iOS 6 dropped yesterday.
So I think it’s time for some thoughts on the iPad mini.
- It still exists as a rumor, and in some sense, I feel the heat died down. That heat died down once when a everyone predicted two events, and then died down once more when all the iPods and iTunes were announced to come out in October. Everyone is busy now with the iPhone.
- Pricing has now become an issue: the new iPod touch is based at $299. $399 is too much and is the price of the existing iPad 2 — so how can the price be reconciled? $349 still seems too high — the magic number needs to start with a two so that leaves me with $299, though $249 would be preferable.
- iOS 6 presents an interesting question — What iOS versions would an iPad mini support? iOS 6 is dropped yesterday, so it will support iOS 6 if it comes out. But then will iOS 7? I imagine iOS 7 (and by 7, I mean, the next major iteration of iOS, whatever it ends up being), will be supported with maybe some features left out. But that’s odd too — I think Apple wants to end legacy low-resolution support sooner rather than later; the iPhone 3GS and the iPad 2 are low-resolution, their support should end with iOS 6. I really cannot imagine Apple extending the life of low-resolution to yet another iOS. That’s odd.
- So to get around that OS compatibility problem, let’s tinker a bit. Let’s go retina:
- Non-retina: keep the current resolution of the iPad 2’s 1024 by 768 display, at 7.85 inches that’s just 163 ppi which is just shy of the MacBook Air and regular laptop screens (use this for comparison)
- Retina: double the current resolution of the iPad 2’s 1024 by 768 display, 2048 by 1536 and at 7.85 inches, that happens to end up around 326 ppi; which would end up being more crisp than the iPad 3 (at 264 ppi) — and Apple could again use the same iPhone 5 and iPod screen sheets
So going Retina wouldn’t be out of question. At least, I hope not.