Rumour roundup of the iPad Mini

OK, so the news is full to bursting with the buzz of the iPhone 5, but what’s next for Apple? Apple appears to have resigned itself to the fact most of the ‘big’ news about the phone had been leaked before the big release date, meaning last Wednesdays launch was more a case of ‘OK, so what’s next’?

Being billed as Steve Jobs final design project, the phone will undoubtedly sell in the millions, but we’re pretty much over most the hype already!

The answer to this is, of course, the mythical iPad mini. 

So here is a roundup of some of the most believable rumours currently circulating around those in the know:

Connector

The iPad mini will undoubtedly have the same lightening speed connector as the iPhone 5.  Apple has confirmed this system will be around for ‘years to come’ and the smaller connector would work well with the more compact design.

Screen & Resolution

The main difference between the iPad 2 and the iPad mini could be the retina display, reminiscent of the iPad 3. Although, many are saying matching the current retina resolution of the iPad 3 will require even more pixels per inch, and thus drive production costs up even further. 

The mini’s 7in screen is most likely to have the same aspect ratio and screen resolution as the iPad 2 - the mini needs to continue to run iPad apps seamlessly, so keeping with the iPads existing resolution size seems sensible.

Price

The biggest mini conundrum involves pricing.  The iPad 3’s pricing starts at around £399 for the basic model and the iPad 2 at around £300.  An iPad mini would need to be priced around £200 to remain competitive and hit people’s sweet spots.  But, believe it or not, shrinking an iPad doesn’t actually shrink production or marketing costs, which will still be around £180 per device. 

I guess we’re just going to have to wait this one out…

Camera

There are rumours that there will be no rear facing camera, but with the iPod Touch, iPhone and iPad all having cameras, we would be very surprised if there weren’t front and rear cameras to support Face Time.

Rear Shell

The rear shell is very likely to have been carved out of aluminium to the exacting levels of detail that tally well with the new iPhone 5 and current iPad design.

Launch Date

It’s very unlikely the iPad mini will make an appearance much before October, when the iPhone 5 madness has settled down, and would be good timing going up against the October 26 debut of Windows 8.

Remember though folks; this is all still just rumour!  Without a single piece of hardware leak from the factories in China, maybe this is all just a really great story that exists only in the minds of pundits and analysts.

Only time will tell…

This article was written by Kathryn Thompson, a UK based tech and gadget writer with a special interest in tablet technology.  Kathryn currently uses an ultrabook with cinematic sound, but eagerly awaits any titbits from the Apple table about their new tablet innovations.