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Bloomberg is reporting that Apple is planning to launch a smaller, cheaper iPad to compete with Amazon and Google—and suggests that it will arrive by the end of 2012.
Citing anonymous sources from within Apple, Bloomberg reports that the device would have a screen that’s 7 to 8 inches on the diagonal, with a lower pixel density than the current Retina display. The same sources suggest that the product could be announced as early as October of this year.
It’s not the first time rumours have circulated about a smaller iPad, but it is the first time an Apple employee has been cited in one of the reports. While there is no way to confirm whether the rumor is correct, it would allow Apple to compete more closely with Amazon’s Fire and Google’s Nexus 7. It’s unlikely that Apple would ever launch a product which didn’t make a profit, though, so if it does launch a smaller tablet it’s doubtful it would ever be priced as low as £160.
So, will there be a smaller version of the iPad? At the moment, there’s not enough evidence to say and, if anything, on balance it’s most likely not to be the case. But that doesn’t mean we can rule it out. Fortunately, speculation that the device could be launched by the end of year fits with the Apple’s usual October iPhone announcement—so you might not have to wait too long to find out. [Bloomberg]
Update: The WSJ is also wading in, with independent reports that a smaller iPad is on the way
I hear it’ll have a 4 inch 16:9 screen and be able to make phone calls.
I hear it is made by unicorns and fairies and that using it cures cancer..
Usual October iphone announcement? Up until the 4s is it was always June/July – the October was an aberration possibly caused by manufacturing issues. Or is this the usual Appleite rewriting history
?
Apple always released the iOS beta to developers a few months before the iPhone release. They released the beta last year in June (previous years it had been march ish) and the iPhone came a few months later as planned. They did the same thing this year.
I’m more inclined to believe this is Bloomberg cock-blocking Google.
Dont really get why they’d try and compete with the recent 7″ models.
They’d be unlikely to compete on price, as that’d steal from their main breadwinner in the overpriced stuff market. So what would their selling point be, exactly?
Knowing apple they will market the smaller pad as more portable and sleeker and then make it more expensive than the current pad. I’ll just get a nexus.
So will it be a mini iPad, or a maxi iPod Touch?
Now I just want Apple to accidentally release a product called MaxiPad
This can’t happen. the touch is alread virtually matching the price of the nexus 7 (there’s a £20 premium for a bigger screen basically). Apple thrives from the touch sales, and introducing a 5-8″ screened tablet would kill the touch sales and reduce their profit(given that amazon/google are making no profit on their tablets). They’re no samsung; they’ll have a very well spaced product line, not one filled with devices that cost about the same and fulfill the same roll.
The obvious question is (assuming this is true) how do they deal with the awkward “Steve Jobs said small tablets should come with sandpaper to make users fingers smaller” problem. Of course I am not saying that they shouldn’t go against stupid things Jobs said (there are so many after all) but you know everyone is going to bring it up.
I thought people that used iOS already had tiny fingers from using that 3.5″ iPhone screen?
Yes, but apparently Mr Jobs missed the irony of his own statement entirely.
I think you mean tiny penises. Oh, wait.
Posted from my iPhone.
I’m impressed you managed to type that with your penis without any spelling mistakes
It’s a skill. Can’t say my colleagues in the office were too impressed though.