News - Apple iPad 5 and iPad Mini 2 rumours heat up

[HEXUS]

Gold, silver and space grey finishes, finger print sensor shown in leaked pictures.

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[kingpotnoodle]

Wow sticking their neck out there... the iPad has always followed iPhone with a slightly uprated CPU to match the bigger chassis, and to not include the fingerprint tech would be bizarre at best. 2GB RAM is bare minimum for a flagship product so again not a hard prediction to make... Apple need to keep justifying a £400++ price tag for a 10" ARM tablet.

[csgohan4]

meh, it's nothing special

[sykobee]

A non-retina iPad Mini is going to look poor at the price compared to similar screen sized competition with 1080p displays.

[RussiaForever]

A non-retina iPad Mini is going to look poor at the price compared to similar screen sized competition with 1080p displays.

Ahem, Nexus 7...

[flufflogic]

A non-retina iPad Mini is going to look poor at the price compared to similar screen sized competition with 1080p displays.

Ahem, Nexus 7...

Which is now a 1920 x 1200 display for £200. So, point? A non-Retina iPad is pointless now, and outdone by even some budget tablets. Even Tesco's budget Hudl outperforms the Mini with a 1440 x 900 panel, and that's a £120 impulse buy. If Apple can't step up, they'll lose the market they created.

[crossy]

A non-retina iPad Mini is going to look poor at the price compared to similar screen sized competition with 1080p displays.

Quite true. But, as an iFan was at pains to say to me, the "clone" devices like Nexus 7 can't compete with Apple's "huge" app range. Then again, £50 seems like a hang of a price premium for an arguable app range bonus, but having to accept a lesser hardware spec.

Now, while I can just see the point of the iPad's pricing, the Mini's has always seemed like a rip off - heck, for that price I'd buy a Surface RT without much need for consideration. And as a parent, with Christmas coming, the Nexus is going to be a LOT going to be easier to justify for that gadget obsessed teen. Plus, these days, the draw of the ITMS is a lot less because everyone else (Amazon, Google, etc) have caught up, and it's not that difficult to sync an iTunes library to a non-Apple device.

[EverybodyelsE]

Oh no! Champaign Gold?!! Reminds me of that tacky gold hi-fi we had in the 90's!

[burble]

If Apple can't step up, they'll lose the market they created.

I'm not sure that's the case. People tend to by an iPad (mini or otherwise) because they want an iPad, not because they want a tablet, it's usually specifically an iPad they want.

I do think it'll be crazy for them to not release a retina equipped iPad mini though, I am tempted with a Mini but the screen of the current one looks so poor compared to a retina iPad that I didn't and won't buy one.

[crossy]

I'm not sure that's the case. People tend to by an iPad (mini or otherwise) because they want an iPad, not because they want a tablet, it's usually specifically an iPad they want.

Hmm, in my experience there's also a number of owners that are that way because it was a lot easier to find the iPad's than anything else. E.g. in PC World's website you get a separate "iPad" category as if they're something different from a "tablet". Likewise, in my local Asda the iPad's are dead easy to find, whereas the "non-Apple tablets" section is tucked away around the corner - in amongst the iPad accessories!

I do think it'll be crazy for them to not release a retina equipped iPad mini though, I am tempted with a Mini but the screen of the current one looks so poor compared to a retina iPad that I didn't and won't buy one.

True, but then again unless Apple releases a 320dpi+ iPM then perhaps their focus on "look at our lovely high resolution display" is going to come back to bite them. Personally I pay no attention to dpi's - prefer to judge on how a screen actually looks. E.g. I prefered the look of whatever the Asus Transformer Infinity uses to the iPad4's when I last looked at them in HMV. Just checked and the current iPM is 163dpi, the Retina 264 and the latest Nexus is 320.

I'm going to try and not be too negative about the "new new new new iPad" since after all these days ALL the manufacturers are in the game of evolution.

[zdn1042]

Still no retina, Apple? Really?
Well, the only thing I can see going for Apple is like they always say, they have more tablet-specific apps compared to their competitors. Other than that, Android wins all other categories (hardware specs, customization, etc) hands down.

[3dcandy]

I agree with many points, I find it really really hard to say that the iDevices have a better range of apps now unless you talk music apps where they beat Android with a huge stick. Unless they step up their game they are going to lose market share, the Hudl actually looks and feels very useable (seen one in a Tescos on Sat) and at £120 is a superb price point for a quad-core tablet with such a nice screen. You're making a huge saving on an iPad Mini at that price....

[csgohan4]

Thats the problem, they rely too much on brand loyalty and Apple fan boys.

[Jingee]

"Champagne Gold"

No, it's God-awful Cream.

[ChuckyDB]

Mini without a ''Retina'' display????
If they drop the ball on that one, they deserve to lose their market share badly.

[crossy]

I agree with many points, I find it really really hard to say that the iDevices have a better range of apps now unless you talk music apps where they beat Android with a huge stick. Unless they step up their game they are going to lose market share, the Hudl actually looks and feels very useable (seen one in a Tescos on Sat) and at £120 is a superb price point for a quad-core tablet with such a nice screen. You're making a huge saving on an iPad Mini at that price....

Ain't seen the HUDL myself, (it's not made it out to my yokel neck of the woods <grin>) but with Christmas coming that's a darned good point you make.

iPM is what - £260 these days? So for that price I can HUDLise both my kids (saves on a LOT of arguments) and still have £25 left, which is probably going to be enough to get some fancy-pants case for it (sorry "cases for them") and perhaps leave enough for el missus and I to raid the "Finest" ready meals isle for something for our dinner! If the HUDL isn't a cheap looking/feeling P.O.S. then that's a pretty strong argument AGAINST the iPM.

Getting back to the music apps - I'd heard that the reason that it's the iPad that gets all these sequencers, effects pedals, etc is that iOS is (far?) better at doing low latency apps than Android is. Not sure how much truth there is in that, since the days when I'd go digging into the guts of my devices are long past <sigh>. Presumably Google/Cyanogen are aware of this and must surely be addressing it?