Kevin Bostic
The follow-up to Apple's iPad mini will reportedly feature a Retina display with a pixel density of 324 pixels per inch — higher even than the display on the fourth-generation iPad.
The rumor comes via investment news service BrightWire and cites sources close to Taiwanese Apple suppliers, who say that AU Optronics is piloting the production of a second-generation 7.9-inch iPad mini.
Current iPad mini resolution (left) vs. rumored iPad mini 2 resolution (right).
The resolution on the device is said to stand at 2,048 by 1,536 pixels, four times that of the current iPad mini and equal to that of the larger Retina iPad.
Packing the resolution of the larger iPad into the smaller version would allow Apple to have a high-resolution smaller device without making developers have to tailor their apps to yet another screen size. Apple did much the same with the introduction of the current iPad mini, which has the same resolution as the iPad 2.
Apple did add a new resolution to its lineup last fall, when the company launched the iPhone 5 with a taller 4-inch display. But because the iPhone 5 retains the same pixel width as its predecessors, legacy applications can run in a "letterbox" mode with unused space at the top and bottom of the screen.
Rumors of a high-density display in the next version of the iPad mini are nothing new, having persisted since the device's introduction. While Apple was criticized in some media outlets when the iPad mini debuted due to the lack a Retina-level display, the mini has seen strong sales in the months since its release. Supplies of the tablet have only recently begun to approach demand.
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94 Comments
No way, man. That's crazy. What, that's like… a display with the quality of a… a retina or something. Crazy talk.
I'll buy 4 of these with 32GB of ram. This is what I've been waiting for. Now they just need to release a new Thunderbolt display.
I'll buy 4 of these with 32GB of ram.
I'd buy anything with 32 gigs of RAM if the price was right. Never will I be able to go back to anything less than 30 gigs anymore…
I'm not sure why AI is finally picking up on this so long after it's been worked out and why they are reporting an incorrect PPI. Let's look at how Apple decided on the 7.85" iPad display size. [LIST=1] [*] They wanted to use the iPad's resolution and by its intrinsic property its aspect ratio [*] They wanted to reuse known display tech they already have to reduce cost. [/LIST] That's why we have a 7.85" iPad mini display that is 1024x768 at 163 PPI. When you double the iPad mini resolution you double the PPI to 326. 324 is the result of sloppy math by using sloppy and imprecise math by using a 7.9" size and without any consideration for how the display was chosen. Shameful that this was reported at all, much less re-report by AI. Bottom line: It'll use the iPhone's display when the iPad mini goes Retina. edit: clarified potential ambiguous text. edit2: proper math, sloppy proof reading. Good thing I don't do this professionally.
No way, man. That's crazy. What, that's like… a display with the quality of a… a retina or something. Crazy talk.
Yep. At the predicted 324 ppi, it would be "retina" as long as we hold the screen 11" or more away from our eyes.