Apple announces iPad Mini

Apple did a side-by-side comparison of the new iPad Mini (7.9-inch display) with the Android Nexus Seven tablet (7-inch display) at their live event. Price ranges from $329 to $659, and will go on sale November 2.

"Let's look at the bezels around the display," said Phil Schiller. Big bezels are something to be ashamed about.

The Verge had excellent liveblog coverage of the event.

Mark Frauenfelder is the founder of Boing Boing and the editor-in-chief of MAKE and Cool Tools. Twitter: @frauenfelder. Come and hear Mark speak at the ALA conference in Chicago on July 1.

More at Boing Boing

Eurovision 2013: An American in London

The technology that links taxonomy and Star Trek

PathogenAntifreeze

Truth… Sir Mix-a-Lot never composed an ode to big bezels, and there are good reasons for that.
David Botha

Actually bezels are good, because sometimes you want to be able to hold a device without having your thumb on the screen.
- vitriolix
  
  Which is precisely what apple themselves said about the iPads bezels. They are so shameless about going back on what they previously said when it’s convenient.
  
  So the Nexus 7 costs nearly half the iPad mini, is way better suited to being a light, portable tablet (which is the point of the small form factor), has a much, much nicer screen… this is feeling like a fail to me.
  
  the new macbook pro 13 retina is looking pretty damned competitive though
  - TheKaz1969
    
    “They are so shameless about going back on what they previously said when it’s convenient.”
    
    Apparently they suffer from Romneysia…
  - http://www.facebook.com/people/Andy-Murdock/783770273 Andy Murdock
    
    The only time people hear about products like the Nexus 7, whatever that is, is when whiners complain about the new Apple thing on internet forums.
    - TheKaz1969
      
      that’s pretty funny, considering boingboing themselves has had several posts on the Nexus 7. Don’t assume everyone lives in your shell…
    - vitriolix
      
      Clearly noone knows or cares about the Nexus 7… which is why Apple themselves stuck it up there on the big screen to compare themselves with. /s
  - http://www.ikaink.net Itsumishi
    
    Didn’t Apple also criticise other manufacturers when they first started releasing small tablets?
    
    Any search at the moment brings up about 200 stories on the iPad mini so I can’t find the stories I’m looking for, but I’m sure that happened.
    - vitriolix
      
      Yes, Steve Jobs trolled the hell out of the 7″ tablets, said they were “DOA” and that you’d need to file down your fingers to use the small UI’s (even though Android uses correctly sized assets for smaller screen sizes, unlike iOS)… so now they release a small screen with the exact same UI designs as the big screen. Their framework has no ability to handle this, to scale the UI so it works on different sizes, so they just ship a shrunk down tiny UI with button hit-boxes much smaller than intended and call it a day.
      - awjt
        
        Cmahn, the new ipad is for children and midgets.
      - http://www.ikaink.net Itsumishi
        
        But Steve is dead, so I guess Apple doesn’t care now!
        
        Anyone else notice the stock price drop after the announcement?
- JonSchweitzer
  
  The mini is small enough that you can hold it in the palm of your hand and wrap your thumb/fingers around the sides. No thumb-on-screen necessary.
  - WaferMouse
    
    Depends on the hands, I can easily wrap my hand under my N7 but it’s not the smartest way to hold it, and I can see it being very uncomfortable for someone with smaller hands.
    
    If Apple isn’t eating their bezels, I’ll have them.
  - Terazilla
    
    I’ve had a Nexus7 for a while, and it’s really not comfortable to hold that way, though you can do it. The Apple product looks a little wider in the picture, I doubt palming it is very practical for most people.
    
    I HAVE wished its bezels were wider on the long edges, many times.
  - http://profiles.google.com/chudez Ted Bautista
    
    and once your muscles cramp, the tablet will lock into place
    - Ito Kagehisa
      
      Bug… or feature?
mikedt

This could be their first product flub in a while. A $140+ price premium over a Kindle Fire HD may be a tough sell come Christmas.
- vitriolix
  
  Agreed… who is their target here? It isn’t for bargain hunters. It isn’t for portability, their competitors makes much more sense here (try to put that 8″ tablet in your coat pocket). It isn’t for their core audience… Why wouldn’t you pay $50 more and get a much nicer screen?
  - TimRowledge
    
