

Predicting the “iPad Mini” internals - Brajeshwar
http://www.marco.org/2012/08/30/ipad-mini-internals

======
jonknee
> This is all speculation, of course, but I’m convinced: like the leaked Dock
> connector, this move is so ingenius that it’s most likely to be what Apple
> has really done.

Did I miss something? Why is the new Dock connector ingenius? It seems like a
major pain in the ass (all new accessories, even really hard to change ones
like those in cars).

~~~
fpgeek
This is where Marco talks about the new Dock connector:
<http://www.marco.org/2012/08/15/the-foolproof-dock-connector>

~~~
jonknee
Apple sure brings out weird feelings in people, it's like religion. I can't
think of another company that would have people defending new proprietary
connectors before any facts at all about it are released (or even if there
will be a new connector at all!).

------
rdl
I agree with his hardware analysis, but IMO the big question is pricing.

If Apple prices an iPad Mini (wifi) at $299, there is still a reason for a
person with no devices to consider a Nexus7 over an iPad Mini.

If the iPad Mini is $199 (or less), it probably kills the market for the Nexus
7 for device-naive users; Android people (or Apple haters) might still go with
a Nexus 7, but in general the iTunes ecosystem is stronger, so it's better (on
top of the hardware likely being better, if for no other reason than being
newer rev -- and Apple Stores, better marketing, etc. would make it a slam
dunk).

$249 iPad vs. $199 Nexus might be parity, but IMO it makes more sense for
Apple to go $199 wifi and $249 and $299 products with more flash, 3G/LTE, etc.

The real risk is iPad Mini vs. iPad 3 sales cannibalization. I think there are
enough women (who carry 7"-compatible purses) who would go for an iPad Mini at
the same price as a regular iPad, so that would support pricing the iPad Mini
at $299-399.

~~~
alabut
Here's a graphical illustration of why it'll probably be priced lower than
$299, whether at $249 or $199:

[http://www.iamconcise.com/main/the-reason-for-the-ipad-
mini....](http://www.iamconcise.com/main/the-reason-for-the-ipad-mini.html)

Apple has an excellent track record of not leaving price umbrellas under their
products (even if it means releasing something super minimal, like a Mac Mini
or iPod shuffle) nor do they usually create multiple products at the same
price that cannibalize each other.

The second rule isn't as strong because it isn't nearly as big a problem as
price umbrellas. They've often said (correctly) that if anyone's going to
cannibalize their products it might as well be them, e.g. iPod sales declining
because of the iPhone taking off.

~~~
ricardobeat
I don't think this model applies to the whole product line. Obviously,
different products have different price bottoms, and tablets won't go farther
under $200 in the short term, so that end of the pyramid won't even be half-
filled by an iPad mini. You can also see it this way:
<http://cl.ly/image/423I21222t0a>

------
zach
I like how Marco spins this, how he's just casually reviewing his logs at the
end of the day, sees a couple of numbers out of place, spins through a
Sherlockian series of deductions and has a sudden moment of clarity about
Apple's hardware plans. And he's right, of course.

------
mmanfrin
Can we rename hackernews to marconews?

~~~
bootload
Marco views are insightful because he's the creator of 'Instapaper' ~
<http://www.instapaper.com/> a pretty useful x-platform tool. Your comment is
a bit snarky for a 1 submission, '140' day old account ~
<http://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=mmanfrin>

~~~
mmanfrin
Is my number of submissions really indicative of anything? My comment was made
because this was the second marco.org post I've seen today, and at least the
5th overall. That's a lot.

~~~
ghshephard
In general, people who don't put effort into posting interesting submissions,
don't usually have the standing to make dismissive claims about other people's
submissions, particularly with backhanded snark.

~~~
jarek
I read that as snark about people upvoting the submission and as a consequence
placing it on the front page, not the submitter.

------
bkorte
I see commenters here are misreading the word "Predicting" as "Announcing".

------
enraged_camel
>>It’s a textbook Tim Cook supply-chain move: selling the last generation’s
hardware at a lower price point to expand market share.

That's pretty brilliant, if true. If iPad Mini is indeed released this fall,
it has the potential to sweep the floor with any other 7" tablet that has been
released so far. It's going to be very interesting to watch.

------
amitp85
"Predicting the “iPad Mini” internals" Why? you don't have any other work to
do.

Kidding :D

But i'm sick of people going crazy after Rumors of any i<Whatever> device.

~~~
jarek
Predicting Apple gets pageviews, and getting pageviews is one of the author's
jobs: <http://www.marco.org/sponsorship>

