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The iPad Mini

Pachimari

Member
So only WiFi ones available on November 2nd?
In UK anyway, the store has added a bit:



I was just going to get the WiFi one and tether to my iPhone if ever needed, but hadn't heard of a difference in date before now.
They said so at the live conference.
 

jj984jj

He's a pretty swell guy in my books anyway.
Same was said about the original iPad. In fact GAF predicted it will flop, and based on GAF's reaction towards the iPad mini I think it will be a success.

The original iPad carved out a market, iPad mini is not in the same situation. It'll sell to the masses, but the reaction to this is far more understandable. This just an 8" iPad 2 going up against devices like the Nexus 7 that offer an actual HD resolution at a lower price, and I seriously doubt many have been waiting for a $330 8" iPad as a gaming device.
 

Dunlop

Member
Same was said about the original iPad. In fact GAF predicted it will flop, and based on GAF's reaction towards the iPad mini I think it will be a success.

Who thinks this won't do well? The biggest "argument" I've read is that it is overpriced
 
ipad mini is going to do PHENOMENAL despite the price. Every high schooler in America is going to want one not to mention professionals who want a compact data pad with them at all times. I'm sure next year's model will have the retina display which will get the core fans to purchase it.
 

SeanR1221

Member
No doubt it's going to sell like crazy. Nintendo should be worried this holiday season. Honestly, if I had a kid I'd buy them a mini over a Wii U easily.
 
ipad mini is going to do PHENOMENAL despite the price. Every high schooler in America is going to want one not to mention professionals who want a compact data pad with them at all times. I'm sure next year's model will have the retina display which will get the core fans to purchase it.

Nope. Every high schooler will have or buy an ipod Touch.
iPod Mini is a different thing entirely - its a niche part of the Apple range imo.

Any sales it gets will be at the cost of other Apple products; I don't see it as all that competitive with the other small form tablets so the professionals will likely just ignore it if they want 'smaller'.

Seriously its not going to be 'phenomenal' but theres really nothing wrong with that.
 
There are people here with iPads but are also getting an iPad mini?

I'm assuming they are giving one away to a loved one, or selling the former?
 

Pachimari

Member
Why is it so hard for some guys to understand that some people would have a use for both a regular iPad and iPad Mini?

Like me. I can finally have all my games on my iPad 2 32GB and have it as my game hub, while also letting my nieces borrow it when they are on visit. I'll have Facebook and Safari on there too for guests to use.

While the iPad Mini will be mine strictly with all my regular apps. It'll function as my note taker, it'll let me edit my PDF's with my stylus and be my reader all in a thinner, smaller, lighter and more convenient form when I have it around me. I know all of these things can be had with ONE iPad but I have tried taking my iPad 2 with me to places and it's not something I would like to continue with and I don't want to lend my iPad to guests when I got my personal calendar, mails etc on there.

There's a use for both. Step outside ones own box of thinking. I can also see it's hard for one to see the use of both when you come from the line of thinking: "you can do all that on ONE iPad" but come on, step outside your own mindset for a bit.
 

therapist

Member
So they shrunk down an ipad 1/2? and are charging 329$ for it.
Lol.

I was kinda interested , until i saw the resolution and pricing...no , fail.
 

SeanR1221

Member
I've mentioned before an iPad mini would be used for work and my iPad 3 would stay as my iPad. Work related apps are taking over my iPad.
 

Blackhead

Redarse
And someone here said that it will take time before it outsold the nexus7. lol

I'm not even going to try and predict the market either way. Last year, people were waiting hours in line for an average EOL tablet. And many (most?) of those were regular people too not just geeks and nerds; sheeeeeit, I'm a webOS fan, trying to get the Pre3 phone at the time, and I was looking on baffled why people were buying the TouchPad simply because it was $99. After weeks of slow sales the Touchpad sold out that weekend the clearance price was announced. If Google has a Nexus7 for $99 this holiday season I wouldn't bet against them
 

Marco1

Member
I would love to know what the next big thing will be.
I look at apple and all I see is recycled tablets and phones and yet they spend so much less than the others on R&D.
 
I would love to know what the next big thing will be.
I look at apple and all I see is recycled tablets and phones and yet they spend so much less than the others on R&D.

I think it'll get to the point where yearly releases of new hardware will be pointless. I can't see why you'd need more than 2GB of RAM or something higher end than a Quad Core to run a smartphone. The next big thing will have to be software. Apple may begin to charge for firmware updates
 

Bumhead

Banned
No doubt it's going to sell like crazy. Nintendo should be worried this holiday season. Honestly, if I had a kid I'd buy them a mini over a Wii U easily.

I'm pretty much in this situation for myself nevermind for a kid.

I currently have a Wii U on pre-order but I'm seriously feeling the pull of a return to iOS, and I love the look of the Mini. I'd like to be able to spend £550-£600 on consumer electronics this year but sub £300 is a more realistic proposition, and if that's what I'm spending then I'm seriously considering going for the Mini over the U. I've not felt 100% about the U for a while despite having a pre-order in, and while the pull of first party Nintendo excites me, I can probably wait for that.

Decisions, decisions. Problem for Nintendo is that the iPad Mini goes on pre-order tomorrow and releases in a week so I might have already made up my mind 3 weeks before the U even launches.
 

Marco1

Member
I'm pretty much in this situation for myself nevermind for a kid.

I currently have a Wii U on pre-order but I'm seriously feeling the pull of a return to iOS, and I love the look of the Mini. I'd like to be able to spend £550-£600 on consumer electronics this year but sub £300 is a more realistic proposition, and if that's what I'm spending then I'm seriously considering going for the Mini over the U. I've not felt 100% about the U for a while despite having a pre-order in, and while the pull of first party Nintendo excites me, I can probably wait for that.

Decisions, decisions. Problem for Nintendo is that the iPad Mini goes on pre-order tomorrow and releases in a week so I might have already made up my mind 3 weeks before the U even launches.

Same situation for my son. He was all set for the wiiu yet he now wants ipad mini and says the wii will be okay for another year.
Kids?
 
My only concern over Mini is its screen resolution...which really lags behind Kindle Fire and Especially the Nook HD. For 130$ more to buy....I expect it to be at least on par with its competitors. Which it is not.

Sad
 

Kraftwerk

Member
I'm torn between the iPad 4 and the mini. If there was a 8gb mini for $249, then no question....but now, I am not sure. The $499 seems very tempting. Might as well go all the way.

Bah! So hard to decide.
 

noah111

Still Alive
I'm torn between the iPad 4 and the mini. If there was a 8gb mini for $249, then no question....but now, I am not sure. The $499 seems very tempting. Might as well go all the way.

Bah! So hard to decide.
Honestly just depends on what you'll be using it for, and what you currently own/use.
 

Vyer

Member
There are people here with iPads but are also getting an iPad mini?

I'm assuming they are giving one away to a loved one, or selling the former?

I bought a Nexus 7 with the intention my kid would get more use out of it. (Along with the chance for me to spend more time with Android).

Kids apps aren't up to par on it either so he still uses the iPad more. Had the iPad mini been around I might have considered it. 30 bucks cheaper and it would have been a no brainer.
 

noah111

Still Alive
Comics , magazines and general reading. Other than that mostly surfing the web and streaming music.

I currently own a Samsung Note and a macbook pro.
Yeah that's tough. For reading mags and comics I would have to say just get the bigger iPad. Better screen, better reading experience (comics especially, surely). Only issue is portability and all that.

Guess in that case it just comes down to how portable you want it, more of an inside the house device or out and about one..

I never even considered the iPad mini before, but apple and their mind fucking is making me question my iPad 3. Still love it, but something smaller sounds appealing somehow.

Maybe in a year or two. :p
 

Dunlop

Member
Honestly just depends on what you'll be using it for, and what you currently own/use.

this.

I had a 10 inch tablet forever and was pretty much a paperweight for me as I found it to be useless on my commute and at work.

Picked up a Nexus 7 and it is the best purchase I have made in a while as I use it all the time.

I'm referring to the convenience of the form factor (OS wars are elsewhere). If I ever go Apple, I will definitely be getting a mini over the full blown tablet
 

bbagwell

Member
DodoCase Bookback and Timbuk2 padded sleeve with my Mini. Been amazing on my iPad 2 - the perfect combination of protection and portability.
 

Appleman

Member
I feel like the iPad mini = small iPad 2 comparisons don't do it justice. As with the "old tech" argument. Other than the extra graphics processing to (somewhat unsuccessfully) drive the retina display, the A5 is basically equivalent to the A5X in CPU performance. The top of the line iPad before the unsuspected 4th Gen announcement had the same CPU performance as the iPad mini.

