Here in Europe, premium Apple resellers have been asked to provide more display space for the iPad. The request mentions that this work should be complete by September 12. Apple Insider hint that this could mean that the iPad mini will be announced on September 12 and have displays ready for it the same day. Although I’m a little sceptical of an iPad mini launch in September, I can see why Apple would want more space dedicated for a new device.
Not much is known about the iPad mini. The first rumours about it began as early as 2010 when a few websites hinted that Apple was working on the device. It never showed up in 2010 and it never showed up in 2011. This year seems to be a little different though as more rumours have been heard and some of these have come from larger news sites adding a bit more strength to the idea.
As for the design of the iPad mini, I’m expecting it to be somewhere between 7 and 8 inches and have a large bezel on the top and bottom (when held portrait) and have thinner bezels down the sides. The reason for the thinner bezels on the side is that a smaller tablet is easier to hold in one hand… the regular sized iPad generally cannot be held in one hand and hence, it has a large bezel all the way around so your thumb and fingers have something to hold on to.
Other than that, I think it’s safe to assume it will have a camera on the front for FaceTime, have the usual home button below the screen with a small dock connector at the bottom, perhaps with a headphone jack. I also assume it will come in both WiFi and WiFi+4G variants with perhaps 16 – 32GB storage options. I’m not sure if the smaller screen would come in a 64GB option due to price reasons and wanting to keep it competitive.
Also, I don’t know what screen will come in the device, but perhaps it will be of a Retina standard as Apple is shifting quickly to the higher density displays which are already included in the last 2 generations of iPhone along with the 3rd gen iPad and now the Mac Book Pro (Retina model).
As for the iPad mini coming in September, I’m not so sure about Apple releasing two major products on the same day. Perhaps the iPhone will launch September and will be followed in November by the iPad mini in preparation for the Christmas season. That will also put 3 to 4 months before “the new iPad” launches which by that, I mean the 4th generation model.
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