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iPad Mini Could Retail For $250, Delete iPad 2

Posted by timothy on from the layers-of-hypotheticals dept.

Nerval's Lobster writes "If the Apple rumor mill proves correct, the unveiling of the iPad Mini this week could mean sayonara for the iPad 2. At least, that's the prediction of Evercore Partners analyst Rob Cihra, who wrote in a recent note to investors that he believes Apple will remove the iPad 2 from its lineup to make room for a smaller tablet. Apple insider excerpted parts of Cihra's note Oct. 19. Of course, that's just one analyst speculating about the future plans of a company known for playing things close to the proverbial vest: Apple's Oct. 23 event in California could feature all sorts of surprises. So what do we know about the iPad Mini? First, that it might not be called the iPad Mini — that's a moniker dreamed up by the press. Second, a cheaper and smaller iPad could impact the market for e-readers and 'price-sensitive users,' according to J.P. Morgan analyst Mark Moskowitz, which in turn could mean a challenging future for Amazon, Google, and other IT vendors marketing cheaper tablets. Third, the media—driven by unnamed sources and blurry spy photos—seems to have collectively settled on a 7.85-inch screen without a high-resolution Retina Display."

30 of 211 comments (clear)

  1. It's been a cyclic fad. by Medievalist · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Tablet fads have come and gone... the iPad has actually done really well this time around, but I remember how the 486 tablets (that did all the same stuff at much lower resolution) were going to make PCs obsolete... sure they did.

    Due to e-readers, I think this time around tablets might actually settle into a durable niche of their own. But a lot of people (such as myself) will never really have a use for one.

    1. Re:It's been a cyclic fad. by kiriath · · Score: 2

      Uhh, *you* may not be able to type on a tablet quickly, but I can bust out some verbage with decent speed. Certainly well enough that I don't feel the need to go hunting for a 'physical' keyboard.

      I doubt seriously this is a 'cyclic fad', they may not replace Desktop computers in whole, but there is a market and its not going away anytime soon.

    2. Re:It's been a cyclic fad. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Sorry, you're wrong. Old tablets sucked, hard. Current tablets (of both kinds) do 95% of what everyone wants to do everywhere but work, and they do it well.

      Netbooks fell out of favor because a better device came along that did what they do, far better. No such option exists to replace tablets. They're not going anywhere, any time soon.

    3. Re:It's been a cyclic fad. by Missing.Matter · · Score: 5, Insightful

      True you can't type as fast on a tablet, so if that's all you wanted to do on a tablet they would indeed be useless. But drawing and writing on a tablet is certainly much more comfortable than on a desktop or a laptop. Tablets can also be used more conveniently on planes, the subway, while standing, or any number of places using a laptop or desktop is awkward. They can be passed around a room easily or turned around shown to a group. There are many use-cases for this form factor advantage. Touch interfaces are also more natural for many people. My 90 year old grandmother who's never used a computer in her life can use an iPad, because the interface and gestures are 1:1 with her movements, unlike a mouse (ever try explaining the difference between left-click, double click, and right click, and when to use each to someone completely new to computers?)

      For the foregoing reasons, I don't see tablets as a fad anymore. They died before for technological reasons such as insufficient computational power, insufficient battery, terrible low resolution restive touch screens, and insane prices. This time around all the sweet spots seem to be met. For a long time tablets have been about consuming media, but I think as the touch interfaces mature we'll see the use cases expand. Just because they don't fit into your life doesn't mean they don't fit into anyone else's.

    4. Re:It's been a cyclic fad. by monkeyhybrid · · Score: 2

      Most of the people I know who have a tablet, use it primarily for media consumption and typing speed is not really of much importance. Having said that, I can tap out emails and the like at a reasonable rate - I'd estimate something like 50ish words per minute. That's using the replacement Android keyboard, Hackers Keyboard, which I thoroughly recommend for most power users (gives you a normal qwerty layout with shift, ctrl, etc., buttons where you'd expect them to be).

