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Product Listing Suggests Retina iPad Mini Could Launch on November 21

Wednesday October 30, 2013 8:02 pm PDT by Juli Clover

A product listing for the Retina iPad mini with a release date of November 21 has appeared on Target.com, suggesting Apple's new tablet could make its debut on the Thursday before Thanksgiving. Thus far, Apple has not provided a prospective release date for its iPad mini with Retina Display, offering up only broad November launch plans.

retina_ipad_mini_space_gray_silver

While the November 21 launch date listed on the Target website could be a simple guess by the company, it is a logical release day for the tablet because it falls before Thanksgiving and more importantly, before Black Friday, which is a major shopping holiday in the United States.

A late November launch also gives Apple an opportunity to focus its attention on the iPad Air for the majority of the month. It is unclear, however, why Apple would choose to launch the Retina mini on a Thursday, as product releases typically fall on a Friday.

target_retina_ipad_mini_nov21

Apple's Retina iPad mini, which includes an A7 processor, is said to be in very short supply. According to a recent report, stock of the Retina iPad mini will be "ridiculously tight" until early 2014.

Though supplies of the Retina mini will be low, Apple is said to have a large quantity of iPad Airs available for purchase, which will likely alleviate some of the demand for the smaller tablet. Apple's iPad Air will go on sale this Friday, with online orders beginning at 12:01 AM in the United States and at varying times in other countries.

(Thanks, Tony!)

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Top Rated Comments

(View all)

cababah

67 months ago

There is no official word. There many well educated guesses, all pointing to the same answer: 1mb

Ouch. Definitely getting the Air then. It has 1000x more RAM :)

Rating: 14 Votes

gooberwilson

67 months ago

Thanks Target for that information! :cool:

Rating: 7 Votes

SmileyBlast!

67 months ago

if mini doesn't have 1gb of ram, then I'm going back to full sized ipad

I think all the specs for the iPad Mini and the iPad Air are supposed to be identical except for the product size.

Rating: 5 Votes

ipedro

67 months ago

It's been a hard choice but I think that the easiest way to differentiate the iPad Air from the iPad mini has been obvious all along. Focus on your main use.

Mostly using it for consumption stuff like browsing, reading books, light app use? iPad mini is more portable, easier to hold longer and carry around. Using an iPad for work, need to type often or draw on its screen? The larger screen on the iPad Air is better for work, specially if you plan on using it as a laptop replacement.

Content consumption versus production is the key to the choice between the Air versus the mini. It's not a flawless method but it's very useful.

I've replaced my MacBookPro 17" with a top spec iMac 27" and was looking at a MacBookAir for mobile use but have held off because of a hunch that the iPad would get powerful enough by this generation to run desktop class apps. I wasn't wrong: iLife and iWork are now featured matched to the Mac, Logic has its companion app and Aperture is a good candidate for one as well. I think that an iPad Air can fulfill the role of a MacBookAir for most practical purposes.

So iPad Air it is for me. Friday! :)

Rating: 5 Votes

kycophpd

67 months ago

I am actually switching from a mini to an air for this release cycle. I love my mini but I have always said an 'in between' would be perfect for me. So I am picking up an iPad Air Friday. If it is still too big for my needs, my wife will hopefully appreciate her Christmas present of a nice slightly used Air! The delay of the release helped push me over the edge into trying this new slimmer model.

Rating: 4 Votes

ipedro

67 months ago

iPad is a consumption device plain and simple. (...)
The Air is great, but not for productivity!

Tell that to all the doctors, farmers, airline pilots, on site engineers, photographers, musicians, store/cafe/restaurant/food truck/name-a-small-business owners who depend on iPads to make their work easier and better performing each and every day.

iPads have grown to replace laptops for many professionals. If there are outdated websites that don't run on webkit, then they either need to catch up or find themselves replaced by competing products.

As a photographer, I will use an iPad in the studio in a client's hands as I shoot so they can see the results instantly and make suggestions. I will use an iPad in the field, making quick edits for use on my client's social media and for backing JPGs to my Dropbox. If Aperture X does for iPad what Logic X did, in the studio, I will use an iPad to quickly control the heads up display sliders and curve graphs via touch to make it so much faster to optimize a photograph.

Consumption device my ass. :rolleyes: