7.85in 'iPad Mini' said to sport retina screen
Like the iPad 3, just smaller
The 7.85in iPad will sport a "retina" display after all, it has been claimed, but will still come in at $200-250 retail.
We've heard rumours before that the so-called 'iPad Mini' will be cheaper than the current, 9.7in model, but thus far all such suggestions have come with the caveat that a low price will mean a low resolution display.
So most folks expect a 1024 x 768 screen like the iPad 2.
Not so, someone told website iMore. It'll be 2048 x 1536, just like the iPad 3. Alas, the site didn't say how its correspondent might know this for sure, so there's no reason to believe a word of it.
The claim could well be merely a guess. Assumption or no, it is a reasonable one. Apple now has a retina iPod Touch, iPhone and iPad - it would seem daft to leave any future iOS devices off the list.
Apple will save money, the mole says, by offering the cheapest, the more pocket-friendly iPad with just 8GB of storage. ®
COMMENTS
Re: Don't start...
Inertia. More than with many other things people don't care that much for the actual exact size of a screen, they just want to know how large or small it is compared to other screens they're familiar with.
Additionally screens happen to come in sizes that are nicely expressed in inches in somewhat comfortable and memorable (low) figures.
It's somehow strange but I'm comfortable with that.
I can just about slip a 7" Playbook into a large coat pocket but it sticks out the top. Not very practical but I've done it a few times.
I think that you would struggle to do that with an iPad because the 4:3 aspect ratio means it's going to be wider than the typical 16:9 or 16:10 format that other devices use. I'm assuming any mini iPad would still be 4:3 but I don't see Apple changing the aspect ratio given that it would screw up every iPad app in existence.
No no no no no no....
It'll be ipad2 based... so the new shrunk processor, cooler and less power hungry, with old res screen, so no big power requirements, = smaller battery.
Essentially ipad (2) mini.
This will then of course also leave apple free to launch the new, improved model in classic apple fashion 6 months later so everyone can buy it again.
Not Plausible
The incremental cost of Flash is tiny compared to the gap in cost between a standard and a retina display with 4x the pixels.
I call BS.
