Apple Mini iPad – Fact or Fiction?
Product Information
Apple’s Baby iPad
Mockup of the Apple Mini iPad
The 2 most popular size tablets are the 7-inch and 10-inch tablets. We all know that Apple dominates the 10-inch tablet arena with its iPad (actually 9.7 inch). In the 7-inch tablet world, Samsung (major player) and others are safe in the 7-inch arena. Google has recently entered the market with its Nexus 7 tablet which is 7-inch. Microsoft has their Surface model. Believe it or not, Toys R Us is coming out with a kid’s tablet named tabeo
Here at Tablets-Computer, we have always been recommending that the idea tablet size is 7-inch. It fits nicely in the palm of your hand. It takes up little space when you are using it in a restaurant.
There are rumours that Apple is coming out with an Apple mini-iPad (7-8 inch screen size). If this is the case, you can be sure Samsung (Galaxy Tab 2 7″ – Our recommendation), Google (Nexus 7 – This one is catching our attention), Microsoft (Surface), Amazon (Kindle), ASUS, Toys R Us (tabeo) who are already competing amongst each other will now have another strong contender. This could fuel further price wars and more features, which will be great for us, the consumer. For the smaller companies, this could mean their death or getting out of the tablet market as Apple will sure to dominate the 7″ tablet market. Apple’s 200,000+ apps for the full sized iPad will also be available for the mini-iPad. When the mini-iPad gets released, all the apps will be available from day one.
In order for Apple to successfully compete in the 7-in screen market, the price will need to be at around the $200.00 (US) price range. In order to do this, Apple will have to reduce some of its features. One of these could be to use a lower cost screen instead of the Retina Display. Of course, there is nothing stopping Apple from providing various models featuring Retina Display and non-Retina Display.
Going the 7″ size route is a bold move for Apple as Steve Jobs wasn’t too crazy with a smaller size iPad. He believed that the 9.7″ screen size is the best size for the best user experience.
Adding to this complexity, smartphones are now starting to increase their screen sizes. The Samsung Galaxy S III has a 4.8″ screen and Galaxy Note has a 5.3″ screen. The newly released iPhone 5, iPod, iPod Touch all have a 4″ screen (increased from 3.5″).
If this is a fact, Apple will make some sort of announcements this coming October 2012.
Coupled with iPhone 5 release, this could make for a busy Christmas and Apple’s competitor sweating.
Are you excited yet?