Thursday, January 31, 2013

iPad Mini

Promo split hero

When Apple launched the iPad Mini, I thought back to Steve Jobs saying that 7" was a rubbish form factor. Maybe it was all the other kick-ass 7" tablets that made them build it ?

Whatever the reason, they did. And its pretty. Its literally like they shrunk the original iPad; it feels good in the hands, size is perfect, texture is great. So, on the plus side

  • size is excellent
  • lightning connector is brilliant
  • price point is fair (I said fair, not cheap)

 

There are three caveats though;

  • why did it need a nano-SIM, as opposed to the micro-SIM that they made ubiquitous two years ago or a normal SIM for the 20 years before that ?
  • why not fit a retina display to it ?
  • why does it feel so damn sluggish and often pause when running multiple applications ?

 

As usual, Apple has released a great market and effectively reinvented a segment they already dominated. I suspect that you'll see over time the 10" iPad market stabilise (not shrink) with substantial growth coming from the 7" market. I suspect they'll piss off tons of early adopters by releasing a retina-upgraded version of the display by June 2013, and then a jump/quantum change in September/October (processor bump, better cameras, etc). But for now, its a damn fine piece of kit.