“It now seems almost inevitable that Apple will unveil the iPad’s little brother at an event rumored to be held October 23,” Adrian Kingsley-Hughes writes for Forbes. “The petite tablet, widely expected to be called the iPad mini and feature a 7.85-inch display, has been one of the most rumored and speculated products.”
“But the $65,000 question — since we’re dealing with Apple maybe we need to add a few more zeros to that number — is whether people will buy it?” Kingsley-Hughes wonders. “The answer to this is likely to be an overwhelming yes. After all, we’ve not really seen Apple trip over its shoe laces for a long time. About the only product the company has released over the past few years that hasn’t been a wildfire success is the Apple TV set-top box.”
MacDailyNews Note: Apple TV outsold Xbox 360 in Q212. Apple is the world’s leading set top connected TV box vendor.
Kingsley-Hughes writes, “So, what would make you interested enough in an iPad mini to buy one on launch day? And what would it take for you to queue up to be one of the first to get your hands on one?”
Read more in the full article here.
Related articles:
Apple’s 7.85-inch ‘iPad mini’ may start at just $249 – October 15, 2012
Reuters: Apple to host October 23 event, ‘iPad mini’ expected – October 13, 2012
I will not under any circumstances buy an iPad mini.
It will be Xmas season and I will need at least 3!
The big and in my mind only selling point for an iPad Mini would be the introduction of some sort of e-ink/LCD display blend that maximizes the functionality in all light conditions. At that point is competes only against e-ink readers like the Paperwhite and with the increased color quality of an LCD-like display along with being viewable in bright light it could compete, even against the lower price point of Kindle! This technology has been under development for some time by many manufacturers (Qualcomm’s Mirasol and Apple’s own patent applications for example) but the window of claiming immediate dominance inspite of price is fast going to close.
I wonder how many at Apple are laughing at the foregone conclusion that there is an event announced by everyone but Apple for Oct 23rd? Why don’t you all wait with the tea leaves for when/if they really do announce this event?
If I was Tim Cook I would put the thing off until January just to stick it to all the rabid gabby soothsayers.
“Uh, we never said Oct 23rd…(audibly laughing to himself).”
I actually agree with you there. I don’t believe a new announcement is forthcoming on this front. If fundementally new functionality isn’t ready, I don’t see them bringing anything up…
I’ve got an iPad 3rd gen and and iPhone 5 . . . my wife will soon have an iPhone 5 and all of my kids have iPod touches.
I don’t see it happening at my house right now, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t millions of other homes who either don’t have the iPad or the touches. It might be perfect for them.
Why a mini, quite glad with my iPod Touch 5 and iPad 3?
Because it’s not all about you.
I have been waiting for an Apple version of Kindle since its first clunky iteration appeared, which when I saw it, I said “neat idea” too bad Apple didn’t design it. Whatever else it does, I will buy it as an eReader alone. 32-64GB should allow what remains of my lifetime reading list to be at my finger tips everywhere I go.
Those who see no need for it are sadly lacking in imagination.
NO! Waiting on the next iMac release to replace my aging iMac and getting flustered by the moment… C’mon Apple, baby needs a new Mac.
Yes, but for a specialized application — as a two-way universal remote control for audio/video and home automation. It seems to be the perfect sized device for this purpose.
size matters and YES I would buy one – I have other friends that would by one now cuz of the size even though they don’t have an iPad yet.
first off, my answer is NO. the price point is failed. it’s comfirmed that 8GB will be $249. amazon, google are only $199 with better hardware spec. ipad mini is just failed. you’d better buy 10 inch new ipad. there is no reason to buy ipad mini.
Right now everyone is assuming the iPad mini will have roughly the same specs as the iPad 2. One thing will definitely be different; the screen. It wouldn’t surprise me if Apple puts an in-cell touch display in the iPad mini. That would help it to be ultra thin. Unless Apple goes Retina with the iPad mini (probably not) the Kindle Fire HD will have a sharper screen.
The Nexus 7’s screen is the same resolution as the Kindle Fire HD 7, but the in depth comparisons show the Nexus 7’s screen does not have the same picture quality or color accuracy.
Besides that, I don’t see what hardware specs the Nexus 7 or Kindle Fire HD have that the iPad mini won’t. In fact, the iPad mini will almost definitely have hardware that the others don’t, like rear camera, gyros, accelerometer, digital compass, longer battery life, optional LTE, etc.
The consensus seems to be that the Kindle Fire HD is better than the Nexus 7, but like the Android framework it is based on the Kindle Fire HD is laggy and apps load slowly. The iPad 2 still has a faster browser than the Kindle Fire HD.
All in all the iPad 2 will be a much better overall experience, even if it is just a shrunken iPad 2. The iPad mini won’t be quite as cheap as the others, but it will have better usability, TONS more apps (not to mention much higher quality apps), lighter, thinner, higher storage options, LTE options.
It won’t appeal to everyone, but I believe it will be a compelling product for many. But, we should really wait for the announcement before making blanket statements about “failed”. 😀
edward is a troll. Don’t feed him please.
I have to carry a lot of stuff to my worksites, and I will appreciate the smaller size.
I will order mine as soon as they let me.
Already have an iMac, iPad3, & iPhone5 so there’s absolutely no reason to want or use a mini…UNLESS, it had a GPS chip that would work without phone carrier connection. My Garmin is getting old needs paid map updates, plus a bigger screen size would be sweet.
Supposedly this shows the options and prices.
http://www.cultofmac.com/195936/an-8gb-ipad-mini-will-cost-you-249-in-black-or-white-lte-models-start-at-549/
The Cellular version will have GPS built in, but there is also a way to get it with the wifi version. When you tether an iPad to an iPhone (either wifi or Bluetooth) it automatically uses the GPS in the iPhone. Just like if the iPad had GPS built in.
I just want a pod with 128 gig or more. These gadgets are great but storage is still small for what they do.
Make it so it’ll run myncarvstereo.
Yes. For Thank You gifts for two instructors.
If it does exist for $250, I’m it because it will complement the Apple TV as a dedicated “apple” app remote (which solves the problem of the key board or lack there of), also with “airplay” it will be a nobrainer to couch surf…