
Apple announces iPad Mini with a 7.9-inch, 1,024 x 768 display - $329 - velodrome
http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/23/apple-ipad-mini/
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KirinDave
One thing I am really curious about is the bezel size for the iPad mini.
Mathias Duarte gave a huge exposition about carefully laying out the bezels
for lots of comfortable holding angles with the Nexus 7 in his interview, but
the iPad Mini has only a fraction of those bezels.

So one of the following is the case:

1\. Mathias was BSing to make lemonaide from the lemons of the slightly odd
looking screen form factor. The Nexus 7 could have been smaller or had a
bigger screen. The iPad Mini is easy to hold.

2\. Mathias was right, but only considering the weight of the Nexus 7. The
reduced weight of the iPad Mini still makes it easy to hold.

3\. Mathias was right, and the iPad Mini's design is more about photo ops than
daily use, and users will tend to accidentally tap when they hold it.

I'm really curious here, because device design is something of a mysterious
art and I have enjoyed watching the different schools of design play out.

UPDATE, "iPad mini intelligently recognizes whether your thumb is simply
resting on the display or whether you’re intentionally interacting with it.
It’s the kind of detail you’ll notice — by not noticing it."

So, software. Which means that it'll be fine for reading, but probably not
fine for gaming where there is a lot of input sensitivity required. That may
explain why the bezels on the top ends (for holding it in portrait) are more
conventionally sized.

~~~
rg
Apple had an insoluble problem, and they failed to fit the iPad Mini into a
man's suit, sportcoat, or blazer inside chest pocket.

    
    
      Apple iPad Mini width (Apple specs):   134.7 mm
    
      Man's jacket inside pocket (size 41R): 124.0 mm
    
      Google Nexus 7 width (Google specs):   120.0 mm
    

Result: the Nexus 7 with comfortable bezels fits very neatly in the pocket of
any jacket I'm wearing (and I carry it there all the time invisibly);

The iPad Mini with troublesome bezel will not fit into any of those same
jacket pockets.

Such a tiny difference, but it separates Nexus convenience from iPad Mini
serious inconvenience (note that the thickness makes no difference here).

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gambiting
The way they compared the new iPad Mini with the Nexus 7 was laughable at
best.

They complain about Nexus 7 being made of plastic and having broader basel,
and completely forget that Nexus 7 has a higher resolution screen and most
importantly is a $199 device while the new ipad is $329. What a joke.

~~~
randomchars
My favorite part was when they listed the bigger screen as an advantage.

~~~
berberous
I sold the Nexus because it was too small to read a PDF. The iPad mini may
also be too small, but if I can comfortably read PDFs on it, then that's a
huge advantage to me.

~~~
nuclear_eclipse
Anecdotally, I stopped using my old 10" Android tablet in favor of my new
Nexus 7 precisely because the screen resolution is just as high, but smaller
and higher density, such that reading things is just as easy, but holding the
device is now far easier than before. I've already used it many times for
reading and even signing PDF's related to selling my old residence, and I
haven't had any complaints about the process so far.

~~~
berberous
Reading and signing a short document might be okay, but I'm talking about
reading a 40 page article or a full book. While it still might be doable, it's
not comfortable like it is on a full-sized iPad. At least for me...maybe you
have better eyes than I do.

I know the Nexus has a higher-res screen than the iPad mini, but I suspect it
will still be more comfortable to read PDFs on the mini due to the physically
bigger screen size.

On the other hand, text on the non-retina iPads look terrible to me now. I
wonder if that's still the case on the mini, or if the reduced physical size
will make the text rendering look passable.

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samd
What I like most about the Nexus 7 is the soft rubberized backing. I'm not
constantly worried about scratching it, I can toss it around more, but it
doesn't require a bulky, obnoxious case. Have you seen those sci-fi movies
where people just have tablets laying around everywhere, like people have
documents and books laying around now. That's what the Nexus 7 feels like.

Most every other computer, tablet, smartphone has to be _managed_. I have to
worry about where I set it, where the case is, where it's plugged in, whether
I'll drop it, etc. I don't feel that way about the Nexus 7.

I'd rather have iOS and the iPad's battery life, but I don't want my tablet to
feel precious.

