iPad mini 2 Release Delay Rumored Due to Retina, But Source is Suspect

Frequent leaks about Apple’s next iPad 5 and iPad mini 2 tablet offerings have helped to piece together some expected features as well as a possible launch date. While the iPad 5 is expected to be unveiled later this month, a new report from Apple Insider has reinforced the prevailing thought that the iPad mini 2 may not see the light of day any time soon. 
The report quotes analyst Brian White of Cantor Fitzgerald, who met several technology suppliers in China and Taiwan. During the course of his tour, White was told that “big things are expected from Apple’s fifth-generation iPad.” There was no mention of the second-generation iPad mini, though. The inference from this, according to the report, is that the mini-tablet might not be launching along with its sibling this month. The analyst has speculated that the iPad mini might come with a Retina Display using Sharp’s IGZO technology. This is contrary to earlier reports hinting at the company is sourcing the display from Samsung.

The new leak backs up what we had heard before about the iPad mini possibly pushing its debut to the next year due to supply constraints. If the device does come to the market this year with a Retina display, it will be in extremely short supply. The source, while talking about the 9.7-inch iPad, ratifies most of what we already know about the fifth-generation tablet. The new device will come with a lighter, thinner design, similar to the current iPad mini. This change is the first major redesign that the company has given to its tablet range in the last few years. 
The source speculated that the new iPads are Apple’s move to capitalise on a “weakening PC market”, as the supply chain indicated to the Cantor Fitzgerald analyst that notebook sales are “soft”. Traditional PC sales are reportedly down as consumers are shifting focus to tablets instead, with “Apple’s iPad lineup carrying the lion’s share of the market.”

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Apple’s 2013 in Rumors: Fingerprint Sensors and More Retina Displays, but No iTV

A much slimmer iPad, an iPad Mini with a Retina display and an iPhone with a built-in fingerprint reader could all be on tap for 2013, according to one industry analyst.
As MacRumors reports, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has published a research report that tries to predict Apple‘s entire 2013 product lineup. Although analysts tend to have terrible track records with Apple rumors, Kuo is a notable exception.
Let’s do a quick look at some of his past forecasts:

• Kuo’s January 2011 predictions about the iPad 2, including the dual-core processor, camera specs and screen resolution turned out mostly accurate. (He was off by 0.2 GHz on the clock speed of the A5 chip.)
• Apple’s iPhone 5 achieved a thickness of under 8 mm, thanks to in-cell touch technology and the use of a metal back plate instead of glass, just as Kuo predicted five months before launch.
• As Kuo expected, Apple discontinued the 17-inch MacBook Pro last year and redesigned its iMacs, but without Retina displays.

That’s a pretty good track record. So let’s hear out Kuo’s predictions for 2013:

• The iPhone 5S will be similar to its predecessor, but with a faster processor, a better camera with smart LED flash and a fingerprint reader built into the home button, which would reduce the need for passwords everywhere. Keep in mind that Apple acquired AuthenTec, a maker of fingerprint sensor technology, last year.
• A cheaper iPhone for prepaid and emerging markets–a popular rumor these days–would be a lot like the iPhone 5, but with a plastic enclosure, available in six colors.
• The next iPad will be considerably slimmer and lighter. That’d make sense given that Apple had to add bulk to its third-generation iPad to accommodate a Retina display. Kuo expects the iPad Mini to get a Retina display as well this year.
• Non-Retina display MacBook Pros will meet their maker this year, as Apple moves to an all-Retina lineup at lower prices than before.
• The MacBook Air line won’t get Retina displays this year, Kuo believes. Their main improvement will be an upgrade to Intel‘s Haswell platform, which will allow for better battery life. Apple’s iMac and Mac Mini line may get a similar upgrade, sans Retina.
• The fourth-generation iPod Touch will be discontinued, but Apple may sell a cheaper fifth-generation model in its place, with 8 GB of storage and no rear camera, starting at $199.
• Kuo thinks the Apple TV set-top box will get a refresh, but didn’t offer any details. The fabled Apple television, however, appears to be drifting off to 2014 due to those pesky content issues.

