“I’ve seen a fair bit of speculation that, if Apple produces a 7-inch iOS device, then maybe it would be a bigger iPod Touch, not a smaller iPad,” John Gruber writes for Daring Fireball. “One aspect of this line of thinking is that rather than making on-screen tap targets smaller (and, the worry goes, perhaps too small), a bigger iPod Touch would make tap targets bigger.”
“Whatever the merits of that idea (and I don’t think it has many), that’s not what Apple is doing,” Gruber writes. “For one thing, the rumored device has a very specific screen size: 7.85 inches diagonally, 1024 × 768 pixels. That’s far closer to 8 inches than 7. In fact, it’s closer to 8 inches than the 9.7-inch iPad-as-we-know-it is to 10 inches — so if you want to round to the nearest integer, it would be more accurate to call it an 8-inch iPad than a 7-inch one. Plus, the aspect ratio matches the iPad, not the iPhone/iPod Touch.”
Gruber writes, “For another thing, I and others have heard from Cupertino-area little birdies that what Apple has been working on in the lab is a smaller iPad, not a bigger iPod. Same goes for last week’s reports from Bloomberg and the WSJ… A 7.85-inch iPad display would be about as tall, physically, as the current 9.7-inch iPad display is wide… Take a screenshot on your iPad, then view the screenshot on the iPad but rotate the device. This shrinks the screenshot to fit — almost exactly the same reduction in size as this purported iPad Mini… (If this poor man’s approximation isn’t exact enough for you, earlier today <a href="http://seveneightyfive.fscked.com/" target="_blank"Richard Gaywood put together a web page with iPad screenshots scaled to roughly 81 percent, which, when viewed on an existing iPad, have a diagonal of exactly 7.85 inches.) The exact size of the purported iPad Mini display offers 66 percent of the surface area of a 9.7-inch iPad, not 45 percent [as with 7-inch tablets].”
Much more in the full article here.
I wouldn’t want an iPad the size of a Touch otherwise I would just buy an iPod Touch. The best thing about the iPad is that the screen is big!
Visual: http://yfrog.com/z/h36j2np
That is interesting. The 4/3 aspect ratio looks more usable than the other ones, but I’m still not sure what you would use it for, other than a big ‘ol media remote, maybe.
Gruber is putting the wrong words in others’ mouths, creating his own straw man to knock down.
first, the iPod touch is in fact a tablet, of course. it is in fact Apple’s true “mini” tablet. always has been. the iPod name was a marketing choice, but it’s really nothing like the Nano.
second, those suggesting a larger version of the touch are not talking about 7,” which clearly is too big for the iPhone OS it runs. they’re thinking about a 5″+ model, still pocket sized. and maybe only $50 more than the current touch, = $250.
no matter what, a 7.8″ iPad would still offer a compromised iPad OS. 33% visually smaller everything is NOT better in any way i can think of. and it’s still too big for a pocket. i don’t believe Apple is going to come out with such a compromised “me too” smaller iPad just to keep up with Google et al.
this will be the best test ever of all the Apple rumor people and their “little birdies.” we’ll see.
The 7.85″ iPod mini would be phone shaped.
The 7.85″ iPad mini would be iPad shaped.
The screen on the iPad mini would be 81% the size of the iPad 3, not the 67% you suggest. It will be too big for your pocket but it will play virtually every iPad App flawlessly.
Another Apple hit out of the park.
thanks. but how does being 20% smaller visually improve anything about the iPad OS? it certainly compromises the experience – all the lettering either gets smaller, or you have to scroll/fiddle more to see it at the same size.
the one and only advantage would be a lower price. i don’t think that is a good enough reason for Apple.
think of it this way. if you had a choice between:
– a 7.8″ scaled down iPad @ $300, or
– a 5.5″ scaled up iPod touch @ $250
which would you want? which would be more versatile? more fun? which would be a better Apple TV remote? which would your kids want?
81% is not correct 67% is a lot closer to the size.
This article is well thought out. I have been skeptical of the iPad mini so far, however this has changed my mind. This would be great for education, especially with a low price. It would give people a choice in size, something to keep their thinking on iOS and not Android. It would be bad news for people trying to jump in the market. The low end is taken by Amazon and Google. The high has been a failure, and MS is jumping in that game.
I think women and especially children will eat the new iPad mini up.
Android and Windows 8 (Google and Microsoft), work on your cell phones, the Tablet war will soon be over.
I don’t think women want it smaller. They want it big, real big. They especially want the girth.
I just can’t see a 7.85″ iPad or iPod because it’s not a device that can fit in your pocket or large enough to create the kind of productivity apps.
I keep wondering if the device is a new kind of controller for the rumored AppleTV where the interface is big enough for each touch targets and creating the apps necessary to drive a host of devices and manage their features. The screen would also be big enough to scroll through your various channels and enter in program choices, etc.
This would add a lot of value for a TV unit and solve a lot of complexity in the living room. We have a rats nest of cables behind our TV and we’re constantly looking for our various remotes.
Something is coming and I believe it’s bigger than what we all imagine.
The idea of this product just doesn’t fly. Most of what it will be is the same as the iPad (processor memory ect) cost savings will only come in the form of the screen, so you are going to make big compromises in usability to save $25-50. Most people will go for the iPad.
I’d just like to know who made up this iPad mini rumor and why does it continue to circulate?
Gruber is scared as hell that apple will market this as the iPod. At that point apple will stop the ridiculous comparisons of the tweeners to the iPad.
It’s going to be a 7.85″ iPod touch with a 16:9 screen ratio and use iPhone/iPod apps.
This removes the comparison of the iPad to 7 inch tablet putting it in a class by itself.
Regarding the productivity apps – have those ever caught on in any way? I still regard the iPad as a consumption device with limited email/word processing utility.
If you want to produce – get the large iPad, consume, the small one. Same reason you don’t buy a MacBook air to render video
zzzzz
*rolling onto my other side*
zzzzz