Other than a retina display (which was absolutely not possible in the formfactor people wanted) what do the "I was hoping it would be a shrunken iPad 3" people want out of this thing? It's got the much improved camera from the iPad 3 (and an even better front facing camera), it's got LTE like the iPad 3. The only difference is the retina display (and maybe some ram) and since this is nearly $200 less than what the iPad 3 was being sold for, I don't understand the complaints.
 

Blackhead

Redarse
I feel like the iPad mini = small iPad 2 comparisons don't do it justice. As with the "old tech" argument. Other than the extra graphics processing to (somewhat unsuccessfully) drive the retina display, the A5 is basically equivalent to the A5X in CPU performance. The top of the line iPad before the unsuspected 4th Gen announcement had the same CPU performance as the iPad mini.
[citations needed]

Other than a retina display (which was absolutely not possible in the formfactor people wanted) what do the "I was hoping it would be a shrunken iPad 3" people want out of this thing? It's got the much improved camera from the iPad 3 (and an even better front facing camera), it's got LTE like the iPad 3. The only difference is the retina display (and maybe some ram) and since this is nearly $200 less than what the iPad 3 was being sold for, I don't understand the complaints.

B&N is offering a:
243 ppi 7" tablet for $200
254 ppi 8.9" tablet for $270

Apple is offering a:
326 ppi 4" iPod for $300
264 ppi 9.7" tablet for $380

But Apple absolutely can't sell a 7.9" device with a retina display... okay, you convinced me, Appleman.
 

Apath

Member
I want something portable for use on the go, but something with a larger screen for reading magazines, PDFs, and longer web browsing sessions.
This is very anecdotal, but for reading, using the Kindle with its 6" screen has been more than fine for me. I'd say web browsing would be the only advantage, but even then, most sites have a mobile version that the iPad loads anyways. And we're talking about a less than 2" difference between the two displays.

My biggest issue with the Mini is the low PPI. That's the #1 reason why I think I'm just going to hold out for a revision.
 

LCfiner

Member
I would say the key tradeoffs for a retina display in the 8" model aren't cost so much as battery size and weight.

Apple probably wanted to push thinness and light weight and so the obvious first tradeoff was a 326 ppi screen and the battery needed to drive it.
 

Future

Member
iPad = home iPad. iPad mini = at work/school iPad. iPhone handles all other cases. This is mostly due to apples lack of profiles, but I like the idea of a work iPad that doesn't have as much personal info on it, and my big iPad has replaced my desktop for the most part at home. Cheaper smaller iPad would work for me

I think there is a market for it. Especially since the competition has no definitive tablet at this size just yet. I won't get it at that resolution though, and can easily wait a year or more. I think the initial buyers will be those that never took the plunge, which is still a lot of people. My sister for example got a Kindle fire last year for christmas, but still uses the iPhone at home regularly for shit. Obviously hooked on dat ecosystem, and probably could use the iPad mini.
 

Blackhead

Redarse
I would say the key tradeoffs for a retina display in the 8" model aren't cost so much as battery size and weight.

Apple probably wanted to push thinness and light weight and so the obvious first tradeoff was a 326 ppi screen and the battery needed to drive it.

The Nook HD isn't as thin as the iPad Mini but it's shorter in length and breadth. And the Nook HD is promising similar battery life to the iPad Mini (9 hrs versus 10 hrs) and similar weight (315g versus 308g)! Would people really have minded if Apple had got an iPad Mini retina at the same thinness as the iPad 2 (8.8mm) which is still noticeably less thicker than the iPad3/4 (9.4mm)? The iPad Mini is just absurdly thin (7.2 mm) and I think a retina display would have been the better tradeoff.
 

LCfiner

Member
The Nook HD isn't as thin as the iPad Mini but it's shorter in length and breadth. And the Nook HD is promising similar battery life to the iPad Mini (9 hrs versus 10 hrs) and similar weight (315g versus 308g)! Would people really have minded if Apple had got an iPad Mini retina at the same thinness as the iPad 2 (8.8mm) which is still noticeably less thicker than the iPad3/4 (9.4mm)? The iPad Mini is just absurdly thin (7.2 mm) and I think a retina display would have been the better tradeoff.

I'm not saying people wouldn't have cared. I was just saying that Apple probably cared. Hey, I'm one of those people that happily gave up the ipad 2's weight and cool running temp to get a retina display as soon as I could.

