iPad mini 2 To Be Thicker Due To Retina Display
The second generation iPad mini is rumored to make its debt in about a week, on October 22th at a media event held by Apple. There Apple is expected to unveil both the iPad 5 and the iPad mini 2. And when it comes to the second generation iPad mini, probably the most interesting new feature is the long rumored Retina display that is missing from the current iPad mini. Apple prototyped a Retina version (Retina is the term for its crisp display that features such a high pixels per inch density that you can’t see pixels; Retina displays are used in iPhones, in the main series iPad models and in some MacBook Pros), however due to a number of reasons (that include battery life, increased size of the tablet and higher production cost) the Cupertino company did not release a Retina display iPad mini. But that is about to change this month, one week from today, as Apple is rumored to unveil the first iPad mini with a Retina display.
The inclusion of a Retina display in the second generation iPad mini, could have a price: extra thickness and width, though it likely won’t be enough to bother. The same thing happened with the main iPad – when it was equipped with a Retina display, it went thicker and also heavier; the same is expected from the iPad mini 2 due to the inclusion of the high resolution retina display. Website Macotakara reported that they got their hands on second generation iPad mini cases. It seems the cases were designed to fit a tablet with a thickness of 7.5 mm and a width about 0.2 mm wider than the current iPad mini.
Speaking of the current iPad mini, its dimensions are 7.2 mm in thickness and 134.7 mm wide. If the numbers reported by Macotakara will prove to be accurate, then the increase in dimensions will be barely noticeable. To put things in perspective, the third generation iPad grew 0.6 mm in thickness from the iPad 2. There is also the possibility that these changes in the dimensions of the iPad mini 2′s case could be the result of misinformation from case makers (and it wouldn’t be the first time this happens) or simply the result of extra proportions required to fit the tablet in a hardshell case.
The reason why iPad models equipped with a Retina display require extra thickness, is mostly battery related, as they need a bigger battery. A high resolution display (especially one so crisp as the Retina display) requires more power than a lower resolution display; this forces Apple to fit the tablet with a larger battery so it can offer the same battery life as the previous non Retina display version of the tablet. It is as simple as that.
Also, it is worth mentioning that the cases that Macotakara got their hands on suggested that the second generation iPad mini could feature a new location for the mic on the rear of the tablet. Besides the long rumored Retina display, the second generation iPad mini is also expected to be released with a faster System on Chip (most likely a variant of the 64 bit A7 SoC powering the iPhone 5S; it will probably be named the A7X). While there recently there have been many rumors about the iPad mini 2 including a fingerprint sensor, recent internal test models lacked one so we don’t think it will feature one. It is only a week left until Apple will officially unveil the iPad mini 2 and the iPad 5.
