Rumors of an Apple iPad Mini

Credit: Y! Tech.com

There’s a strong rumor on the Internet that Apple is preparing the launch of a smaller iPad sometime in October, just in time for the year’s end holidays.  Speculations are that the name of the new gadget is the iPad Mini.  Apple is aiming at the lucrative market of small tablets where Amazon and Barnes & Nobles are having a huge success.  As the Amazon Kindle Fire steals the budget tablet show and with more small, cheap tablets coming all the time, such as the Google Nexus 7, Apple may well want a piece of the action.

The latest sign comes from the Wall Street Journal, which reports that an iPad with a 7.85-inch display is in mass production even as we speak.  The smaller iPad would likely have the same screen resolution and aspect ratio as the original iPad, at 1024-by-768, which means it should support all existing iPad apps.

The smaller iPad would likely be wider and slightly taller than the competition, but its display wouldn’t be as sharp.  be about the same as the A5X chip in the new iPad, but without the extra graphics punch needed for a Retina display. There’s some speculation that the smaller iPad would have 512 MB of RAM, just like the iPad 2.

It’s highly expected the new iPad Mini will run iOS 6. It’ll have the App Store, movies and music from iTunes, and iBooks. This would be the least surprising element of the iPad Mini, but also its strongest selling point compared to other tablets, whose tablet app selections are smaller.

Pundits are betting that the estimated price is somewhere around $300 for a basic model, which makes for a $100 step down from the full-sized iPad 2. That leaves some breathing room for cheaper competition, but allows Apple to grab some of the market while maintaining a healthy profit.

The rumor mill is saying that Apple may send out press conference invites on October 10, make the announcement on October 17 and launch the product on November 2. If mini iPads are in production now, they’ll surely be ready to roll this holiday season.  That sounds very reasonable if you ask me.  December is the month where businesses either sink or swim, if you know what I mean.

News has broken suggesting that Foxconn, the only manufacturer of iPads, has lost between 50 and 60 percent of iPad Mini production to Chinese manufacturer Pegatron. This could signal production of the pint-sized tablet getting stepped up as Apple looks to launch the device in October or November.

I would love to see a new iPad Mini come to market, since it would certainly give Amazon and other competitors a run for their money plus it would be intriguing to see what Apple would do with the smaller format.  I’m disappointed that Amazon restricted content for the Kindle Fire for residents outside of the U.S., this illogical policy made a lot of customers living abroad less eager to buy the gadget.  It it weren’t for this problem, Amazon would be a strong contender to the new Apple iPad Mini.  Perhaps we could be on the verge of an opening of Amazon’s policy and could enjoy the goodies of the American market.

Since I don’t have a crystal ball, I’ll just have to wait and see what happens.  Adieux.

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