Kuo thinks most of this stuff will happen in the second half of the year, with the exception of a first quarter Apple TV refresh and new MacBook Airs in late Q2.
While there aren’t a lot of wild and crazy things on the list, Apple tends to avoid radical changes to its products, despite conventional wisdom. The fact that most of these predictions are quite reasonable–tame, even–makes me more likely to believe them. The most contentious claims are the less expensive iPhone (which smart Apple watchers no longer dismiss outright) and thumbprint tracking in the iPhone 5S (which at this point just seems like a matter of time). I wouldn’t count on Kuo’s forecast proving 100 percent accurate, but as a rough estimate of what to expect from Apple this year, it works.

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iPad 5 rumored to launch in March, Retina iPad Mini with A6X SoC in the works

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Rumors of the fifth-generation iPad (iPad 5) and iPad Mini 2 have started to roll off the Apple supply chain in China. If the leaks are to be believed, the iPad 5 will be thinner and lighter, and also feature a new design that’s similar to the iPad Mini (i.e. slightly shorter and narrower than the iPad 4). The iPad Mini 2 will keep the same 7.9-inch display, but make the jump to Retina resolution (2048×1536) and also move to the A6X SoC (currently only found in the iPad 4).
The fifth-generation iPad (which should emerge in March 2013) will be 4mm shorter, 16mm narrower, and 2mm thinner than the fourth-gen iPad — in other words, it’ll look a lot like the iPad Mini, with its narrower portrait bezel. By losing 2mm in depth, the iPad 5 would be just 7.4mm. This size reduction will reduce the weight of the iPad 5, but it might also impact battery life, unless Apple has a trick up its sleeve. It’s possible that Apple could reveal an A7 SoC in March, based on some kind of 28nm process (perhaps in association with TSMC), but unlikely.
The iPad Mini 2 is probably a more exciting proposition. If the rumors are correct, this diminutive iPad will feature a 2048×1536 (326 PPI) display and the bleeding-edge A6X SoC. This would mean that the iPad Mini 2 would have the same hardware spec as the iPad 4 — but half the weight and half the price. Suffice it to say, if the iPad Mini wasn’t exciting enough to divert attention away from the Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire, then this second generation certainly would be. According to the Chinese site Zol, the release date of the second-gen iPad Mini isn’t yet known. It will probably be March 2013, or perhaps on its first birthday in November.
To be honest, though, these leaked specs sound a little too good. Apple’s last few product refreshes have focused more on gradual evolution (i.e. milking profits) than making huge technological leaps. At the moment there is a clear technological gap between the full-size iPad and the Mini — this rumored iPad Mini 2 would basically mean the iPad’s only advantage is a slightly larger screen. But who knows: If Apple feels threatened in the 7-inch tablet space, then an overpowered iPad Mini 2 would be a very good way of silencing the critics.
Meanwhile, of course, Apple stock is currently enjoying its worst ever period of trading, plummeting from a high of $700 per share in September down to $500 in December. There’s a mix of reasons for this precipitous fall, but it mostly seems to revolve around the belief that the iDevices have probably hit their peak. This is borne out by reports from Apple’s supply chain that the iPhone 5 is not selling as well as the iPhone 4S. With iDevices at their zenith, and no other revolutionary device seemingly on the horizon (except perhaps the Apple iTV), investors are concerned about the future growth of Apple.