~~~
ricardobeat
That's very subjective. When I first bought my iPad (1st gen) I treated it
like a baby, but now it's just like a paperback book; I throw it on the couch,
carelessly shove it in a bag, squeeze it among clothes in a backpack. It can
handle that, and I bet the aluminium back will still look better than rubber
after a year of heavy use.

~~~
chucknelson
Agreed - don't these soft rubber coatings wear away after a while?

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monkeyfacebag
I don't know a lot about iPads, but that price is about $50 more than I would
have naively guessed. Spec for spec, the Nexus 7 (disclosure: I own this)
seems to offer more for less (yes, the screen is smaller, but the information
quantity & density is actually greater). Sure, there is the value of Apple's
ecosystem, but I imagine Android will catch up on this sooner or later.

~~~
runjake
I'm guessing you didn't watch the keynote. Apple highlighted the fact that
there is a severe lack of tabletized Android apps. So, an iPad app vs. what is
essentially an Android phone app, the information density is actually much
greater on the iPad because its app are actually designed to utilize the
space.

The materials are a lot better, as well. Aluminum vs. plastic (although I
don't mind the N7's build at all). The iPad's screen is a much higher quality
IPS display than the N7. Of course, I'm going to expect all of this in a
tablet with a $70 higher price point, comparing 16GB vis a vis.

I would have liked to see the price come in at $299, but $329 is perfectly
reasonable and this will be a best seller for Apple.

(I own and use both an iPad and a Nexus 7)

~~~
monkeyfacebag
This is a great response. I did not watch the keynote, though as a Nexus 7
owner, I keenly feel the dearth of apps. Music creation apps, in particular,
are absent from Android because of poor support for low latency audio in the
SDK. _Most_ of the time, however, I use the Nexus 7 to browse the web, in
which case, I imagine it performs roughly as well as the iPad mini, except
with the higher information density.

>The iPad's screen is a much higher quality IPS display than the N7.

I'm curious how you know this. I understood the Nexus 7 screen to also use
IPS. What makes the one in the new iPad better?

>Of course, I'm going to expect all of this in a tablet with a $70 higher
price point.

My Nexus 7 was $199. Yes, it has less storage space than the mini, but the
difference between getting an Android tablet and and iPad is actually $130,
not $70.

~~~
rimantas

      > absent from Android because of poor support for low
      > latency audio in the SDK
    

I know this was the case with the previous versions of Android, but Nexus 7 is
running the latest and I was under impression that this was fixed. Is it not
true, or is it indeed fixed, but no apps yet?

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fieldforceapp
Dear Apple, thanks for keeping the same display dimensions as the iPad -- I
was actually starting to sweat about the prospect of having to do more
AutoLayout work!

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jordn
I completely expect this to be the consumer favourite. Maybe outsell the
original size by about 2:1. People love being able to easily hold stuff.

~~~
phoobahr
My girlfriend broke both her wrists a few years ago. Now they both give her
troble and one thumb has nerve damage. She has travelled the world with her
1st gen ipad and never really thought about replacing it... But I bet she will
now inside a month.

She's also a physio who fits and customizes wheelchairs, powerchairs, scooters
and the like. You would not believe how many of her clients carry an ipad,
often in a custom mount, for all the regular uses plus assisted communication,
home automation and the like. Give the size constraints I would not be
surprised to see the ipad mini become an 'industry standard' there too.

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mtrimpe
I absolutely love how they reframed the iPad mini from a "reduction" to a
"concentration" of the iPad.

I takes the most obvious quip to make about the new product and gives the
Apple fan-base a ready-made, perfect, emotional yet simple retort.

Brilliant marketing ...

~~~
barista
That has always been Apple forte. Create value by advertising

~~~
rimantas
Yeah. Because their products are crap, right? Apple has good marketing for
good products. Some think they can skip the first part.

~~~
mtrimpe
I'd say their excellent marketing provides them with the profit margins needed
to afford development of several iterations of the products so that they can
be as good as they are.

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togasystems
Consumer choice - $209 Nexus Tablet from Google or $329 for the iPad Mini....
what do you think the public will choose?

~~~
MrMember
You're underestimating the pull Apple has on people. There are plenty who will
pay an extra $120 just because it's Apple.

