The iPad Mini 2 looks set to be Apple's biggest product refresh since the iPhone 5 with rumours pointing at a new Retina Display and multiple colours
The iPad mini went on sale in November 2012, and as is the way with Apple there are plenty rumours to be found regarding the next iteration of the device.
Apple, as is custom, will never be drawn on speculation about upcoming devices - but that hasn't stopped the whisperings circulating around the internet.
This is an article about the iPad Mini 2 - we also have news on the full sized iPad 5, and the rumoured iPhone 5S and iPhone 6 smartphones.
Apple iPad Mini 2 will have a Retina Display
Probably the biggest gripe with Apple’s first entrant in the small screened tablet market was the resolution of its screen. With just a 1024 x 768 pixel resolution and 163 pixels per inch, it was the same tech we first saw on the iPad 2 and those dastardly pixels were easy to spot.
Compare that resolution to its two main competitors, Google’s Nexus 7 and Amazon’s Kindle Fire HD which both sit at 1280 x 800, you can see it was outdated before it was even released.
The Wall Street Journal has heard from sources that Apple will use a Retina Display but will actually use multiple suppliers to build the displays including LG, Samsung and Sharp.
Website Patently Apple, which describes itself as ‘celebrating Apple’s spirit of invention’ reported early February that Au Optronics is making a screen for the iPad mini 2 with a display pixel count of 324 pixels per inch.
Looking even further ahead, it claims sources say Apple has asked LG to make a premium class iPad Mini display for the iPad mini 3 – which would push pixel density to over 400 pixels per inch.
Apple iPad Mini 2 release date
According to CultofMac, WallMart recently dropped the price of both its iPad 3 and iPad Minis suggesting that Apple was on the verge of releasing an update to both, of course with the release of iOS 7 now set for September could we see a refresh of both the iPads and iPhones?
Apple had pretty much stuck with a yearly release cycle of its iOS devices until it dropped the fourth generation of the iPad barely 6 months after the third. So is Apple’s release schedule all up in the air? Some sources seem to think not, with many believing the iPad mini 2 will in fact live on until its first birthday without being replaced.
Apple is now on a bi-annual update schedule for its iPad range, according to one industry analyst, which could mean new 9.7-inch and 7.9-inch models as soon as March.
After consulting his sources at this week's CES expo in Las Vegas, Brian White of Topeka Capital Markets is convinced that a new fifth-generation iPad and a second-generation iPad Mini are on the agenda in the next couple of months - according to AppleInsider.
White told investors that the iPad 5 would be even thinner and lighter than the third and fourth generation models, while a processing bump to the A6X processor was also mooted.
The new iPad mini would keep the same form factor, according to White, while there would be a bump in the engine room. White's note made no mention of recent rumours that the next iPad mini would boast the same high-resoution Retina Display as the iPhone and iPad.
Apple iPad Mini 2 will come in different colours?
The Wall Street Journal has learned from people familiar with the matter that Apple has actually been testing multiple colours for the iPad Mini 2 suggesting that Apple is heading towards a major shift in product design with the iPhone 5C and the iPad Mini 2 both boasting cheaper multi-coloured bodies.
Apple iPad Mini 2 specs
The most recent news has been that Apple will be blessing the iPad Mini 2 with the same Touch ID fingerprint scanner that can be found on the new iPhone 5s. This comes after a Chinese website posted leaked images of what looks to be the gold iPad Mini 2 with the Touch ID sensor instead of the old Home button.
There have also been reports about the iPad Mini 2 camera which will now apparently feature an 8MP sensor, whether or not it'll persuade you to actually take a picture using a tablet is another matter.
It wasn’t just the screen resolution that Apple recycled from the iPad 2, the processor was the same too. When the iPad Mini comes to the end of its cycle this processor will have been around for 2 and half years, a long time in the world of computers. So, expect this to get a big bump up, possibly even to the A7 64-bit chip which can be found in the newly launched 5s.