    That 8″ tablet’s external size is very similar to your bargain 7″ screen device. That’s because of that smaller bezel. Unless your coat is magically sensitive to the screen size rather than the package size I doubt you would have any issue fitting either unit in.
    Apple’s target is never bargain hunters. They aim at people that want something nicer than “barely acceptable but its cheap so it’ll do”, that works better. Quite often they produce devices that succeed at being much nicer and much pleasanter to live with. Sometimes they don’t. For other people there are Windows, and Chevy/Ford and Ryan Air etc.
    Make your own choice as to where your balance of value lies and hope that you get a better deal than you expected.
    - nox
      
      people that want something nicer than “barely acceptable but its cheap so it’ll do”, that works better. . . . For other people there are Windows, and Chevy/Ford and Ryan Air etc.
      
      Condescension and inflammatory claims. This is why even my friends who love Apple products dislike the fanboys.
      - timquinn
        
        No, they are just sick of talking to you about it.
      - TimRowledge
        
        That you can construe a factual correction (my first para) and an assertion that different people have different favoured places on a value/luxury spectrum as some kind of condescending fanboi-ism speaks volume about how little you listen.
        You anti-fans are at least as annoying and wrong as the most rapid fanboi.
      - scatterfingers
        
        Keep digging, my friend.
- angryfrog
  
  Yeah, I was going to get one for a relative for Christmas, but for $329 I’ll pass. I’d rather get them a Nexus 7 or maybe a secondhand iPad. Even Apple fanboys like me have their limits.
- TheOven
  
  I doubt it. It does a whole lot more than a Kindle.
  - http://BrianEaston.net/ Brian Easton
    
    No. It doesn’t.
- Isaac Marx
  
  I have long ago stopped predicting that Apple products will flop. Whatever reason you want to come up with to explain it, this will sell very well.
http://twitter.com/incarnedine_v Dan Hibiki

Oppa Guggenheim Style?
http://twitter.com/AndBobando ando bobando

The very fact that they are comparing their $329+ device to a $200+ device goes to show that they believe the two are similar enough to be in competition with each other. In which case, I think the $200 device is a damn steal!
Thorsten Karge

This sad Me2 attempt looks very similar to … hope they won´t get sued … oh wait a sec, thats them ;)
http://twitter.com/nagmay Gabriel Nagmay

No wireless. Less space than a nomad. Lame.
- Henry Pootel
  
  What do you mean by no wireless?
  - relawson
    
    released first no wireless, then with wifi, then with wifi+3g. thats what i saw
    - Andy Reilly
      
      The don’t have one without wireless. It’s wifi, then wifi+3G.
      - relawson
        
        I’m pretty sure I heard him say there would be a non-wireless version first, because I was like WTF??!? oh well, I guess I just misunderstood what was being said in the conference.
      - Andy Reilly
        
        Maybe it was about the fact that there is a non-3G version first. Yeah, I can’t imagine ANYTHING selling without at least wifi these days.
  - eviladrian
    
    Learn your history!
    
    http://slashdot.org/story/01/10/23/1816257/apple-releases-ipod
dioptase

Ars has a quick and dirty comparison of 7 inch tablets up: http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2012/10/apple-joins-the-fray-a-survey-of-the-7-inch-tablet-scene/
- headcode
  
  Only the iPad mini has wireless capability? Really? That feature alone is worth a lot to me. There must be some mistake in that comparison chart.
  - Nick Hayday
    
    no mistake
  - Ito Kagehisa
    
    The chart is ludicrously wrong. Nook HD has wireless b/g/n for example.
    - headcode
      
      What I meant was no ‘other’ wireless. As in the non-wifi type. As in 3G or 4G. I mean, they’re both “wireless” so it gets kind of awkward.
      - Ito Kagehisa
        
        Hmmm… I see what you mean; I’d call that telco connectivity, myself, which is also awkward and subject to misinterpretation.
Matt Grimm

I already have an iPad mini, and it makes calls as well. What really are they offering here?
- http://twitter.com/strugglngwriter strugglngwriter
  
  Mine doesn’t make calls but it does play music.
Mark_Frauenfelder

I’m happy with my Nexus 7. I love the size, and the responsiveness. Every app that I like using on my iPad is available on Android.
Alex Schneider

“Why does the Nexus 7 need such a huge bezel when it doesn’t even have a big stupid mechanical home button to accommodate?”
- TheKaz1969
  
  Probably to keep it thin and yet still fit all the part in it.
  
