New "iPad 2,5" and "iPad 2,6" show up at Instapaper

[Eug]

http://www.marco.org/2012/08/30/ipad-mini-internals

I saw two curious entries in Instapaper’s device stats today: one iPad2,5 and one iPad2,6.

(There were also a few iPhone5,1 devices, but that’s not a surprise — that’s almost certainly next month’s new GSM iPhone.)

These device models, as reported by the OS, could be faked by a jailbreaker with enough free time. But I’ve never had a device show up there that didn’t end up being a real, about-to-be-released Apple device.

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So, 7.85" 163 ppi 1024x768 512 MB iPad mini with 32 nm Apple A5 dual Cortex A9.

 

[TheStu]

If you read his previous entry as well, you see an interesting piece of information stating that the same panel density that the iPad Mini will have, and the 3GS has, when scaled up to 26.7" yields 4K resolution. New iMac 27 in a few years maybe? They would need to beef up GPUs even further, as well as Thunderbolt.

 

[MrX8503]

If you read his previous entry as well, you see an interesting piece of information stating that the same panel density that the iPad Mini will have, and the 3GS has, when scaled up to 26.7" yields 4K resolution. New iMac 27 in a few years maybe? They would need to beef up GPUs even further, as well as Thunderbolt.

Very interesting theory. 27" 4k monitor would make me drool.

 

[JAG87]

I may be missing something, but isn't this device going to kill the ipod touch line? I mean who would buy a 3.5" screen (despite the higher ppi), when for the same money you can get a screen double the size, that is actually usable for reading, a way more powerful SoC, and possibly even have a cellular connection?

 

[TheStu]

Very interesting theory. 27" 4k monitor would make me drool.

It is interesting to me the way that the industry is being driven. Once other manufacturer's can actually get their hands on some* of the retina panels, expect to start seeing them in business systems (HP most likely, they have focused on their 'Dreamcolor' displays for the past few years).

I mean sure, they have been showing off 4K (and now 8K) displays for a while, but only ever at tech shows and the price tags have always been exorbitant, not to mention that there is no content for them yet. At least not a lot of it. However, on a computer, where the 4K resolution becomes an enabling feature to allow a wide variety of higher resolutions on an LCD, that right there is awesome, and an ideal use case for the resolution.

*As I saw one person put it, this is how Apple approaches a component vendor 'Hey, we want to buy up this component, and not a lot of it, but all of it, for like, ever. Is that cool?'

 

[TheStu]

I may be missing something, but isn't this device going to kill the ipod touch line? I mean who would buy a 3.5" screen (despite the higher ppi), when for the same money you can get a screen double the size, that is actually usable for reading, a way more powerful SoC, and possibly even have a cellular connection?

You're not wrong, it is going to seriously put a dent in iPod Touch sales. But there is still a market for the iPod touch, namely in the pocket-ability factor.

Apple kills its darlings, and if they feel that at the end of the day, their bottom line is better served by the iPad Mini rather than the iPod Touch, then they will either kill or overshadow the iPod Touch.

I would love to get the iPad Mini with 4G in it. It would make a great carputer with nav.

 

[slugg]

I may be missing something, but isn't this device going to kill the ipod touch line? I mean who would buy a 3.5" screen (despite the higher ppi), when for the same money you can get a screen double the size, that is actually usable for reading, a way more powerful SoC, and possibly even have a cellular connection?

I would. Hear me out from the OTHER side of the argument. This applies to ALL iPod, iPad, iPhone, android-like devices.

Who would buy a 7 inch screen rather than a 10? You get all the negatives and none of the positives of my portable, pocket-sized phone. A 7 inch tablet is big enough to be a pain in the ass to carry around (won't fit in my pocket), but too small to comfortably read real papers. If you already can't fit it in your pocket and are forced to carry it around anyways, why would you ever NOT get the 10 inch screen tablet? For portability, my phone that is always on me can fill in the gaps. Who shops for a tablet that doesn't already have a smart phone? Under-sized tablets are stupid.

 

[Eug]

The iPod touch and the iPad mini are in overlapping but otherwise relatively distinct markets.

The iPod touch is not only much more portable than the hypothetical iPad mini, it's also much cheaper.

As for the 10" vs. 8" iPad, I MUCH prefer my 7" Nexus 7 over my 10" iPad. The 10" iPad is big enough to be awkward and tiring in the hands, so that I want to leave it on the table, except on the table it lies flat and is annoying to view unless I have a stand for it. The 7" Nexus is light enough that it's easier to hold for longer periods, and I can hold it with one hand.

Yes, the 7" Nexus is not something I'll carry with me all the time, but I definitely am carrying it way more than the iPad... which was basically never. If I wanted to carry something, I just took my laptop.

So for me:

4" iPhone 5: Always with me.
7" Nexus 7: Sometimes with me.
11 or 13" laptop (I have both - see sig): With me when I want to do real work.
10" iPad: Stays home, unused by me.

 

[TheStu]

The iPod touch and the iPad mini are in overlapping but otherwise relatively distinct markets.

