Rumors of a 7.85-Inch 'iPad Mini' Revived (Again) for Late 2012

Thursday December 15, 2011 8:43 pm PST by Arnold Kim
Digitimes once again revives talk of a 7.85-Inch iPad. According to the site, Apple is likely to launch a 7.85-inch iPad prior to 4th quarter of 2012 in addition to a new iPad at the end of the 1st quarter. Apple reportedly is looking to take on the increasing number of competitors such as Android's 7-inch Kindle Fire:
However, in order to cope with increasing market competition including the 7-inch Kindle Fire from Amazon and the launch of large-size smartphones from handset vendors, Apple has been persuaded into the development of 7.85-inch iPads, the sources indicated.
There's been enough talk of such a device that it seems certain that Apple has at least been prototyping one over the past year. This previous mockup of such a device was discussed a year ago as a possibility:


Previous mockup of a 7-inch "iPad mini"

Previous rumors have suggested that a 7.85-inch iPad would carry the same resolution (1024x768) as the current iPad. This would open the door to Apple differentiating their new iPad with a much higher resolution Retina display, while offering the old resolution on a physically smaller device.

Given the number of ongoing rumors, it seems certain that Apple has been experimenting with a 7.85-inch iPad. We'd guess its ultimate arrival will depend on how the market responds to the Kindle Fire and similar tablets in the coming year.

Related Roundup: iPad mini 5
Buyer's Guide: iPad Mini (Caution)
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dethmaShine
107 months ago
Another analyst. Another fart. Another stupid prediction.

But hey, it's Digitimes again. :rolleyes:
Rating: 19 Votes
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saving107
107 months ago

However, in order to cope with increasing market competition including the 7-inch Kindle Fire from Amazon and the launch of large-size smartphones from handset vendors, Apple has been persuaded into the development of 7.85-inch iPads, the sources indicated.


Since when is Apple a trend follower?
Rating: 16 Votes
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b166er
107 months ago
I think it's been pretty well established that the fire is not "competition" to the iPad at this point.

I don't see it happening for all the same reasons the that iPhone screen size has yet to change.
Rating: 15 Votes
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pgiguere1
107 months ago

Since they decided to follow Android with this:

* dual core chips
* 3G phones
* 4G phones
* NFC (coming)
* larger phone screens (coming)
* smaller screens for tablets (coming)


I'm not sure if this is a joke, but what you just listed is hardware and has nothing to do with the OS of the phone. Hardware is always evolving and most of it is not researched/made by the phone manufacturers themselves.

Phones running Android have been having the lead on that kind of things mainly because a new phone is released around every week, because they have different price segments (lower and higher end phones) and because they have to make hardware features selling points given the amount of competing manufacturers offering phones with the same software.

Anybody could predict that quad-core and 5G phones are coming someday. You're not a genius for putting them on the market slightly before the others. They're just numbers and don't change the concept of a phone.
Rating: 7 Votes
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kaizenmx
107 months ago

Since they decided to follow Android with this:

* dual core chips
* 3G phones
* 4G phones
* NFC (coming)
* larger phone screens (coming)
* smaller screens for tablets (coming)[COLOR="#808080"]

Apple following Android trends? These apple drones will have a field day.

:D:D:D
Rating: 5 Votes
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gjd1859
107 months ago
iPad 3 will be launched for what iPad 2 retails for right now (about $499) and iPad 2 will go on sale after launch for about $299 to compete with the prices of Amazon Kindle Fire and Nook.

iPad 3: Retina display, Siri, tweaked look ;)
Rating: 5 Votes
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DouchGod
107 months ago
The only thing that makes this rumour seem feasible is the fact that the screen resolution is the same, this makes all the apps compatible.
Rating: 5 Votes
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kdarling
107 months ago

I never understood why some people think that just because THEY personally don't see a need for something ......it shouldn't exist.


Plus there are some people who haven't been around long enough to know that when Jobs said he didn't like 7" tablets, it simply meant that Apple wasn't selling one at the time. He was the ultimate focused salesman.

He was infamous for putting something down as unnecessary or undesirable until the very second that Apple had it, at which time it suddenly became a magical thing. Intel CPUs, video iPods, MMS, 3G, multitasking, third party apps, etc.
Rating: 4 Votes
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NickFalk
107 months ago

Since they decided to follow Android with this:

* dual core chips
* 3G phones
* 4G phones
* NFC (coming)
* larger phone screens (coming)
* smaller screens for tablets (coming)

----------



Nobody is buying Kindle Fire for book reading

Dual Core chips is simply the natural evolution of technology. It's not like the public at large where screaming: "We want dual core chips" or anything, just that the price/production-capacity reached a poitn where it simply made more sense going for these rather than the singel core chips. And guess what, in a few years there will be even more cores, and it has nothing to do with trends.

Your next three points are mobile standards and has again very little to do with trends or Android specifically.

The last two might be considered trends, and Apple has still to make a move to follow these trends... :rolleyes:
Rating: 4 Votes
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cvaldes
107 months ago

Like I said, these sources are from Chinese suppliers. These rumors are not coming out of the lab in Cupertino.

arn

No, the rumors are coming from an Asian tech publication purportedly relaying information from suppliers. Both have reasons to "leak" such information: the former for page views, the latter for stock price inflation.

Digitimes' track record is highly suspect, so I'm guessing that they are doing it to promote page views.

We've heard rumors of non-standard size iPhones and iPads for years from the "supplier chain." This is business as usual: nothing believable. Especially because the source is Digitimes.
Rating: 4 Votes

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