Analyst Suggests The iPad Mini 2 Might Appear At WWDC, Without A Retina Display
Many people consider the iPad mini to be the best iPad that Apple released. However they all agree upon the iPad mini’s biggest flaw: its screen. If you are an Apple iPad mini owner you probably loved but you also probably agree that its non Retina display is vastly inferior to competitive tablets’ displays. For example the Nexus 7 has a better display – it has a resolution of 1280×800 WXGA pixels and a pixels per inch density of 216, while the iPad mini has a resolution of 1024 × 768 pixels and a pixels per inch density of 163. We won’t even compare it with its bigger brother, the 9.7 inch iPad. So it is pretty much clear that the only thing keeping the iPad mini from being a truly amazing tablet is its display and the conclusion is obvious: the iPad mini really needs a Retina display.
So the logical next step for the iPad mini 2 would be a Retina display. Well, according to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo we shouldn’t get our hopes up regarding an iPad mini 2 with a Reatina display for this year. Ming-Chi Kuo said that the release of an iPad mini 2 featuring a Retina display is unlikely as the Retina display high resolution screen that it needs will not start production until late 2013, so the analyst says an October release will not be a reality.
If you are wondering what Apple’s strategy is, we might provide an answer. A recent report (from Richard Shim of NPD DisplaySearch) says that Apple will unveil and release an iPad mini with higher specs, but non Retina display at WWDC and later, in the first quarter of 2014, they will release a Retina display iPad mini. Richard Shim said “We see two refreshes coming. One in the second half of this year, then one in Q1 [first quarter] of 2014. The Q1 [2014] device will have a Retina display plus an updated processor.”
But that means that Apple will update its iPad mini line twice in a period of around six to eight months. So would Apple be willing to do that. We think so, yes. Apple already did the exact same thing with the 9.7 inch iPad, when the third generation iPad received an update in the form of the fourth generation iPad, only eight months after the iPad 3 was released. Considering this, we don’t see any reason why Apple won’t do it again with the iPad mini. The iPad mini is their best selling tablet, so in order to take advantage of the holidays (a period when big profits are made), it is very important for Apple to have a new iPad mini available on the market before Christmas 2013. However, no Retina display is a major setback that other tablets might take advantage of.
As we said, it is very important for Apple to have a new iPad mini on the market this Christmas, but they also need a Retina display iPad mini. If the report is right, then all the customers that will buy the new iPad mini released on Christmas, will be very unhappy around March 2014 when the Retina display iPad mini will be available. Back to the new iPad mini, an unveil is possible around Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) which will be held from June 10 to June 14 2013. However that would contradict what Tim Cook recently said – to not expect any new iDevice until Fall this year. However, maybe Apple won’t consider an iPad mini with higher specs to be a ‘new device’ so it might still be possible. Either way, people still want an iPad mini with a Retina display.