And although I agree with you about the nook screens being higher res and not needing bigger batteries, they don't have the same number of pixels as the ipad 3.

I think we need to look at what happened between ipad 2 and ipad 3 to infer what the 2048 x 1536 res might have done to the ipad mini. yes, the size is smaller so the backlighting wouldn't have been as massive, but it's still driving an insane number of pixels and the only tech Apple has shown for the display still requires some really bright , power hungry backlighting.

If they can move to a new display tech that requires less backlighting and is overall lighter and thinner, then well see it in an iPad mini.
 

Cheebo

Banned
The Nook HD isn't as thin as the iPad Mini but it's shorter in length and breadth. And the Nook HD is promising similar battery life to the iPad Mini (9 hrs versus 10 hrs) and similar weight (315g versus 308g)! Would people really have minded if Apple had got an iPad Mini retina at the same thinness as the iPad 2 (8.8mm) which is still noticeably less thicker than the iPad3/4 (9.4mm)? The iPad Mini is just absurdly thin (7.2 mm) and I think a retina display would have been the better tradeoff.

You forget one major thing. The Nook HD's resolution is still far lower than than that of iPad 3. By a huge factor.

And Apple doesn't have the option of some kind of in between resolution. It's either pre-retina iPad resolution or retina iPad resolution. That's it. They can't make another resolution without destroying the app store.
 

Blackhead

Redarse
You forget one major thing. The Nook HD's resolution is still far lower than than that of iPad 3. By a huge factor.

And Apple doesn't have the option of some kind of in between resolution. It's either pre-retina iPad resolution or retina iPad resolution. That's it. They can't make another resolution without destroying the app store.

You're forgetting something else. The Nook HD resolution is far higher than the iPod Touch. The Nook HD+ has a higher resolution by a huge factor at a still cheaper price. Yet BN is a much smaller company than Apple, they don't have the same manufacturing reach.

I'm not suggesting that Apple can sell a retina iPad mini for $200. I'm just pushing back against the idea that it's absolutely impossible for Apple to make a retina iPad mini right now (for whatever price). I find it very hard to believe that the tech isn't already there and Apple made different tradeoffs and decided not to.
 

Appleman

Member
I'm not saying people wouldn't have cared. I was just saying that Apple probably cared. Hey, I'm one of those people that happily gave up the ipad 2's weight and cool running temp to get a retina display as soon as I could.

And although I agree with you about the nook screens being higher res and not needing bigger batteries, they don't have the same number of pixels as the ipad 3.

I think we need to look at what happened between ipad 2 and ipad 3 to infer what the 2048 x 1536 res might have done to the ipad mini. yes, the size is smaller so the backlighting wouldn't have been as massive, but it's still driving an insane number of pixels and the only tech Apple has shown for the display still requires some really bright , power hungry backlighting.

If they can move to a new display tech that requires less backlighting and is overall lighter and thinner, then well see it in an iPad mini.

This is exactly it. And they can't do a ~200PPI screen on the mini, it's 326ppi if they/re going to go retina.


You're forgetting something else. The Nook HD resolution is far higher than the iPod Touch. The Nook HD+ has a higher resolution by a huge factor at a still cheaper price. Yet BN is a much smaller company than Apple, they don't have the same manufacturing reach.

I'm not suggesting that Apple can sell a retina iPad mini for $200. I'm just pushing back against the idea that it's absolutely impossible for Apple to make a retina iPad mini right now (for whatever price). I find it very hard to believe that the tech isn't already there and Apple made different tradeoffs and decided not to.

Of course Apple could have made a mini with retina, but at what cost? It would be heavier, hotter, and most importantly, more expensive. Maybe even more expensive than the iPad 3/4. The large iPad at least has the room for such a large battery, the mini doesn't have that luxury and it would have to be even thicker than the full size iPad.

I don't personally think they could market a thick, heavy, expensive iPad mini. It just wouldn't make sense at this time
 

Alchemy

Member
I sort of feel like I'm rationalizing away a fault here, but after realizing the mini has the same screen resolution of the iPad 2 I'm not as worried about the screen quality despite being worse DPI wise compared to the $200 group of Droid tablets. I have an iPad 1 and never had issues with the screen, so it should look better on the mini.
 

