It’s been rumored for many months that Apple will release a smaller ‘iPad Mini’ to compete with cheaper Android tablets and devices like the Kindle Fire.
After Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal reported that Apple is indeed working on a smaller version of its popular iPad tablet, a fresh report from Japanese blog Macotakara reveals some more alleged details about the forthcoming device.
Apple has already conquered the world of PCs, mobile phones, tablets, and soon, television. But Steve Jobs had aspirations of dominating more than just the world of computers, and on our newest CultCast, we’ll tell you where we’d love to see Apple head next.
And then: we’ve been iffy on ever seeing an iPad Mini, but we now have reason to believe that the mystical device will indeed see the light of day. Don’t buy that Kindle Fire just yet!
All that and more on The CultCast. Go on and hit the ‘ol subscribe button here, or download Apple’s brilliant new Podcasts app and effortlessly stream The CultCast whenever you’d like!
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Following yesterday’s report from Bloomberg that revealed Apple plans to release the long-awaited iPad mini this September, a new report from The Wall Street Journal has this morning added even further credence to those claims.
According to “people familiar with the matter,” Apple’s suppliers are preparing for mass production of a new iPad with a display smaller than 8 inches, which is expected to begin in September.
Adding more fuel to the ‘iPad Mini’ fire, a new report from Bloomberg says that Apple is planning to launch a cheaper 7-inch iPad in October. The device will feature a non-Retina 1024×768 display. In theory, the third-gen iPad would still serve as Apple’s premium tablet with a Retina display and faster internals, and the 7-inch iPad would be priced around $200 to compete with tablets like the Kindle Fire and Google Nexus 7.
Until Tim Cook climbs onto the roof of Apple’s Cupertino headquarters and shouts, “we will never build an iPad mini” at the top of his voice, the rumors will continue to circulate. The latest comes from “various analysts” who claim the upcoming iPad mini will feature a 7.85-inch IGZO display from Sharp, and will start at just $249.
DigiTimes reports that Apple’s manufacturing partners in Taiwan are said to be bending over backwards to secure orders for the company’s latest devices by constructing specialized plants that will be dedicated to producing parts and components for the iPad mini and the next-generation iPhone.
Before we read any further into these claims, let me just reveal where they came from: DigiTimes. While the site has published a few accurate reports on upcoming Apple products in the past, most of its rumors are worryingly farfetched.
The latest claims sources in Apple’s supply chain have detailed the Cupertino company’s launch plans for 2012, promising three new iOS devices between now and the end of the year. One of those will, as you’d expect, be the sixth-generation iPhone, but before that, we will see a new, 7-inch iPad.
What’s more, that new iPad you just bought will apparently be replaced by an even newer one during the fourth quarter.
If you’ve ever wanted to know the pros and cons of jailbreaking your iPhone or iPad, episode 9 of The CultCast just hit iTunes, and you’re not going to want to miss our breakdown of everything jailbreak. Interestingly, Apple seems to have covered up the word “Jailbreak” in the show title on iTunes, but you should see the full word when you actually download the show. (Apple can’t have the big bad j*******k word in its iTunes Store, now can it?)
And speaking of iPads, is your new retina-beauty plagued with the same yellow-tinted screen others on the web are experiencing? We’ll tell you what the problem is and what to do about.
All that, iPad mini rumors, and a whole lot more on this week’s CultCast — subscribe now on iTunes!
Apple is reportedly gearing up to launch its much-anticipated “iPad mini” during the third quarter of 2012 in an effort to “counter attack” the upcoming Windows 8 tablets. The 7.85-inch device is expected to cost between $249 and $299, which will also allow it to compete with cheaper Android devices from the likes of Amazon.
We’ve long been in love with Italian design house Ciccarese Design’s incredible renders of upcoming Apple products, and the images they just sent us of what they envision a 7.85-inch iPad mini would look like in the flesh are no exception. No implausible whimsy here: these could just as well be product shots pushed up on Apple’s site the day after the iPad mini is officially announced by Tim Cook later this summer, and really puts the totally usable size of such a device in perspective. Check out some more after the jump.
Rumors of a smaller iPad just won’t die. After months and months of speculation followed by debunking, the idea that Apple release a 7-8-inch iPad still persists.
Well-informed and long-time Apple pundit John Gruber recently dished on the possibility of a 7.85-inch iPad being testing in Apple’s super secret Cupertino labs.