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iPad Mini 2 Release Date, Specs, Rumours Round-up and Wish List

iPad mini 2 release date will be announced sometime in the second half of the year, according to rumours in tech sites. Those considering buying the next version of the smaller iPad are advised to wait out because the next iPad mini will feature better screen display.

iPad Mini 2 Release Date: Too soon?
The general presumption among bloggers is that iPad mini 2 will be released in the fall season, so that would mean a holiday budget allocation to many gadgeteers. Considering manufacturing design, research and manufacturing considerations (among many others), it does seem too early to tell whether 2013 would see a new iPad mini.
iPad Mini 2 Specs in the Rumour Mill
Digitimes has been frequently cited for its speculation that the next iPad mini will feature a resolution of 2058 x 1536 pixels for a 326 ppi. This gives hope that Apple might add Retina display in the next generation iPad mini. The 7.9-inch screen size is expected to be maintained by Apple.
The iPad mini screen display currently has a pixel density of 163 ppi. In contrast, Nexus 7 packs 216 ppi in its screen. A lot of gadget shoppers were disappointed to find out that Retina was absent in the iPad mini when it was released in November. Apple is likely to make up for this in its next release.

iPad Mini 2 Wish List: Retina Display, Increased Memory, Reasonable Price and User-friendly Weight
When it comes to desired updates and improvements, there are at least four factors in the wish list of Apple users. Aside from the Retina display, users have pointed out a needed increase in memory (currently 512 MB) and a better pricing. The last factor may border on the impossible, but buyers can wish.
Some iPad mini users shifted from regular-sized iPads to the iPad mini over weight issues. At only 308 g (WiFi only) and 312 g (3G), the iPad mini is a light device for browsing, movie watching and e-book reading. It is hoped that the next generation iPad mini will not put on more weight, or if it does, may it still be easy on the hands.

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Apple iPad Fifth Generation Release Date Tipped For March 2013; Device Will Be Thinner, Lighter, More Like iPad Mini

With the launch of the iPad 4 couple of months ago, Apple did indicate that it was trying something different with the year-long rotation of its product lines. Now if a latest report coming out of Asia is to be believed, the Cupertino tech giant is preparing the fifth generation iPad with the release date tipped for as early as March, next year.

Japanese blog Macotakara reported, citing people familiar with the matter that Apple would release a thinner and lighter version of the 9.7-inch iPad in March 2013. The report also added that the device would come with a new look, closely resembling the iPad mini that featured the iPhone 5’s black/ slate and white/ silver designs.

Here is an excerpt from the report:

“However Chinese news ZOL (CBS Interactive) reported next iPad mini in AppleInsider's article, according to my inside source, iPad (5) may be released in March, 2013. Source told that, design of this new iPad will be like iPad mini in detail, and be thinner and lightweight.”
The report also stated some dimensions for the fifth generation iPad iteration – “4mm in height, 17mm in width, depth 2mm.” As 9TO5Mac pointed out, although “these numbers are obviously unrealistic expectations for the fifth-generation iPad’s actual size, these numbers would make sense in the context of being millimeters smaller in all of the iPad’s physical dimensions than the current iPad.”
Given that the existing fourth generation iPad comes in dimensions of 241.2mm by 185.7mm by 9.4mm, subtracting Macotakara’s numbers “would point to a thinner iPad that is slightly shorter and narrower.”
If the rumors turn out true, the next-generation iPad could be as thin as 7.2mm thin iPad mini.
The March 2013 release of the fifth generation iPad would definitely be aggressive by Apple. But blasting out new iPad updates every six months would help the company “to make sure Microsoft, Google, Samsung and Amazon can't catch up in the tablet market,” Business Insider has reported.
While Steve Jobs’ focus was on visionary products, CEO Tim Cook, with his expertise in managing the supply chain, could differentiate Apple “by launching premium products that are continuously refreshed,” the report added.
The Macotakara also claimed that the second generation iPad mini was also under preparation. The smaller iPad would likely feature an all-new 7.9-inch Retina display with the same resolution as the third and fourth generation iPads (2048 x 1536 pixels) and an A6X processor.
In November, DigiTimes also reported that the upcoming version of the iPad could be released in "Middle of 2013,” boosting “demand for ICs in particular communication-related chips during the latter half of the first quarter.”

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