Tobor

Member
I sort of feel like I'm rationalizing away a fault here, but after realizing the mini has the same screen resolution of the iPad 2 I'm not as worried about the screen quality despite being worse DPI wise compared to the $200 group of Droid tablets. I have an iPad 1 and never had issues with the screen, so it should look better on the mini.

You're absolutely right. Coming from an iPad 2, the screen will look better. The smaller pixels will help, as will the laminated display. I assume it will have the advanced color correction seen in the iPad 3/4 and iPhone 5 as well.
 

Al-ibn Kermit

Junior Member
You forget one major thing. The Nook HD's resolution is still far lower than than that of iPad 3. By a huge factor.

And Apple doesn't have the option of some kind of in between resolution. It's either pre-retina iPad resolution or retina iPad resolution. That's it. They can't make another resolution without destroying the app store.

The resolution would only really be justified if it was in the same ball park as the competition in price. But I think deciding whether the display is better or worse than the Nexus is actually kind of subjective since while it has 30% less pixels, it also is about 30% larger. The form factor also makes it worse for video but (arguably) better for web browsing.

Of course compared to the similarly sized Fire HD, the display is simply shitty. In any case, I don't see anybody who was considering one of the $200 tablets buying the mini instead. The price of this device is much more disappointing than the resolution imo.

I mean, these will sell but they won't compete with what's already out there.
 

Appleman

Member
The resolution would only really be justified if it was in the same ball park as the competition in price. But I think deciding whether the display is better or worse than the Nexus is actually kind of subjective since while it has 30% less pixels, it also is about 30% larger. The form factor also makes it worse for video but (arguably) better for web browsing.

Of course compared to the similarly sized Fire HD, the display is simply shitty. In any case, I don't see anybody who was considering one of the $200 tablets buying the mini instead. The price of this device is much more disappointing than the resolution imo.

I mean, these will sell but they won't compete with what's already out there.

Yeah, but the "similarly sized" Fire HD is also twice as heavy, larger in every dimension, only has 5 more square inches of display area, and won't be out for another month.
 

Blackhead

Redarse
Of course Apple could have made a mini with retina, but at what cost? It would be heavier, hotter, and most importantly, more expensive. Maybe even more expensive than the iPad 3/4. The large iPad at least has the room for such a large battery, the mini doesn't have that luxury and it would have to be even thicker than the full size iPad.

I don't personally think they could market a thick, heavy, expensive iPad mini. It just wouldn't make sense at this time

Lots of assumptions in there... Apple is doing just fine doing marketing a 'thick, heavy, expensive' iPad3/4. The Mini has a 50% smaller display than the iPad3/4. I can't believe you'd think it would be heavier, hotter and more expensive than its larger sibling.
 

Appleman

Member
Lots of assumptions in there... Apple is doing just fine doing marketing a thick, heavy expensive iPad3/4. The Mini has a 50% smaller display than the iPad3/4. I can't believe you'd think it would be heavier, hotter and more expensive than its larger sibling.

The hardware would still have to push the same amount of pixels as its larger sibling with a smaller surface area for the battery. The primary draws of the mini are its thinness, weight, and lower cost. You would be throwing out all three of those out in order to try and cram a retina display in.
 

Ryck

Member
as long as people cant think by themself, ipad mini will be a huge hit.
Real wisdom right here folks.


Thinking of biting on an iPad3, they are "15% off" in the refurbished area. Been reading through this thread and noticed some people complaining about the speed, is it really an issue?
 

OmegaFax

Member
It's got the same pixel density as the iPhone 3GS. I think of the screen as less of a condensation of a full-sized iPad 2 and more of a larger 3GS. That's just my two cents.
 

Al-ibn Kermit

Junior Member
Yeah, but the "similarly sized" Fire HD is also twice as heavy, larger in every dimension, only has 5 more square inches of display area, and won't be out for another month.

The 8.9" Fire and 9" Nook are also $50 cheaper and have 3X the pixels, of course you would expect trade offs. I'm saying that either Apple should have priced this around $250 or they should have upped the resolution to compete with the others in it's price tier, and I'm guessing the latter was unrealistic until the tech catches up next year or the year after.

I'm just not getting what the iPad mini does for Apple. It can potentially steal a higher margin iPod Touch or iPad sale but it's simply priced too high to be considered by someone who was looking at the $200 tablets.

If Google does come out with a half-decent $99 tablet, then that will probably pull all the other 7" tablet prices down even more and make an even bigger delta between the mini and the androids.
 
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