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iPad mini

So the iPad mini was formally announced today and you can read all about it through a respectable news source.

I have been going on and on about an iPad mini for quite some time now. The smaller screen allows for less guilt when using it in class. The smaller screen makes it more portable in a bag already packed to the gills with books, papers, folders and other important things. The smaller screen allows the device to be cheaper overall. That’s the theory.

The iPad mini meets that theory well, but I have high standards. The iPad mini didn’t live up to my expectations in these areas:

  • the screen: lacking an high resolution display, the iPad mini is not even close to a retina-display device. Other devices of less cost have pixel densities higher than that of the iPad mini. Despite Apple’s touting that the Nexus 7 browser has less screen real-estate, the Nexus 7 shows more pixels on a single screen so it’s not quite as fair. Nobody is going to make a big deal about the density disparity the iPad line presents (where two-thirds of the lineup are non-retina devices), but I don’t like it. To fix that problem, Apple might pull the plug on the current generation iPad mini earlier than expected like they did with the six-month old iPad 3, introducing the iPad 4th generation today as well.
  • the pricing: $329 isn’t that much more than $299, the entry price of the 5th generation iPod touch. It’s fine, I paid that price easily when I bought my iPod touch 4th generation two years ago when I take Apple Care into account. Nobody will have a problem with the price when actually buying one, but combining the iPad mini’s slightly higher price with Apple Care and the inevitable purchase of a Smart Cover, you’re looking at an easy $150 increase. I wanted the iPad mini to be cheap enough to buy another one instead of relying on Apple Care.

Even though my expectations weren’t quite met, there were positive points:

  • the camera: the camera is the same iPod touch 5th generation camera, which from what I hear, is great — it’s not a cheap joke that the iPad 2 was telling everyone every time they took a picture.
  • the design: the Chamfer (the beveled edge on the bezel) is beautiful and it was smart to carry that to the iPad mini. The colors and the seamlessness are great. Usually I dislike the white models of Apple products because the black screen surrounded by white edges seems constricting, and that’s true with the iPad mini as well, but Apple has improved their white products. The Chamfer is really highlighted with the white model, where it’s more obscure with the black model.

So. With all that, will I buy one?

I’ll let you know on November 2nd.

iPad Mini: Yep.∝

John Paczkowski:

People familiar with Apple’s plans tell us that the company will unveil the so-called “iPad mini” on Oct. 23 at an invitation-only event.

Jim Dalrymple:

Yep.

So it begins with the infamous Yep.

iPad Mini?

iOS 6 dropped yesterday.

So I think it’s time for some thoughts on the iPad mini.

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.