      If you think we're on the tail end of any fad though, you're very mistaken. Touch screen devices are the future of computing for most people's needs. PCs will be for power users, developers, office use, hardcore gaming, etc, but for what 95% of consumers do, a tablet is a perfect fit.

    5. Re:It's been a cyclic fad. by XxtraLarGe · · Score: 4, Informative

      Tablet fads have come and gone... the iPad has actually done really well this time around, but I remember how the 486 tablets (that did all the same stuff at much lower resolution) were going to make PCs obsolete... sure they did.

      It's not for people like you and me. It's for people like my wife. She enjoys sitting in her chair and knitting while watching TV. Now she doesn't need to bump me off of the main computer in order to look up a pattern, she can pull it up while sitting in her chair, and she doesn't have to print it either. She also uses it for a camera. This weekend, an owl landed on the neighbor's porch, she was able to snap a photo and e-mail it, all without having to touch the computer. Perfect for her, and works well for me too.

      --
      Taking guns away from the 99% gives the 1% 100% of the power.
    6. Re:It's been a cyclic fad. by ToadProphet · · Score: 2

      That's likely because you use a computer to create some sort of content outside of work. I'd say the majority of people no longer fall under this category - most are almost purely content consumers, with the occasional email or facebook update. For them, the tablet is perfect - easy to use and carry around.

      The 486 tablets came at a time when most folks using a computer outside of work were creating content, gaming, etc. The market simply wasn't there.

      --
      It's on America's tortured brow, That Mickey Mouse has grown up a cow
    7. Re:It's been a cyclic fad. by robthebloke · · Score: 2

      Hush now whipper snapper! I use a netbook on my commute. Having clicky keys is very handy when you've actually learnt how to touch type. Touch screen keyboards simply do not offer any feedback whatsoever - it is simply impossible to feel your way across the keyboard at night (and since it's dark now when I leave the office, this is actually very important!). I can encrypt the hard drive (useful for the many gigs of company source code & data on it). I can easily log into the renderfarm at work via SSH/VPN. I can run the same dev environment as I use at work (CentOS & usual g++ toolset). I can use a "proper" text editor (you know, one you can set up macros, custom syntax highlighting, auto-correct, etc). In short, I can do everything on it that I ever need to do on a computer. (Oh, and it has 4Gb ram, a 750Gb hard drive, and an Nvidia ION GPU for full OpenGL 3.3 support). I have a smartphone if I need tablet functionality (which actually I don't. I need it as a phone!).

    8. Re:It's been a cyclic fad. by GospelHead821 · · Score: 2

      I'm just curious regarding your opinion of netbooks. You say that a better device came along. What device would that be? I'm very happy with my netbook less as a portable media machine and more as an ultralight writing desk. It is a handy platform for keeping all of my writing in one place: essays, speeches for my Toastmasters club, short stories, and my unfinished NaNoWriMo attempts.

      I suspect that the better device[s] to which you're referring are the tablets that followed the netbooks. They're superiour media platforms but for light, mobile productivity, they aren't even really trying. I don't think that all the hype that netbooks generated was merited but I think that there will remain a modest market for devices that are legitimate laptops but low-power, light-weight, and inexpensive.

      --
      Virtue finds and chooses the mean.
      Aristotle, Ethica Nichomachea
    9. Re:It's been a cyclic fad. by Samantha+Wright · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Your lack of cynicism is refreshing. Repeat after me: "we geeks are (almost) alone in our desire to have productive potrable devices, and everyone else just consumes, perhaps with the occasional e-mail or trip to Facebook."

      --
      Bio questions? Ask me to start a Q&A journal. Computer analogies available for most topics!
    10. Re:It's been a cyclic fad. by blind+biker · · Score: 4, Informative

      Uhh, *you* may not be able to type on a tablet quickly, but I can bust out some verbage with decent speed. Certainly well enough that I don't feel the need to go hunting for a 'physical' keyboard.

      For a very arbitrary definition of "decent". The fact remains that you will never be able to match the typing speed achieved on a keyboard, even with limited travel, when typing on a tablet's screen.

