Apple has a little something to show us on October 23,
and we all believe we know what that might be. A smaller, more
affordable iPad model is expected to be announced – presumably called
the iPad mini
and likely destined to take down Amazon and Google as the dominant
names on the 7-inch tablet arena. Obviously, the device isn't official
yet, but at the same time, rumors about it have been going back and
forth for months. Yeah, we know that security at Apple isn't as tight as
it used to be. But thanks to those rumors, we believe we already know
quite a lot about the iPad mini, although some pieces of the puzzle have
yet to be revealed. Care to go over what we have so far and see what
the iPad mini is shaping up to be?
Design
Design
 |
The iPad mini will probably look like this
|
Knowing
Apple, we are expecting the iPad mini to look a lot like a miniaturized
version of the current iPad, with clean, minimalist design, a slender
waistline and rounded corners. After all, why would anyone want to
change a working formula? Furthermore, thanks to all the leaks, we have
enough reasons to believe that the body of the device will be made out
of aluminum. Without a doubt, the new Lightning dock connector will be
on the bottom, replacing the now-obsolete 30-pin interface and possibly
rendering some of your existing accessories unusable, but those who want
to keep using the peripherals they own will have the option to purchase
a $29 adapter from Apple. As far as variety is concerned, it is rumored
that the iPad mini will come in white or black.
But most importantly, the device will surely be more compact and even
easier to handle than its predecessor due to the smaller size and
reduced weight.
Display
The size of the display on the iPad mini doesn't seem that hard to predict either as the rumor mill has been pointing at the same figures for months – chances are that a 7.85-inch screen will be gracing the front of the device. But while the screens used by the Android competition have a widescreen aspect ratio (16:10 or 16:9), Apple's smaller tablet will stick with the 4:3 proportion. And that's not a bad thing at all! As a result, the iPad mini will have a display with 40% more surface area compared to the screens found on the Google Nexus 7 or the Amazon Kindle Fire HD. On the downside, movies will either have those nasty black stripes on the bottom and top, or will be cropped from the sides. The resolution of the screen is rumored to be 1024 by 768 pixels, which is bad news for everyone who has been hoping to see a Retina display on the iPad mini, but on the other hand, that would keep the production cost (and probably the retail price) of the device down.
Display
The size of the display on the iPad mini doesn't seem that hard to predict either as the rumor mill has been pointing at the same figures for months – chances are that a 7.85-inch screen will be gracing the front of the device. But while the screens used by the Android competition have a widescreen aspect ratio (16:10 or 16:9), Apple's smaller tablet will stick with the 4:3 proportion. And that's not a bad thing at all! As a result, the iPad mini will have a display with 40% more surface area compared to the screens found on the Google Nexus 7 or the Amazon Kindle Fire HD. On the downside, movies will either have those nasty black stripes on the bottom and top, or will be cropped from the sides. The resolution of the screen is rumored to be 1024 by 768 pixels, which is bad news for everyone who has been hoping to see a Retina display on the iPad mini, but on the other hand, that would keep the production cost (and probably the retail price) of the device down.