  Same reason your Volvo has a big front end when it doesn’t have a hood ornament to accomodate. Besides big bezels are what all the cool kids have. Apple is obviously copying the Nexus 7 but making the bezel smaller, they are able to avoid patent lawsuits….
http://www.matthewpetty.com/ Matthew Petty

Apple kept saying that the iPad mini was better than the smaller rival because it was bigger. I don’t get why that’s a selling point.
It’s like saying “Don’t buy that small car, pay more and get a bigger one and have more space in it”.
eragle

They said during the presentation that this wasn’t a scaled down ipad, and that “nothing is amazing as this.” Yet, they didn’t really say how. The price point really confuses me.
http://twitter.com/Polackio Matt Popke

The only thing the iPad mini has that might sway me is it’s app ecosystem. There are apps I wish were available for Android but aren’t. There are apps that are available for Android that I wish were better. That’s really the heart of the issue right now.
Aside from that, I like Nexus 7 more. I like the OS more. I like the screen more. I like the price a lot more. I like having GPS without having to pay for a data plan. I wouldn’t say no to a camera, but I don’t really need one on my tablet.

I really would just like for the Android app ecosystem to be better than it is. Is it just the platform fragmentation that’s causing problems or is there another reason why Android apps just aren’t there yet? I give my Nexus 7 another year to become a part of my daily routine. If it can’t, I’ll grab the 2nd generation iPad mini (grudgingly).
- bobchadwick
  
  Totally with you there (aside from switching to the iPad, since I’m pretty heavily invested in the Android ecosystem). I think it has a lot to do with the creative community’s embracing of Apple products. Of course, that doesn’t explain the lack of Android tablet apps from the likes of Yelp! and TripAdvisor.
  - SamSam
    
    Yelp! and TripAdvisor both have Android apps…
    
    Do they maybe not have dedicated tablet apps? I only use my phone, so I don’t know if there are big differences in the ecosystems, but I assume their apps would have no trouble running on a tablet.
- SamSam
  
  The Android app ecosystem is really pretty good. It’s rare that I think about something I want, search for it, and discover that it exists for iOS and not Android. I think the rare time that I discover that is when an ad for an iOS app pushes itself at me, making me suddenly think that there’s something I really need but, in retrospect, realize I don’t.
  
  I will admit that there are a few cases where this is not true (the language-learning website I am using right now made an iOS app but not an Android one… yet), but it’s pretty rare.
  
  What are the main things Android is missing that prevents you from switching over?
  - TheKaz1969
    
    THANK YOU.. I am tired of the VERY dated argument that iOS apps don’t exist for Android… almost as annoying as the “there are so many more viruses in Android apps!” — maybe, but if you are downloading porn apps that contain them from not reputable developers, you accept that risk.
    - Andy Reilly
      
      Reminds me of YEARS of the “but there’s so much more software available for the PC” argument. Yes, hundreds of other programs that do the same thing, but do it terribly. And a few programs that truly weren’t available on Mac. Number of applications does not equal number of good applications you’d want to use. One really good photo manipulation app or 20 crappy ones?
      - TheKaz1969
        
        right – another argument quickly becoming outdated. sure there are likely 20 crappy apps (photo manipulation or whatever) in android, but there are also 1 or 2 really good ones, as well.
      - Andy Reilly
        
        True, and the merging of chip platforms has only helped the cross pollination. In fact, Intel needs to worry that ARM processors are going to make them obsolete in certain markets.
  - http://twitter.com/zaren Jim Schmidt
    
    It’s missing a decent (and free) podcast catcher. Didn’t stop me from getting a Droid – iPhones are priced way out of my budget – but it would be nice to just rummage through iTunes and sample podcasts on my phone.
ratcity

No interest in the camera? I think the 5 mp camera makes up a big part of the premium. I’m disappointed by the non-retina, the lack of gps and the price but I think it’s a competitive product. I think keeping the camera helps apple distinguish it from the competition and makes it a higher end product. I keep going back and forth …. I videocall my mom using skype on both a nexus 7 and an ipad 3 (yeah sorry I’ll make it up somehow) and when I tap that button to swing the camera around to show her the weather or my new couch I appreciate it, and I miss it on the nexus.

