Thoughts on iPad 5 and iPad mini 2
Wed, October 16, 2013 at 8:43 PM
iPad Creative in Comment, James, iPad 5, iPad Mini

We are just one week away from finding out what Apple will do to persuade current iPad owners to upgrade. Here's a look at what to expect.

iPad mini 2

For iPad mini owners that answer is pretty simple, a Retina display.

Many prefer the more manageable size and weight of the mini, but there's no denying that the full sized iPad has a far superior display. It's not yet clear if it's Apple's intent to quadruple the pixel count of the mini's display, hence making it a Retina display, but we certainly hope it does. Going back to a standard display after spending many months with a high DPI display is quite jarring.

If the new iPad mini gets a Retina display it's mostly certainly going to need to move to the A6X chipset. We don't want a repeat of the iPad 3 problems with its underpowered GPU.

iPad 5

We have already mentioned that we expect the new iPad to include a slightly faster version of its new A7 chipset, but it seems likely that it will also include a fingerprint scanner and a more capable main camera module. The iPad 4 is still a powerhouse, so the move to the A7 chipset may not seem like much of an upgrade, however we would contend that readers of this website may well be the ones that benefit most from just such an upgrade.

There are a whole host of apps that could do with a two times speed increase. In fact any application that handles large quantities of photo, video or audio data will be much more usable running on Apple's new 64-bit chipset. Imagine rendering an iMovie project in full 1080p in less that half realtime, that and much more will be possible with the A7X. Apple is calling the A7 chipset 'desktop class' silicon. It most certainly doesn't belong to the desktop class of 2013, but it's right up there with the best of 2009. Not bad for something with a 10 hour battery life and measuring just a few millimetres thick.

Can Apple improve the quality of the screen without increasing the resolution? Yes, we are expecting a slightly brighter, more vibrant display. No extra pixels though, perhaps they'll make an appearance on larger iPad Pro?

Thinking beyond technical specifications, a slimmer, lighter iPad would be most welcome. A 10% weight decrease would be handy, we think Apple will deliver on that front.

Twin speakers to provide some kind of stereo separation would be nice, but not essential. The same can be said of the camera. The current 5MP camera does a sterling job, but if Apple can upgrade it to match that of the iPhone 5s we certainly won't be complaining.

What would you like to see in the new iPad and iPad mini? Let us know in a comment below.

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