Complete iPad Mini Rumor Roundup

FreddyOctober 18, 20120

With Apple’s big event just a week away, everyone is talking about the iPad mini, and what we can expect to see next Tuesday. Since the idea of an iPad mini has been floating around for quite a while now, there are quite a few rumors to pick through. With all of the info, a pretty good idea of what to expect from the iPad mini seems to be forming.

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Screen
Obviously, the iPad mini will feature a smaller screen than the iPad’s 9.7 inch screen, and most sources have estimated the screen size at 7.85 inches. Much of the fuel for this rumor came from the Apple v. Samsung trials, where internal emails were revealed that showed that Apple executives were interested in the 7 inch screen on the Galaxy Tab.
It is still up in the air at this point as to what sort of resolution we will be seeing on this device, although it would hardly seem Apple-like to not have a retina display on their newest device. The Verge points out, however, that the retina display caused some issues for the new iPad.

It’s worth questioning how viable a Retina display would be in the iPad mini. The new iPad required a beefed-up A5X processor as well as a huge increase in battery power to drive its display (and LTE capability), and Apple was forced to increase the device’s thickness and weight from the iPad 2.

The smaller screen will still have a 4:3 ratio, the same as the current iPad, so it is possible that developers wont be needing to adjust their apps to another screen resolution, something that is becoming more and more of a concern with all the different aspect ratios being introduced recently.

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Externals
At this point, the iPad mini is expected to share much of the same design as the current iPad in terms of look and feel, although we should be seeing a lightning connector instead of the old 30-pin version. Clearly, since it this iPad mini, Apple will be focusing on reducing size in every way possible, so it is also believed that the iPad mini will be extremely thin, more so than the current iPad by far.
Cameras will most likey be the same as we have seen before, with front and rear facing “FaceTime” cameras, as has become standard on all of Apple’s iDevices.

Internals
The drawback of a smaller device is that there isn’t as much room for the most powerful processors or batteries that power devices like the new iPad. Fortunately, one of the biggest power drains is the screen, which scales down proportionally with the device. According to Marco Arment, the iPad mini’s processor is surprisingly expected to be the same A5 processor as the iPad 2, in the interest of reducing cost.
Like the iPad, the iPad mini is rumored to come in two models, a purely Wi-Fi version, and one with cellular connection. The cellular is planned to be 4G LTE, a brand new feature added with the iPhone 5 this summer. Apple rarely backpedals with introducing new technologies, so it is a safe bet that we will be seeing this on the 23rd.

Pricing
The price of this new device is probably the most debated aspect of it. The most conclusive evidence so far is the European pricing grid for the iPad mini that was leaked, but there was no final verdict about whether or not the report was to be trusted. MacRumors puts the price of the new device at $249-$299, about half as expensive as the lowest model of iPad currently. This big drop in price is mainly to compete with the manufacturers of smaller tablets such as the Kindle Fire.

Models
A screenshot from an European retailer showed a listing of all the various models that will hopefully be seen next week, and it looks like a pretty standard lineup. The sizes range from 8GB to 64GB, and have both black and white models. The pricing in this shot is similar to what was suggested previously, with prices from $250 to $650 for the highest end model.
That basically sums up all the major rumors of the iPad mini, and we will know once and for all which of these are fact this Tuesday, October 23rd. Come back here for our comprehensive coverage of the event!