      Not to mention that, when typing on a screen, you must keep your eyes on that "keyboard" like a fucking moron. I haven't looked at my keyboard in decades, because I clearly feel where the keys are.

      --
      "The agriculture ministry is not in charge of Gundam" - Japanese ministry official.
    11. Re:It's been a cyclic fad. by kiriath · · Score: 2

      As with anything if you do it enough you'll get a 'feel' for where everything is. I don't look at the keyboard intently when typing, though it is difficult not to see it at all because oddly enough it is right there on the screen.

      The fact remains that, moderate typing speed discrepancy aside, they are not a fad and they're not going away anytime soon. The fact that PC speeds haven't dramatically increased in the past couple of years leads me to believe that companies will want to pour more R&D into areas where the market is moving, with very fast PC's readily available and relatively inexpensive (not to mention longer lasting now) people are spending their gadget dollars on other things, like tablets. That all being said this 'go-round' with tablets seems to me to be much more successful than previous iterations of the 'tablet'.

      It may have been a fad in the past, but these days the tablet is making headway and I seriously doubt the PC community will pull together anything that could compete with the tablet.

    12. Re:It's been a cyclic fad. by Lumpy · · Score: 2

      Old tablets did not suck. it was the craptastic OS and apps that sucked.

      Honestly Windows Tablet editions all have been utter crap even to this day.

      --
      Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
    13. Re:It's been a cyclic fad. by PlusFiveTroll · · Score: 2

      This. Here.

      Microsoft did a great job of making tablets suck. So much so a market never developed. Apple came along and made a bigger more computing useful iphone and it took off. Android works well enough that I've seen many businesses use it in applications that a tablet is useful. Microsoft is still trying to jam Windows on a tablet and wondering why it fails.

    14. Re:It's been a cyclic fad. by Tough+Love · · Score: 3, Insightful

      The fact remains that, moderate typing speed discrepancy aside...

      Sorry, no, it's not a moderate typing speed discrepancy, it's a massive discrepancy, a factor of 3 at best and more like 10 in practice. Plus, typing on a touchscreen is an ergonomic horror. If you do it hours over a long period of time, bad things are going to happen to your eyes, hands and skeleton.

      The only possible way a tablet can displace a PC for typing intensive applications is with an actual keyboard.

      --
      When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
    15. Re:It's been a cyclic fad. by mattack2 · · Score: 2

      For a very arbitrary definition of "decent". The fact remains that you will never be able to match the typing speed achieved on a keyboard, even with limited travel, when typing on a tablet's screen.

      I bet you can't type on a Blackberry keyboard as fast as a desktop computer keyboard either.

      So what? Different interfaces have different "limitations", if you want to call it that. I suspect most people aren't typing so much at one time that they need to be able to type entire novels quickly. (Of course they also have other benefits.)

  2. Macrumors shows $329 as the base price. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    $250 would be nice but it's probably $329.

    http://www.macrumors.com/2012/10/20/ipad-mini-pricing-to-begin-at-approximately-329/

    1. Re:Macrumors shows $329 as the base price. by MCSEBear · · Score: 4, Informative

      AC parent is correct.

      One of the blogs with an inside source and a proven track record for nailing what is to come in recent Apple announcements, 9 to 5 Mac, has also come out and said the starting price will be $329.

      Read for yourself.

      Sadly, a $250 price point seems to be wishful thinking. Apple isn't going to pull a Google and sell things anywhere near break even.

  3. What about iPod touch by Missing.Matter · · Score: 4, Interesting

    It seems strange to pay less for a 7" iPad mini than a 3" iPod touch.

    1. Re:What about iPod touch by spire3661 · · Score: 2

      Slotting an ipad between them immediatly exposes the GROSS overcharging for the 5th gen ipod touch.

      --
      Good-bye
  4. Nexi by the+eric+conspiracy · · Score: 5, Interesting

    It looks like Google will be adding some models next week - Nexus 10, with an extremely high resolution screen for less than $300. And a Nexus 7 32G with the price of the original Nexus 7 dropping to about $160.

