There was a subtle surprise in Apple's Apple's iPad product announcement this week—the new iPad Air and iPad Mini with retina display now have the same specs. Gone are the days when the iPad Mini was a technological step behind it's larger sibling. From here on in, it would seem, the only difference is the size.
Apple expert John Gruber of Daring Fireball was standing in the hands-on area at Yerba Buena after the announcement with Apple insider MG Siegler when Tim Cook approached. Siegler told Cook that he was now torn between which new iPad to buy and Cook (who has become quite the salesman) laughed and said, "Well, you want to buy both."
It's easy to take for granted how much technological progress Apple has incorporated into the A7 chip, but the fact that it's inside of both sizes of iPads now is really significant. Essentially the difference between the two is $100 and a roughly 20% difference in size and weight. Interestingly, the iPhone 5S has two features that the new iPads don't, an improved camera and Touch ID. (The gold color option, which Gruber says Apple decided just didn't look as good scaled up to iPad size, doesn't really count as a feature) The omission of both could have as much to do with supply constraints on those new components as on a decision to make the 5S "the most advanced iOS device."
Gruber points out that the new set of iPads has interesting implications for next year's expected larger screen iPhone 6. He expects to see a similar situation where "Apple produces a larger iPhone, that it debuts alongside a 4-inch display iPhone with the exact same specs — same A8 processor, same better-than-the-5S camera, same storage capacities. Same everything, except for the size of the display." It is more likely that the new iPhone will have more pixels than the current iPhone 5s and that the new 4-inch model will have a higher pixel density than the current ones do, analogous to the new iPads.
Perhaps what Apple has up its sleeve, to take the analogy to the level of naming, is that the larger screened iPhone will be remarkably thin and be dubbed the iPhone Air leaving the ordinal slot for the higher density 4-inch model as the iPhone 6.
As for this holiday season, many will have the same dilemma as Siegler, and many will decide, as Gruber, that the Mini is the way to go. If you use your iPad mainly for reading and web browsing—and not for typing on the on-screen keyboard—the convenience of the smaller size will win out. This is especially true for those with good eyesight! But Apple is trowing a bit of a curveball in that decision. The retina Mini is supposed to be "Coming later in November," which most likely means not until late in November, "the latest a device could possibly ship and still be available for holiday sales," says Gruber. And supplies are likely to be constrained.
So Apple has made a big leap with both new iPads, but the one consumers may prefer may not be the one they can all have in time for the holidays. If you want the Mini, best to monitor Apple's website daily beginning November 1 and put in your order as soon as Apple will take it. And that large screen iPhone Air? That's for next year's holiday wish list.
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