Anyway, the people talking about how much they hate people taking pictures with tablets are the bottom of the barrel of nerd-ego. A tablet can be a fine camera even for normal snapshots, and it’s pretty great for more practical picture taking like capturing notes or taking a picture that you’re going to mark up a bit.
- hadlockk
  
  my three year old phone has a 5MP camera with autofocus lens *yawn* the megapixel war died years ago, can we let this one die? it’s the lens and quality of sensor that matters. the ipad2 took pretty incredible pictures at the time, but the cost of miniaturization has caught up with the times and… blah blah blah the reason the mini is being directly compared to android is because it’s just another player in an electronics commodity market. ignoring the minutiae of apple v android, they all let you post pictures of your cat on facebook.
- http://daruiburns.tumblr.com/ Dlo Burns
  
  Ugh, it might be ‘Hi-Rez’ but the sensor is still the size of a grape seed.
Cowicide

The low res screen is quite a bummer considering the premium price. If this was some sort of retina resolution, I’d be interested, but it’s not… so I’m not.
http://www.ikaink.net Itsumishi

Much, much more interesting than this shrunken iPad with an inferior screen is the new MacBook Pro… Finally getting some USB 3 action, a retina display, a lot of power and a lot of juice.
- http://daruiburns.tumblr.com/ Dlo Burns
  
  But it’s got no screws so it’s glued together. The thing is going to fall apart quick.
  - http://www.ikaink.net Itsumishi
    
    No idea where you got that idea. Screws are clearly visible in photos of the bottom and insides on the Apple website.
timquinn

Still no word on a new MacPro? I need a desktop with a hundred cores!
- Will Bueche
  
  I don’t know about the MacPro plans, but this is one of those rare times when the previous iMac is better than the newly introduced iMac. Apple apparently realized that people were buying the most affordable 20.5″ iMac and installing $40 of extra RAM which Apple itself charges $300 for. So they’ve sealed up the next 20.5″ model so that owners won’t be able to do that anymore. (Owners of the 27″ can continue to do so).
Paul Renault

I’m very pleased with my Nexus 7. I’ve found quite a number of Android apps (all for free!) that I couldn’t find for my iPhone. Plus I feel that Google assumes I’m smarter than Apple does.

/Bonus: I don’t have to use iTunes! Three thumbs up from me!
http://www.cashforipads.com/ Nancy Hall

Just curious what will be their next move after that, after releasing iPad mini. Oh, maybe they’ll combine iPhone and iPad and they will call it iPhane. LOL. (since they made the iPhone longer and the iPad smaller)
pjcamp

Apple innovates nine tenths of an inch. Stop the presses. Definitely not copying anyone around here, no siree.
AbleBakerCharlie

As a cheerfully hacking Android user, I have to admit I find all of the iOS-land flivvering a little precious. Ooh, the bezel changed size- It’s still a round-cornered kiddy playland of an OS that will only run on decreed hardware. It’s what you get your mother who just got solid on the whole email thing.

Within days of getting a generation old, near commodity Android phone (that still have more screen than an iPhone) I had Tor running to dodge snooping workplace WiFi, USB and Wifi tethering unlocked to do the same for fixed machines, an Ubuntu desktop complete with OpenOffice, GIMP, and Firefox when I plug it into a TV, was using it as a terminal for remote machines, was tearing the DRM off my media, was using it as mass storage…. It was, in short, a computer- the one I’m learning my first honest programming on. It’s my understanding that jailbreaking your iOS will score you the option to change some labels.
jccalhoun

In the past I’ve said that if Apple released asbestos face-masks there would be people lining up for them. I think at $329 this is the test if this is really true.
- Andy Reilly
  
  Well, people bought Windows CE devices for years, so yes, people will buy anything.
Spezz

What’s with the crappy processor, low ram, and atrocious screen resolution? Cmon, apple, this thing isn’t even competitive. I have a year old phone with beefier guts. By the way, why is apple allowed to copy other manufacturers?
scatterfingers

I have honestly never seen a comment section on Boing Boing be this unenthused with an Apple product before. C’mon guys and gals, it’s a goddamn Apple product!