Next iPad Mini Model Will Feature A Retina Display
Despite its non Retina display, the iPad mini was well received by both media and consumers. You can check our very own review here. It came with a non Retina display (and the lack of a Retina display allowed Apple engineers to considerably reduce the tablet’s size and power needs) that offered a very low pixels per inch density. The iPad mini has a 163 PPI density which is disappointingly low since the standard pixels per inch density for a smartphone in 2012 was 200 PPI. It is even more disappointing when you compare the iPod mini’s pixels per inch density to other 7 inch screen tablets like the Nexus 7 and the Kindle Fire HD that have a PPI density of 216. It’s no wonder then that many people think the iPad mini could use a Retina display since one of its weak points is its non Retina display that offers such a low pixel per inch density.
However, all that is about to change for the next iPad mini. At least according to a Chinese source that states an iPad mini with a Retina display is actually happening. According to these sources, the next iPad mini will keep the 7,9 inches diagonal. What will differ is the display, which is said to be a Retina screen made by the Taiwan based Corporation AU Optronics. Keeping the size but opting for a Retina display means that the iPad mini 2′s screen resolution and pixels per inch density will grow.
According to the source, the iPad mini 2 will have the same resolution as the iPad 4, that is a resolution of 2048 x 1536 which is double compared to the iPad mini’s 1024 x 768 pixels resolution. As for the pixel per inch density, it will make a huge leap, from 163 PPI (which is what the iPad mini’s non Retina display offers) to an amazing 324 PPI density, bigger than even the iPad 4′s pixels per inch density (264 PPI).
To recap, the next 7.9 inch iPad mini will have a Retina display that will offer the same resolution as the 9.7 inch Retina display iPad (2048 x 1536 pixels, twice as much as the current iPad mini) and a much higher pixels per inch density than both the fourth generation and the mini tablets – with a PPI density of 324, it will be just a hair under the iPhone’s 326 PPI density.
Truth be told, even before these rumors surfaced there was speculation that the next iPad mini will come equipped with a Retina display. Since between itself, the iPad 4 and the iPhone 5, the iPad mini is the only non Retina display device released by Apple and not having a Retina display was the most common criticism of the iPad mini, it is not a stretch to speculate that Apple will probably do something about the lack of a Retina display for its mini version of the iPad. A time frame for the relatively imminent release of a Retina display equipped iPad mini is not currently known, but given the demand that the iPad mini still enjoys, we would put our money on later rather than sooner.