~~~
phren0logy
It could be "just because it's Apple," or it could be because they already own
a lot of useful iOS software.

~~~
engtech
For $129 you could buy most of your frequently used apps on Android.

But already being tied into iTunes is a huge momentum.

~~~
rimantas
$129 can be a bit short for the stuff that does not exist at all.

~~~
randomchars
What apps do you use on iOS that don't exist on Android?

Genuinely curious.)

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czr80
I find the pricing odd - is the 30 dollars really worth giving up the appeal
of a 299 price point?

~~~
arrrg
The lesson to take away from this is that Apple does not compromise on price.
If the iPad mini with a 30% or so margin has to be priced at $330 it will be
priced at that.

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isaacwaller
Wow, this is way more expensive than I predicted. I don't see how the iPad
Mini can compete with a $199 Nexus 7.

~~~
richbradshaw
I have a Nexus 7. Technically it's great, but in reality the screen creaks
when you use it, it's pixelly (despite having 1.4 device pixel ratio), the
headphone jack only works at a certain angle and most apps are awful (some
exceptions, but most big brands have worse Android apps than iOS).

It came with Google Play credit, but I can't find anything worth buying. I'm
sure there are things, but I can't find them.

~~~
randomchars
If you find the Nexus 7 pixely than you should know that the iPad mini has a
lower ppi.

I agree about the apps though. But if you haven't already than get SwiftKey.

------
ryanglasgow
Apple doesn't seem to be pricing this against competitors, but rather
themselves. A price point less than $300 would cannibalize their full-size
iPad sales.

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randomchars
The fact that Android tablets apps of large corporations suck is more of a
reflection on the companies themselves than on Android as a platform.

How do the developers of the demoed apps feel? Basically they work was called
a piece of shit.

~~~
richbradshaw
Compared with what the iOS teams are doing, it is.

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mladenkovacevic
Too expensive for me, but the tech uninformed have probably never heard of the
Nexus 7 and will probably think this is a great deal. The bezel seems really
thin too, how are you supposed to hold it?

~~~
mason55
_> The bezel seems really thin too, how are you supposed to hold it?_

In your palm. See here <http://www.apple.com/ipad-mini/overview/>

~~~
mladenkovacevic
So I guess I've been "holding it wrong" all this time then. On a serious note
that grip looks very stress-inducing for any average sized hand. Try
stretching your thumb and fingers out all the way out like that, then tilt
your palm so that it faces you. Now hold that kung-fu grip for more than 15
minutes. I prefer to do the bezel thumb and index finger hold... and then
switch hands every once in a while.

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erikpukinskis
I'm pretty surprised by the price. It's more than twice as expensive than the
entry-level Kindle Fire at $159. Now, it's obviously a much better product,
but that's a big gap.

Apple has maintained pretty aggressive pricing compared to the 10" Android
tablets, but that's just not the case here. They're going to try competing on
product quality, not price. It will be interesting to see how that pans out.

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Permit
I'm pretty blown away they're already on a fourth generation of iPads. It
seemed like they just released the last one not too long ago. Are people upset
over how quickly it released or happy to have a potential upgrade?

~~~
wcarey
I suspect the driver for the new full-size iPad is the lightning connector.
Now all of the iOS devices (except the iPad 2?) use it.

~~~
JoelSutherland
Additionally the A5x was a really expensive chip to produce. It didn't have
the graphics power to drive the retina screen so they just threw silicon at
it. It had twice the die size as the Tegra 3:

[http://www.anandtech.com/show/5685/apple-a5x-die-size-
measur...](http://www.anandtech.com/show/5685/apple-a5x-die-size-
measured-16294mm2-likely-still-45nm)

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brownBananas
I don't know how they are going to compete with Microsoft Surface(1366 x 768)
with this Mini(1,024 x 768) without Retina Display.

Edit: Price difference - I see.

~~~
mikeevans
Price, app ecosystem.

~~~
lostlogin
If those were equal, do you think Microfoft would catch up or overtake Apple?

~~~
digisign
No. With momentum as it is currently, MS would have to have a device 2x or
better on every front.

