AppleInsider Staff
Images of a purported "iPad mini" battery hit the web early Sunday, showing Apple's much-rumored 7.85-inch tablet may employ a 16.7 watt-hour battery, which would offer more energy than the cells found in Google's Nexus 7 and Amazon's Kindle Fire HD.
AppleInsider cannot confirm the image's pedigree and offers the following information for purposes of discussion only.
The photos acquired by MacRumors claim to be a final or near-final version of the battery set to be used in the so-called "iPad mini," with the purported unit bearing a product number of A1445 and APN, or Apple product number, of 616-0641. In comparison, the third-generation iPad's battery is identified as part number A1389, and carries an APN of 616-0593.
Further investigation of the supposed iPad mini battery reveals the unit is a 3.72-volt, 16.7 watt-hour cell that holds a charge of 4,490 mAh. This is compared to the third-generation iPad's huge 43 watt-hour, 11,560 mAh battery, the iPad 2's 24.8 watt-hour cell, and the iPhone 5's 5.45 watt-hour unit.
The alleged battery's markings are incomplete and have placeholders for certain regulatory text, numbers and government regulation insignias, suggesting the part is not a production model. However, the general shape of the unit is consistent with previously "leaked" components, including the rear shell, front display assembly and LCD.
If legitimate, the 16.7 watt-hour cell could mean the smaller iPad's battery life will be comparable to the Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire HD, which employ a 16 watt-hour and 16.43 watt-hour unit, respectively. Weighing heavily into the runtime calculation of any device is the processor, which in some cases can diminish performance by hours.
It remains to be seen what processor Apple will choose to run the alleged iPad mini, though the company's most recent A-series system on chips are either on par or more efficient than competing silicon. A report in early October claimed that an unknown iPad, thought to be the iPad mini, appeared in an app developer's access logs, with the device operating an A6-series chip much like the component found in the iPhone 5.
Apple is widely expected to unveil its small form factor tablet at an event on Oct. 23.
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47 Comments
I ran the numbers. Using the rumoured iPad mini info we've seen for months we have a display area that is 4.27x the display area of the iPod Touch which only has an 3.8 Whr battery. That means the iPad mini battery is 4.39x the capacity of the Touch battery with only a slighter higher pixel density than the Touch. That helps makes this rumoured part and the previous leaks seem plausible.
I'd say that this puts an end to all of the ignorant and unrealistic wishes from certain people. No, the iPad mini, or whatever it's going to be called, will not be Retina. That was fairly obvious from the get go. If you want a retina iPad, go buy the 9.7" "new iPad". If you want a smaller iPad, go buy the "iPad mini". If you want a piece of crap, go buy an Android tablet.
Apart from a new product launch and needing to sort out how it runs against the 'competition' (toe in the water and all that) another reason it won't have a retina display is they need to have an upsell next year. If the battery is similar to that in the nexus 7, it will be interesting seeing what the difference in performance is.
Another misleading AI article. The big point here is that display backlighting is often the single biggest power draw in these devices. If not the biggest it is very significant, significant to the point that screen selection can impact battery lifetimes. Apple will most likely strive to find a balance between screen power draw and processor power draw with the idea of all day usability. I don't mean that screen is on all day just that the device can support reasonable usage patterns. To that end the discussion about what type of screen is in the device is open ended. It could be IPS, it could be Sharps new technology or something different again. It could be retina, traditional resolution or something in between. We don't know because we don't know how Apple will market the device. However I'm leaning towards Apple pulling out all the stops! People fail to see that this sized device serves an entirely different market than the current iPad. As such there will be little in the way of overlap in sales.
[quote name="Entropys" url="/t/153364/rumor-pictures-show-alleged-16-7-watt-hour-ipad-mini-battery#post_2211049"]Apart from a new product launch and needing to sort out how it runs against the 'competition' (toe in the water and all that) another reason it won't have a retina display is they need to have an upsell next year. [/Quote] I don't know what this device will be like but the statement above is baloney. The inclusion of a retina display will be dictated by the ability to manufacture the device at a price point that supports the marketing plans. That is it. We already see that retina is in the product line above and below this device so I think Apple will be putting a lot of effort into the screen. That might not be a retina. However they will stress quality and as such I'm expecting to see Sharps new screen in the tablet. [Quote] If the battery is similar to that in the nexus 7, it will be interesting seeing what the difference in performance is.[/quote] That is certainly true. However I doubt it will make one bit of difference in sales. One thing I need to do is review IPhone tear downs. I'm not even sure Apple is using Sharps screens in the iPhone. If not it makes you wonder where all of Sharps production is going.