“We should do one”
Steve Jobs was receptive to Apple making a smaller tablet, a senior executive said in a 2011 e-mail revealed during the Samsung vs Apple trial, adding to speculation it plans to make a mini-iPad to take on cheaper gadgets from Google and Amazon.
An Apple mini-version of the market-making 10-inch iPad could counter increasing inroads made by tablets such as the Kindle Fire and Nexus 7. But Apple has never confirmed the launch of such a tablet.
Vice President Eddy Cue urged chief operating officer Tim Cook in January 2011 to build a 7-inch tablet, according to an e-mail from Cue that Samsung Electronics presented as evidence in the trial. In an email addressed also to software chief Scott Forstall and marketing head Phil Schiller, Cue said he believed there was a market for a 7-inch tablet and that “we should do one.”
“There will be a 7-inch market and we should do one. I expressed this to Steve several times since Thanksgiving and he seemed very receptive the last time,” the executive wrote in the email. “I found email, books, Facebook, and video very compelling on a 7-inch. Web browsing is definitely the weakest point, but still usable.”
The Apple Rumour Mill
Release date
According to CNET the iPad Mini, or iPad Nano, will be revealed alongside the iPhone 5 on 12 September. Apple insiders have also suggested that the iPhone 5 will then be available from 21 September – no release date for the iPad Mini, although iMore suggests it could be around October 2012.
Size
The iPad will rock a 7.85 inch screen making it a direct competitor to the Google Nexus 7 and Amazon Kindle Fire. A Japanese blog has released the casing for the iPad Mini on a website which suggests it will be just 7.2mm thick. Small and light to make the tablet perfect to take on the go.
But what about the memory capacity? If the various sites around the web are to be believed then there will be a limited storage amount on the iPad Mini and it will only ship a wi-fi 16GB version at the outset.
Resolution
Reports on the resolution differ. John Gruber of Daring Fireball has stated the high-res screen of the New iPad 3 would not be likely. This is to ensure it will be as affordable as the Google and Amazon tablets. Instead it is likely that the iPad Mini will have a 1024×768 resolution – the same as the iPad 2.
Price
Apple analysts are jumping into the debate about the price and it is most commonly quoted to be in the region of $250 – $300. With suggestions that the iPad Mini will only ship with 16GB of memory, the price is competitive. Google, Amazon and Samsung should be quivering in their boots!
Verdict
Elysium Magazine’s biggest criticism of the iPad has always been its portability. It is troubling when watching re-runs of Scrubs on the tube with your neighbours joining in on the fun. This made the Playbook, Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire much more attractive. However, nothing has come close to the Apple iOS platform and the iPad Mini will certainly lure certain consumers away from the competition with a much bigger user experience and eco-system so everything, from the iPod, iPhone, iMac and iPad, are all connected as one.
What do you think? Tweet us your thoughts on the iPad Mini.