The iPod touch is not only much more portable than the hypothetical iPad mini, it's also much cheaper.

As for the 10" vs. 8" iPad, I MUCH prefer my 7" Nexus 7 over my 10" iPad. The 10" iPad is big enough to be awkward and tiring in the hands, so that I want to leave it on the table, except on the table it lies flat and is annoying to view unless I have a stand for it. The 7" Nexus is light enough that it's easier to hold for longer periods, and I can hold it with one hand.

Yes, the 7" Nexus is not something I'll carry with me all the time, but I definitely am carrying it way more than the iPad... which was basically never. If I wanted to carry something, I just took my laptop.

So for me:

4" iPhone 5: Always with me.
7" Nexus 7: Sometimes with me.
11 or 13" laptop (I have both - see sig): With me when I want to do real work.
10" iPad: Stays home, unused by me.

Well, i take my iPad with me when travelling instead of my Air because when travelling, I don't need a lot of oomph, and if it is just a weekend trip, then I probably don't even need the charger (though that is moot since i would bring one for my iPhone anyway).

With the Air, although it takes up about the same amount of space in my bag, I also need to bring the charger, and that eats up space.

An 8" iPad would be of more use to me than the 10" model simply due to the weight savings. That, and I would probably actually get the one with 3/4G, so it would be significantly more useful. Maybe I would revert back to taking the Air then.

 

[Eug]

If I go somewhere for the weekend, I used to take either nothing except my iPhone, or else I would take my laptop plus iPhone. The laptop would give me Office and Flash support, and of course a proper keyboard. The iPad and iPhone have the same deficiencies, except that the iPad has a bigger screen.

Nowadays I think I might sometimes take the Nexus 7 in place of the laptop, since Flash is a lot less relevant in 2012, but if I still need Office I'd take my laptop. VPN too. I can do VPN on the Nexus 7 and iPad, but it's much nicer on the laptop.

The other issue is MKV file support. Mobile iOS devices aren't really good for MKV playback (although it can be done). The Nexus 7 isn't ideal either, but a rooted one can play the files off flash media.

 

[Tegeril]

omg TheStu, I hadn't even begun considering how awesome an iPad Mini would be in my car, what have you done!?

 

[Eug]

If you read his previous entry as well, you see an interesting piece of information stating that the same panel density that the iPad Mini will have, and the 3GS has, when scaled up to 26.7" yields 4K resolution. New iMac 27 in a few years maybe? They would need to beef up GPUs even further, as well as Thunderbolt.

3840x2160 rez on a 27" would not be ideal for the general population IMO, although it'd be good for older eyes.

3840x2400 on a 24" would be perfect. That's 188 ppi, exactly quadruple the screen resolution of the 24" iMac (94 ppi).

If it was a 27" screen, it might benefit from being somewhat higher than 4K, but either way I'd hope they'd decrease the size of that chin, to bring the overall screen height down.

 

[TheStu]

omg TheStu, I hadn't even begun considering how awesome an iPad Mini would be in my car, what have you done!?

I know, right? Just rig up a way to stick it right where my stereo currently is, get some sort of anti-glare screen cover... boom.

 

[cheez]

iPod Touch has been a big waste for me. The screen is so small I can't read websites or anything. I don't even watch videos off that thing anymore. I only use it for two things:

- Use it as MP3 player for car
- Use it as an alarm clock for work

That's it. Nothing more. I paid like 500 some dollars for this thing? Holly cow. I'm so stupid. 🙁

Nope, I'm not buying iPad mini or anything. Full of compatibility issues. MBP is a complete 180 degree different story though.

 

[Eug]

You paid $500 for an iPod touch?!?!

My friends kids have iPod touches and they love them, but I think they're all 8 GB models for $199.

 

[cheez]

^ I got the 64GB version and was something like over 400 bucks. Throw in tax and some other accessories and bam $500. Way too much money spent for that little device. 🙁

 

[Tom]

In several ways the ipod Touch is Apple's best product.

1. Its so affordable everyone can have one, and find out how good Apple's ecosystem really is.

2. Its a great portable game machine. Its far and away the device kids want for games, assuming they can't get an iphone or ipad because of cost.

3. its a great alternative to an iphone/smartphone for those who don't want the cost of an iphone/smartphone, particularly the expense of monthly smartphone service.

I kinda look at the Nexus 7 the same way; its an affordable way to get into the Android market, I'm just not sure if that market is all that compelling, compared to Apple and Windows(pc).

 

[Eug]

I don't view the iPod touch to be a true alternative to the iPad in most cases. Although there may be some overlap in the target market of these two products, I don't think that overlap is very much.

The iPad mini will likely have more overlap with the iPod touch though. Not only is the price a lot closer, so is the size.

As for the Nexus 7, I just preferred the form factor. After my experiences with the 10" iPad, I was simply not interested in a 10" Android machine, even at the deep discounts that came recently.

BTW, I saw a 13" Toshiba tablet today. For me, it just felt ridiculous... but YMMV.