iPad mini

When iMore originally heard that Apple was going ahead with the 7.x-inch iPad and targeting a fall release with a $200 starting price, we also heard that it would be identical to the current iPad, only smaller. That included the interface and the cameras, and potentially the super-dense 2048x1536 Retina display. We've since heard that that Apple could wait on Retina for a future model of the iPad mini.

We've already looked at why Apple would want to release an iPad mini, and how they could implement a 7.85-inch interface. Now let's look at how Apple could handle the iPad mini display -- Retina or otherwise.

Back on March 10, iMore heard that the 7.x-inch iPad was on track for release this fall, starting at $199. Since then, mainstream newspapers have begun reporting likewise, including Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal, and now Nick Bilton and Nick Wingfield at the New York Times.

The company is developing a new tablet with a 7.85-inch screen that is likely to sell for significantly less than the latest $499 iPad, with its 9.7-inch display, according to several people with knowledge of the project who declined to be named discussing confidential plans. The product is expected to be announced this year.

There's been a lot of discussion surrounding why Apple would release an iPad mini, but maybe even more concerning how Apple would go about implementing it. iMore originally heard back in May that the so-called iPad mini would be almost identical to the current 9.7-inch iPad, simply shrunk down to a 7.x-inch form factor. (I'm using 7.x-inch in lieu of a specific size since we haven't heard a specific size yet, but AppAdvice's A.T Faust III made a great case for 7.85 inches, so feel free to substitute that in.)

Some people, designers and end-users alike, feel the iPad interface won't scale down elegantly -- that touch targets will be too small and interface elements will feel too cramped. I've had the same concerns.

With that in mind, it's worthwhile considering the different 7.x-inch options Apple might choose to implement, and the benefits and compromises inherent with each.

Since the spring we've been pretty sure that a $200 7-inch iPad Mini was on the way, and recently additional sources have come to back up our info. Some tipsters within component manufacturing in Asia said the screen would be smaller than 8 inches and should be ready before the end of the year. Apparently Apple told them this week to start preparing for mass production. Other sources say that we may see an announcement in October, but the display won't be the same grade as the new iPad. Luckily, those sources also say that the price point will be a fair bit lower to compete with the Kindle Fire and the Nexus 7.

Back in May, iMore heard that Apple planned to move ahead with a 7-inch iPad this fall at a $200 price point. Stories about a smaller iPad have been around for a while, but as far as I know that was the first time such aggressive pricing got tagged onto them.

The reasons Apple was planning this, we heard, was the same reason they planned and executed on the lower price point iPod mini and iPod nano -- to take the oxygen out of the market. In this case, to leave no room for discount competitors like Amazon and Google.

Some have a hard time believing Apple would enter the low end tablet market. Apple didn't make a netbook and didn't release an iPhone nano. They thought differently and released the MacBook Air and the iPad, and kept around previous generation iPhones instead. Steve Jobs went so far as to say 7 inch tablets were DOA. So Apple couldn't, wouldn't, and shouldn't do an iPad mini, right?

ChangeWave surveyed nearly 3,000 U.S. consumers to see which tablets they would be buying in the next three months, and a whooping 73% said they would be getting an iPad, compared to a  meager 8% of projected Kindle Fire purchases and 6% of those getting a Samsung Galaxy Tab.

What's the easiest way to take a weapon away from a Grammaton Cleric? The answer to that is the answer to a lot of seemingly difficult problems, including, sadly, how to get passwords away from unsuspecting users. Unfortunately, it's not at all a way to get anything away from Apple. Not ever. So we're left with a mix of leaks, speculation, and analysis. We've been trying to avoid the rumor regurgitation lately to focus on some of that analysis. More on that below.