    Some new Nexus phones too.

    I have a Nexus Galaxy phone that I bought from Google and use on a prepaid plan. It's a nice unlocked choice without the junk the phone company loads on your phone, and the prepaid aspect gives me a lot of flexibility.

    1. Re:Nexi by squiggleslash · · Score: 2

      I suppose this text didn't appear in the summary then:

      Second, a cheaper and smaller iPad could impact the market for e-readers and 'price-sensitive users,' according to J.P. Morgan analyst Mark Moskowitz, which in turn could mean a challenging future for Amazon, Google, and other IT vendors marketing cheaper tablets.

      I think we can safely suggest that the GP was on-topic given his comments clearly related to TFS.

      --
      You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
    2. Re:Nexi by JDG1980 · · Score: 2

      It looks like Google will be adding some models next week - Nexus 10, with an extremely high resolution screen for less than $300

      The current word is that the Google/Samsung joint venture tablet will have a 2560x1600 screen resolution. Awesome if true, but I can't imagine them getting that out at a $300 price point. More likely it will be the same price as the iPad 3 (starting at $499). Even so, it will probably restore competitiveness at the high end of the tablet market, which is a good thing.

  5. Re:so... by Applekid · · Score: 2

    So after all the "bigger screen, MOAR PIXELZ!!!!1!!!" ad campaign for the new iPhone, they made this one lower res and smaller and rebooted old technology. I didn't know Apple customers' top 3 wanted features were decrementing the version number, less pixels, and a smaller viewing area.

    It's clearly a stopgap measure. Apple needs to get a "Goldilocks" product to keep someone else from owning that size profile and eroding their market share in smaller and larger formats.

    The best engineering will be in both the iPad and the iPhone: best battery life, best display, etc. This mid-size is a compromise of the two, and won't really excel at anything in particular. If it ever does, it will be because of functionality that will be held back from being released on other sizes. Maybe external storage? Maybe two cameras for 3D? Maybe some software tweak that won't be made available? It's obviously only conjecture: it really doesn't make too much sense to me.

    Apple is clearly run by a bean counter these days, so, minus the big-picture drawn by Jobs, they're just paying attention to their competitors. Too much attention, methinks.

    --
    More Twoson than Cupertino
  6. Re:Price sensitive users huh by the+eric+conspiracy · · Score: 3, Insightful

    > why anyone would get an ipad for ebook reading

    How about not having your content deleted and your reader bricked at the whim of your corporate owner?

    http://www.bekkelund.net/2012/10/22/outlawed-by-amazon-drm/

  7. Re:Smaller? I want bigger. by WillAdams · · Score: 2

    Blowing mod points...

    First device in that space for this season is Sony's Tap 20:

    http://www.pcworld.com/article/2011644/sony-tap-20-review-a-windows-8-all-in-one-thats-also-a-humongous-tablet.html

    20" 1600 x 900 pixel display.

    William

    --
    Sphinx of black quartz, judge my vow.
  8. Oh, come on! by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The event is freaking TOMORROW. What's the point in posting an article today that speculates what the price of the iPad Mini might be? We'll actually know tomorrow - no speculation involved!

    --
    #DeleteChrome
  9. So what do we know about the iPad Mini? by DerekLyons · · Score: 2

    So what do we know about the iPad Mini?

    Absolutely nothing - the iPad mini (and it's specs and costs) are complete fabrications by "journalists" and "analysts" who have to churn out so many words per day to justify their existence.

  10. It's 'dollars', Biff. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    Are you Biff from Back To The Future?

    It's 'dollars', you idiot. The expression is "more dollars than sense."

    It's a pun.

  11. Re:You're looking at the keyboard anyway! by PeanutButterBreath · · Score: 2

    You don't need to be able to touch-type because you're looking at the keyboard anyway!

    Which means you can not be tracking your input in real time, or observing whatever it is you are typing about, etc.

    If looking at the keyboard while typing was desirable, touch typing would never have become the standard of competent keyboard input.