With all of the rumors surrounding the possibility of a 7-inch iPad, a new report suggests that Apple is working on a totally new mobile product for 2013. The mysterious 5-inch device would feature a Retina display.
Oh, Samsung. We know you have a complicated relationship with Apple, building components for them with the one hand, suing with the other. But can’t you stop mouthing off about the components you’re building them about Cupertino’s top-secret upcoming projects? Keep this up and you’re likely to find yourself wearing concrete shoes at the bottom of the local reservoir.
Apple’s latest iPad was not accompanied by the rumored “iPad mini” at its launch event in San Francisco last week. But according to sources in Apple’s supply chain, the smaller tablet is still on the way. One of its features, they claim, will be a slim bezel that will aim to maximize its viewing area.
Apple has officially confirmed that an iPad event is set to take place today, Wednesday, March 7th, at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, California. “We have something you really want to see. And touch,” teases the press invitation.
Months and months of rampant speculation and conspiracy stories have built up to next week’s event, and no one really knows what Apple has planned, other than a new iPad. The Retina display is widely expected to make its way to Apple’s tablet. Will it even be called the iPad 3? Will it be offered at a new price point? Let’s take a look at the rumors and examine what we think we know.
Hype for Apple’s third-generation iPad has reached a fever pitch leading up to tomorrow’s announcement. A whole lot of people are eager to see how Apple will leapfrog the rest of the tablet market yet again.
When we asked Cult of Mac readers if they plan to buy the iPad 3, over 50% of you answered with a resounding yes. A new survey indicates that over 40% of online shoppers in the U.S. also plan to spend their hard earned cash on the next iPad, but they want something from Apple in return: cheaper prices.
The iPad 3 will be officially unveiled just days from now, but the rumor mill is always forward-looking, which means it’s already on its way to being yesterday’s news. What can we expect after the iPad 3? That’s what everyone wants to know now.
If a report from Apple’s best frenemy Samsung is anything to go by, it’ll be the long-rumored iPad mini.
According to a new report from Taiwanese publication Digitimes, Apple is gearing up to produce a 7.85-inch iPad. The rumored device is reportedly set to enter mass production by the third quarter of this year.
With so many rumors surrounding a smaller iPad of late, even the most skeptical amongst us are beginning to believe. The latest reports comes from The Wall Street Journal, which claims Apple and its suppliers are currently testing a new tablet with a smaller screen said to be around eight inches, that will “broaden its product pipeline amid intensifying competition.”
Rumors of an iPad mini have been revived once again today after a Technology Business Research analyst said Apple will launch two new products at its upcoming iPad event. And when we say “new,” we don’t mean a next-generation refresh — we mean something brand new.
Those products are expected to be a new case accessory that features an integrated keyboard (about time!), and a smaller 7-inch iPad.
In a collaboration with Macrumors, CiccareseDesign has produced a papercraft mockup of what the rumored 7.85-inch iPad Mini would look like… and you can even print it out and hold it in your hands yourself.
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.
Remember that supposed iPad Mini flaunted by famous Taiwanese racecar driver Jimmy Lin earlier today? We thought he was holding a fake, but we may have been more right than we knew: according to reader Greg Mills, it’s a Photoshop fake.
When Steve Jobs himself was queried on the possibilities inherent in the seven inch tablet form factor, he replied that they were “dead on arrival” and declared them to be “tweeners: too big to compete with a smartphone and too small to compete with the iPad.”
Despite this, rumors have persisted that 2011 will see the introduction of a 7-inch iPad Mini… and now a famous Taiwanese celebrity and race car driver is claiming to own a prototype.
Steve Jobs’ disdain for the 7-inch tablet form factor embraced by the likes of would-be iPad killers like the Samsung Galaxy Tab couldn’t be any more dripping even if it poured in bilious rivulets out of his open mouth. At the last earnings call, he flat out dismissed them as “DOA – Dead On Arrival.” He even fantasized about customers sanding the meat off of their fingers until only the skeletal bone was left, since “sand[ing] down their fingers to around one-quarter of their present size” is the only way to type comfortably on one.
This contempt seems pretty unequivocal to me, but someone apparently wasn’t paying attention: according to Reuters, Asian manufacturing sources are telling them that Apple is putting together a 7-inch “iPad Mini” for shipment in early 2011.