October 23, 2012
iPad Mini is Here. Will it Make You Pitch a Tent?
It’s here.
Apple’s latest gift to the masses.
A new, miniature sized version of the iPad.
The features and specs shouldn’t be enough to make you set up camp outside your local Apple Store. The iPad Mini is estenitally a scaled-down version of the two year old, iPad 2. The screen size is 7.9" in comparison to the 9.7" of the standard iPad. The most glaring omission is the lack of a retina display. On a day that began with Phil Schiller telling us how wonderful the Retina display is for the new MBPr, the iPad Mini was left in the dust with an outdated screen.
But like we said, the feature list and specs aren’t the draw here. The draw is the form factor. iPad Mini goes places iPad doesn’t. It fits in one hand and weighs next to nothing. It sports a 720p HD iSight camera. iPad Mini pricing starts at $329.
For such a hefty price tag, it would’ve been a breath of fresh air to see Apple gear iPad Mini as a replacement for an existing device rather than try to convince us that we need another one. Apple doesn’t expect the Mini to replace your current iPad, they want you to need both.
Without a Retina display, no one is replacing iPad 3 with iPad Mini. Another option could’ve been as an iPhone replacement. If the iPad Mini 4G version we to include a phone app, it could potentially be an iPhone replacement for some individuals who use texts, Facetime, email as primary communication. No one would be holding the 8" device to their ear, but doesn’t everyone use a headset these days?
In the end, iPad Mini is certainly nothing revolutionary. Its release is more comparable to release of the white iPhone than anything we’ve seen lately from Apple. People will buy it and they will love it. But don’t expect the worldwide hysteria that you’re used to at an Apple Product launch.
Apple also announced a 13" MBPr and updated iMac today. Read more about them here.
What do you think of the iPad Mini? Will you be buying one?
