Neil Hughes
Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo with KGI Securities said in a research note issued on Friday that the so-called "iPad mini" will feature industry leading "GF Ditto," otherwise known as GF2, touchscreen technology. He said that Apple will be the first company in the world to commercialize and mass produce GF Ditto technology.
The new method is apparently an improvement from the "G/G touch structure" Apple currently utilizes in its third-generation iPad with Retina display. The switch will allow the new iPad to be not only thinner but significantly lighter.
The iPad mini will be about as thin as Apple's next-generation iPhone, according to Kuo. He estimates that the iPad mini's panel thickness will be below 2.2 millimeters alone, or below 4.2 millimeters including the printed circuit board — both numbers that he said are thinner than the average tablet on the market today.
Production of a device so thin and light has become a particular challenge for Apple in the manufacturing process, he said. In particular, the thinness of the new iPad "poses a challenge to panel assembly yield," as well as passing the company's "drop test" for durability.
Difficulties in manufacturing the iPad mini allegedly led to an internal delay in launching the device, according to Kuo. He believes that shipments of the smaller iPad will begin in the first half of October, and the device will become available to consumers in late October.
Mockup comparing sizes of iPads, Google's Nexus 7 and Amazon's Kindle Fire. | Source: iMore
In addition to the ultra-thin design, he also said the iPad mini will feature a high-definition forward-facing FaceTime camera, and a 5-megapixel rear camera.
Given the rumored supply constraints with the new design, Kuo has cut his projected iPad mini shipments this year from 15.1 million to 10.2 million. He said that Apple has increased orders for the iPad 2 as of July to "cope with delays in iPad mini launch."
Kuo's note issued Friday also claimed that Apple plans to update its current iPad with Retina display this fall, giving the device a new 9-pin dock connector but leaving the rest of the device largely unchanged.
AppleInsider Staff
Chip Loder
Christine McKee
Malcolm Owen
William Gallagher
Andrew Orr
121 Comments
I'm still hoping that New Apple is just pulling off the greatest hoax of their company's history and weeding out leaks.
If anything would be a result of a doubling down of security, it's all this "confirmed" information about a product that was never going to exist in the first place. Leak one thing to one place, another thing to another. Then fire everyone when something on the list leaks out.
If we ever get to a reliable VOIP solution and Retina for this device, I'd be REALLY tempted to make an LTE version of this my only device.
I'm dead serious.
If we ever get to a reliable VOIP solution and Retina for this device, I'd be REALLY tempted to make an LTE version of this my only device.
I'm dead serious.
You'd hold a 7", 3:2 phone to your face?
[quote name="AppleInsider" url="/t/152252/ipad-mini-will-be-challengingly-thin-thanks-to-gf2-technology#post_2179984"]Given the rumored supply constraints with the new design, Kuo has cut his projected iPad mini shipments this year from 15.1 million to 10.2 million. He said that Apple has increased orders for the iPad 2 as of July to "cope with delays in iPad mini launch.".[/quote] You've got to love analysts: "We don't have any evidence that there's really going to be a product, we don't know the price, we don't know the features, don't know the launch date (if any), we don't know anything about it - and can't even be sure of its existence, but we predicted that Apple would sell 15.1 M units this year. But now, on the basis of unfounded rumors about supply of this product that may or may not exist and which may or may not have an attractive price/features, and which still has unknown features, price, launch date, etc, we are now going to reduce our estimate to 10.2 M". Yes, with that kind of detail, I can see whey they're giving estimates with a 1% error margin. /s
You'd hold a 7", 3:2 phone to your face?
Ironically, one wouldn't hold an iPhone or Mini to one's face for FaceTime.