Apple just added external Retina display support in a recent beta of OS X Mavericks 10.9.3, According to 9to5mac. 4K monitors can now run the operating system at a pixel-doubled resolution, like on a Retina MacBook Pro. It could also be a sign that Apple is getting ready to release a long-anticipated external retina display. Like on the MacBook, the display setting screen will allow you to… Read More
If you’ve been holding off on buying Apple’s iPad mini because you wanted a Retina resolution screen, then wait no further. Today, Apple announced the new iPad mini, which still offers a compact 7.9-inch screen, but now has a razor-sharp Retina display.
While the new iPad mini Retina hasn’t changed much on the outside, it now has a gorgeously sharp 2048×1536 resolution Retina screen – the same resolution as the current 9.7-inch iPad models. This means it can run all Retina apps as-is, only they’ll look even sharper since the pixels are even more dense.
It still measures just 0.29″ thick, and weighs just 0.73 pounds, just a hair heavier than the original iPad Mini.
Under the hood, the iPad Mini Retina got a big CPU boost, using the new A7 64-bit CPU found in the iPhone 5S and iPad Air. It also has the M7 motion coprocessor along for the ride. Battery life for the iPad Mini Retina is rated at 10 hours, which is pretty solid, given the fact that it’s so small, and now has to push 4x as many pixels to its display.
It also has a 5MP iSight camera, Facetime HD camera, dual microphones and MIMO Wi-Fi for improved wireless throughput. All iPad minis now come with iOS7 and a huge number of pre-installed apps, as well as iMovie, iPhone, GarageBand, Keynote, Numbers and Pages – for free.
For all practical purposes, the iPad Mini Retina is the same tablet as the new iPad Air, just with a smaller display and battery. In fact, the iPhone 5S, iPad Air and iPad mini Retina are virtually the same devices, with the exception of the display size, lower resolution camera, and lack of fingerprint sensor on the iPads.
It’s available in both Silver and White or Space Grey and Black colors. Pricing for the new iPad Mini Retina in the Wi-Fi version is $399, $499, $599 and $699 (USD) for 16GB, 32GB, 64GB and 128GB models, respectively, and the 4G LTE models going for $529, $629, $729 and $829 in the same memory configurations. This makes it a bit more expensive than the original iPad mini, which you can now get for as little as $299.
Apple hasn’t announced an exact date for the iPad Mini Retina to hit stores, but does say it will be available in late November.
Much has been said about a new iPad mini, and after all the speculation and rumors, here are the official details from Apple. It will finally receive the long awaited Retina Display that folks have been hankering after, which would mean carrying a 7.9″ 2,048 x 1,536 resolution (326 pixels per inch, baby!) which is similar to the freshly announced iPad Air, too. Underneath the hood, you will find a 64-bit A7 processor that would deliver up to 4x faster performance compared to its predecessor. Other hardware specifications include a 5-megapixel camera and up to 10 hours of battery life on a full charge. (more…)
New iPad Mini Gets Retina Display original content from Ubergizmo. 
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Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities has released predictions about Apple’s future laptop plans. Most notably he is forecasting that a 12-inch MacBook with a retina display will be announced in mid-2014, and that it will have a redesigned clamshell that is thinner and lighter than the current MacBook Airs.
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It’s little more than a rumor at this point, but stories of delays and shortages have been circulating for about as long as mentions of an iPad mini with Retina display. Reuters spent the morning adding a bit more fuel to that proverbial fire with its own band of anonymous sources. The “people who work in the company’s supply chain” confirmed that there have been issues bringing a higher res tablet to market — issues that may, in fact, impede Cupertino’s ability to capitalize on the ever-important holiday push.
The refreshed mini is still apparently set for an October release according to the aforementioned unnamed informants, but it “could be available in only limited quantities this year.” As to what’s actually causing said shortage, no can say for sure, though word is that Apple’s own certification process around power consumption may have thrown a wrench in the proceedings.
