Apple fans have been disappointed that the iPad mini cost $329, while other 7-inch tablets cost significantly less. Phil Schiller defended the price saying consumers will pay for a quality product. He’s right. Apple’s going to sell a gazillion iPad minis, but the reason for it’s higher price tag might have a lot more to do with problems manufacturing the touch screen.
According to Digitimes, Apple’s $329 price tag for the iPad mini is largely due to low yield rates for the device’s GF2 (DITO film) touch screen technology.
Could iPad mini demand mean we’ll have to wait longer for the next iPad?
DigiTimes has a rather poor track record when it comes to Apple rumors, so it’s always best to take its reports with a healthy heap of salt. The latest claims that Apple has informed its suppliers to prepare for a next-generation iPad in “mid-2013.” The Cupertino company has always launched its latest tablet around March, it is expected next year’s model will come slightly later.
The report also claims that Apple is working to reduce the number of LED backlights in the new model in an effort to simplify its manufacturing process.
It seems right now like Apple has a lot of prospective new products on the horizon. The 7.85-inch iPad mini. The 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro. Updated iMacs. Yet despite the fact that all of these products have been highly rumored to debut this month in time of a busy holiday season, we’ve yet to see any of them. Now one report is suggesting a reason why: Apple’s having production problems on both the 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro and iPad mini.
Digitimes, the leading rumor monger in the Apple space
Digitimes has been one of the main sources of Apple rumors over the last several years, but anyone who follows Apple will tell you that the Taiwanese publication is more often wrong than right. While Digitimes will correctly predict something like Apple making 3 variants of the iPad 2 (WiFi, GSM, CDMA), it will also publish a story saying that Apple is bringing micro-projectors to the iPhone.
After being placed under the microscope and heavily scrutinized by Harry McCracken of TIME, Digitimes has issued a statement explaining where its Apple rumors come from, and how the publication will do its best to provide more accurate information in the future.
These chips will end up in Apple devices, despite what DigiTimes reports.
Samsung has reportedly launched its next generation of 20-nanometer mobile memory chips early in a bid to repair the damage caused by a throwaway rumor from DigiTimes that claimed Apple was gearing up to shun Samsung’s DRAM chips in favor of those from Elpida Memory.
Samsung’s share price plummeted by 6% shortly after the rumor began to circulate, costing the Korean company around $10 billion in market value.
We here at Cult of Mac love Apple rumors as much as the next guy, but sometimes it’s helpful to be reminded of the power rumors can wield. Samsung’s market value fell 6% on Wednesday to the tune of a $10 billion nosedive. Why? One silly Apple supply rumor.
New MacBook Pros will look more like the current Airs
Apple apparently already has slimmed-down 13 and 15-inch MacBook Pros in production. The redesigned cases drop the optical drive, but storage will still be plentiful and CPUs will be more powerful than those in the current MacBook Air lineup, say the rumors.
There have been some crazy rumors flying around lately regarding the iPad 3, but now we have a new one that is all about the MacBook Air. According Digitimes (which has a fairly poor track record with Apple rumors), Apple is considering launching a 14-inch MacBook Air specifically for Asian markets, that may enter production fairly soon. Apparently, 14-inch screens are more popular in Asia than they are in other parts of the globe, which is how the publication is justifying the rumor.
If Apple got into the TV set business, they could give cable operators a run for their life, right? Probably, but some observers suggest the tech giant should not try to reinvent the wheel – a broken one at that. Instead, any Apple TV set should be based on Internet streaming, making cable television obsolete.
That’s right — rumors surrounding an “iPad mini” have been resurrected by DigiTimes, which claims Apple is really going to give Amazon’s Kindle Fire something to worry about next year with an 7.85-inch model of it’s hugely successful tablet.
![Apple Reportedly Tells Suppliers To Prepare For Next-Gen iPad In ‘Mid-2013’ [Rumor]](http://cdn.cultofmac.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Screen-Shot-2012-10-16-at-16.11.18.jpg "new-iPad-finger")
![iPad Mini, 13-Inch Retina MacBook Pro Both Delayed By Production Problems [Rumor]](http://cdn.cultofmac.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/ipadmini3.jpg "ipadmini3")
![New Slimline MacBook Pros Already In Production [Rumor]](http://cdn.cultofmac.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/mba-pro.jpeg "mba pro")
![Apple To Take On Kindle Fire With 7.85-Inch ‘iPad Mini’ In Late 2012 [Rumor]](http://cdn.cultofmac.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/ipad_mini_mockup.jpg "ipad_mini_mockup")
