's also rumored they are giving up on the silly 4:3 paradigm and going normal 16:9. Essentially, they are fixing all the things I dislike about the iPhone and iPad. Those are the rumors I hope are true.
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