Source: Reuters
Apple is rumored to be planning the rollout of new iPads in time for the holidays, and there are a couple of different models potentially in the pipeline, including an iPad mini with a high-resolution Retina display. That Retina mini may be in very short supply before the new year, however, according to a new report from Reuters.
Reuters cites sources working in Apple’s supply chain as providing info that suggests is just now ramping up production on a Retina iPad mini, leading to a strong likelihood that there will be relatively few available during the holiday shopping season. Apple still plans to unveil the device this month, according to those same sources.
The Retina mini will be supply constrained at launch because of delays of unknown reasons, the sources say, but one believed it might have something to do with Apple placing extremely tight requirements on its suppliers in terms of power draw for panels used in the device. The display on any mobile is a huge source of battery drain, and Apple typically either matches or improves on the battery life of previous devices when it launches new ones, even in the case of those sporting more power-hungry high-resolution Retina displays. If it is putting Retina into the new iPad mini, it won’t sacrifice the tablet’s long-lasting battery life to do so.
Apple’s Retina mini will be available in large quantifies only next year, and Reuters’ sources couldn’t say for sure whether the Mac maker would hold off on a retail launch entirely until 2014, or offer up only limited numbers of the devices before the end of the year.
At the same time, the supply chain sources said Apple is putting pressure on suppliers to reduce costs (again, not a very surprising request coming from Apple), and that could result in an iPad mini model with just 8GB of storage, which would be positioned as an entry-level device with the potential to come closer to matching the Kindle Fire and other low-cost Android devices in markets like Asia where cost is seen as a limiting factor for continued iPad growth.
Apple probably still won’t hit the $200 mark or even get all that close, and an 8GB version does seem like strange direction for it to take the iPad line. Supply constraints are nothing new for Apple device launch; the iPhone 5s is currently facing similar issues, and basically every new Apple hardware launch is preceded by these kinds of reports of supply issues.
My take is that we’ll see Apple unveil and start selling an iPad mini with Retina display in time for the holidays, irrespective of any potential supply issues. Stock outages are a given, and people will likely have to line up or order far in advance in order to secure them, but these types of leaks seem more a way to control consumer expectation than any kind of sign of real trouble in Apple’s production pipeline.
Rumors have been swirling which suggest that Apple is readying a new iPad mini with Retina display
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Apple’s iPad 5 and iPad mini 2 (generational markers, likely not official names by the way) will probably arrive later this year, as has been reported previously, according to KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Generally, analyst-sourced reports seem to be pretty hit-or-miss, but Kuo has a solid track record, including what appear to be accurate predictions around Apple’s forthcoming low-cost iPhone 5C and its color options.
Kuo says in an investor note today (via 9to5Mac) that the iPad 5 and iPad mini 2 are entering initial production this month, with plans to ramp up to full-scale mass production in the fourth quarter of this year. This counters some reports that suggested we’d see next-generation tablets from Apple revealed at its September 10 event, which is taking place on the Apple Campus in Cupertino and is generally expected to cover new iPhone announcements.
More details by Kuo included in the note suggest that Apple was originally planning to not release updated iPad models until calendar year 2014, and that it will still wait until them to offer a lower-cost, non-Retina version of the iPad mini in the same way it offers the iPad 2 as a cheaper alternative to the current-generation Retina iPad device.
Another interesting tidbit from Kuo is the idea that Apple will continue to sell the iPad 2 and manufacture new devices even after it introduces new models. Apple typically sells two previous generation devices alongside new model with the iPhone, as a way of offering lower cost options. With the iPad, it has opted instead to keep the iPad 2 around as a sole backup option to the fourth generation iPad, and looks intent on continuing that trend. The iPad 2 currently uses a 30-pin connector, and might be the only shipping Apple device to do so after the September event, so we could see it get a minor revision to move to Lightning for data and charging.
The iPad 5′s rear case was shown off on video by Unbox Therapy earlier this week, and if those parts are real it means we should see an iPad mini inspired design when this does ship. Kuo says they’ll also boast new A7-generation processors, which would mean a big performance boost for the iPad mini, which currently runs an A5. The extra processing power would likely be needed to help support a Retina display, which would pack even more pixels into smaller a space compared to the Retina 9.7-inch iPad screen.
Apple’s supposed next-generation iPad case components are on display in a new high-definition video from Unbox Therapy, showing a design that is clearly inspired by the iPad mini. This agrees with what we’ve heard and seen from previous leaks, but until now it’s been hard to get a solid grasp on just how dramatic the difference is between the current iPad and the one that’s said to be arriving in October or thereabouts to replace it.
The new iPad design looks to shave around 15mm off of the current model in terms of device width, and also looks to shave off some depth, both of which will probably result in a much lighter, easier to hold and carry device. The savings in terms of the overall width appear to come from a smaller bezel surrounding the unchanged 9.7-inch screen, which is again a trick borrowed from the iPad mini.
In the video, you can see how the new iPad case parts compare directly to the old version, and view additional details like a mirrored Apple logo on the back, as well as dual speaker ports at the bottom, separated volume buttons vs. a rocker on the old model, and more abruptly tapered edges, vs. the gradual slope on the current iPad.
By far the biggest failing of the Retina iPads has been their slight size increase over the iPad 2 to accommodate bigger batteries to power those juice-hungry high-resolution displays. If Apple’s truly going to focus on delivering a slimmer, sleeker case with the iPad 5, we could see a lot of iPad 2 hold-outs rushing to upgrade.
Apple is indeed gearing up to put a Retina display in next version of the iPad mini, according to a new report from the Wall Street Journal. The new version of Apple’s smaller, 7.9-inch tablet will have a high-resolution screen provided by Samsung’s display supply wing, as well as LG and Sharp. Originally, per the report, Apple wanted to skip Samsung for this round but wanted to ensure it could meet buyer demand.
The news that Apple is preparing to enter mass production on a Retina iPad mini starting in the fourth quarter of this year comes just as rumors circulated yesterday that Apple would likely skip putting a high-res display in the next version, and instead boost the processor that powers the device, which was based on hints in code found in the iOS 7 beta.
9to5Mac first reported the non-Retina A6-powered iPad mini, but did explicitly state that this doesn’t mean Apple is preparing to ship one. Apple routinely tests a variety of devices in its labs and brings only a select few to market, so it’s possible that a non-Retina version was in the works alongside a Retina variety. Apple must pay attention to the market, and the Nexus 7′s ultra high-resolution display (as well as other upcoming devices like the rumored Kindle Fire HD refresh) could in theory have prompted the company to choose one over the other.
The WSJ qualifies its report by saying that Apple often tests different designs too, and makes no claims that the Retina iPad will definitely make it to market. The timing and nature of the report seems like a controlled leak, however; Apple watchers and pundits were quick to criticize the possibility that Apple wouldn’t introduce a Retina display in a second-generation iPad mini. A sudden leak sprouting saying it will is the perfect way to assuage those fears while capitalizing on the spotlight focused by the earlier leak to build more product hype.
Apple wants to wean itself away from a supply dependency on Samsung, the WSJ reiterates, since the two are now primary competitors on the smartphone front and still embroiled in numbers court battles over intellectual property. But Samsung is a key supplier for many important components, not the least of which is displays, so it isn’t surprising to see them named as a source for a Retina iPad mini screen. The WSJ also says we could see multiple different colors for the new mini’s back cover, just like with the color iPod touch.
If Apple is ramping up for Q4 production of this device, we could see it arrive around the same time as last year’s first model, so around November this year. A Retina iPad mini before Christmas would definitely result in big benefits for Apple’s holiday quarter sales, so the timing fits.
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