Pulled article claimed LG will make displays for 'iPad mini' & 4-in. iPhone

Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
A report from Korea this week that was published and quickly pulled claimed that LG is in discussions with Apple to supply screens for a new "iPad mini" with a smaller screen, as well as a sixth-generation iPhone with a larger display.



The initial report was published this week by The Korea Times, but the story has since disappeared. Before it was pulled, a few other publications (1, 2) picked up on the story to reveal the details.



Citing an anonymous source, the Times initially reported that Apple is working on both a smaller iPad, with a 7.35-inch screen, and a larger iPhone, with a 4-inch display. The Cupertino, Calif., company was said to have planned talks with display maker LG in the coming days about a potential deal for LCD displays.



The source reportedly said that the next, sixth-generation iPhone will have the same screen resolution as the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S, despite being a half-inch larger. It was said that utilizing the same resolution was seen as "the right solution to offer value" at a lower price.



That the report was apparently pulled from the Times website, in addition to the fact that its details came from an anonymous source, means the details should be taken in perspective. But some of the details to align with continued reports that Apple is working on a new iPhone with a slightly larger screen than the current iPhone display.







Those rumors led some to hope that the 2011 iPhone would feature a completely redesigned look, which led to some initial disappointment among enthusiasts when the iPhone 4S was unveiled with the same form factor as its predecessor, the iPhone 4. But since then, rumors of a new iPhone with a larger screen have persisted, despite a lack of hard evidence.



As for a so-called "iPad mini," reports of its existence are also not new. Last month, one report claimed that Apple was looking to counter devices like the new $199 Amazon Kindle Fire with a smaller and less expensive iPad set to be released in early 2012.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 68
    jd_in_sbjd_in_sb Posts: 1,600member
    Apple has received world wide acclaim for its current iPad form factor and Steve Jobs unambiguously stated that the 7" form factor sucks. So this "new information" is highly suspect.
  • Reply 2 of 68
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jd_in_sb View Post


    Apple has received world wide acclaim for its current iPad form factor and Steve Jobs unambiguously stated that the 7" form factor sucks. So this "new information" is highly suspect.



    But Steve is no longer running the company...
  • Reply 3 of 68
  • Reply 4 of 68
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by theoneaboveall View Post


    But Steve is no longer running the company...



    Steve was just talking trash. Nothing wrong with a smaller iPad. Apple just wasn't ready to release one at that time. Women will love it since it will fit in their purses.
  • Reply 5 of 68
    nagrommenagromme Posts: 2,834member
    But fragmentation is still a problem, and Apple still already makes a mini-tablet: the iPod Touch.



    I?m certain that larger, and probably smaller, iOS tablets are coming. Eventually. Because iOS is the future for more and more tasks, as Macs slowly become ?trucks? over time. We?ll have multiple sizes as the market reaches the scale where meeting a real need is worth more than the fragmentation problem.



    But it?s a question of time, and I don?t think there?s a ?need? for a 7-inch tablet yet (not even because they?re cheap). I predict that Apple feels the same way, without or without Steve.



    I also guarantee they have all KINDS of iOS variations in the labs, and even in manufacturing tests; planning ahead as they did with the Intel-switch ?backup plan,? so that if/when they decide to move, they?re ready. If Apple sees 7? tablets as unnecessary now, but in 2012 things look different, they?ll be ready.



    I for one think all kinds of sizes/shapes are cool, and I want one of each! At the end of the day, though, my pocket-size iPhone and paper-size iPad meet all my needs better than 7? medium-small option could.
  • Reply 6 of 68
    flaneurflaneur Posts: 4,526member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by theoneaboveall View Post


    But Steve is no longer running the company...



    This would have been well underway before Steve's departure.



    A rationale around his finger-filing doctrine:



    1) You don't make your first all-purpose tablet 7 inches.



    2) Once you've established the validity of a highly portable, keyboardless computer, and shown that a certain form factor gives rise to surprising uses -- for example, lying-on-the-couch chest computing -- you realize that there might be devices with other common niche applications -- for example, a coat-pocket computer for watching movies when you're standing in line or on the train.



    3) We can make a 7-inch computer that you can talk to instead of using those fat fingers you were born with.



    Edit: should it be "on line and in the train" for those who speak East Coast?



    Edit 2: we also have to consider, like it or not, that Apple has to make a move into 3D, an area where LG has some expertise. Pixar needs portable 3D screens already, never mind the future.
  • Reply 7 of 68
    aizmovaizmov Posts: 989member
    The 7" tablet market is crowded, Apple should make 6" tablet, if they are ever considering an iPad mini.
  • Reply 8 of 68
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    A report from Korea this week that was published and quickly pulled claimed that LG is in discussions with Apple to supply screens for a new "iPad mini" with a smaller screen, as well as a sixth-generation iPhone with a larger display.



    1) I would imagine any such device would be a larger iPod Touch, not a smaller iPad.



    2) If wonders never cease! Finally we're calling it the 6th generation iPhone and not the misnamed iPhone 5.
  • Reply 9 of 68
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mstone View Post


    Women will love it since it will fit in their purses.



    I love my iPad2. If I wanted to put it in a purse I'd buy a bigger purse.
  • Reply 10 of 68
    sflocalsflocal Posts: 6,092member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Atashi View Post


    I love my iPad2. If I wanted to put it in a purse I'd buy a bigger purse.



    Are you implying that a guy, commenting about what women want on a tech site, doesn't really know what women want?? Say it ain't so!



    Great response. I'll remember yours for a long time. Bravo!
  • Reply 11 of 68
    paxmanpaxman Posts: 4,729member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jd_in_sb View Post


    Steve Jobs unambiguously stated that the 7" form factor sucks. So this "new information" is highly suspect.



    But in an fast moving hi-tech world what is true today may not be true tomorrow. Taking someone at their word as the absolute and irrevocable truth and thus trusting they will stick to that truth forever more is unwise to say the least. Now that the tablet market is becoming more developed generally and the 7" tablet is becoming acceptable (is it?), it may be worth it for Apple to enter it. My kids use their iPod touches for a lot more than music and the devices spend most of their time at home or in the car. For them, a 7" iPod Touch / iPad Mini would make perfect sense.
  • Reply 12 of 68
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by theoneaboveall View Post


    But Steve is no longer running the company...



    If you read Walter Isaacson's book, you'd see that on numerous occasions, the Apple leadership team did things that disagreed with Steve. In particular, Steve was against iTunes and iPod for Windows and he was also against launching the iOS App Store, but the VPs pushed for these things over Steve's objections. If it was really a good idea, Apple's leaders wouldn't let Steve roll over them.



    You're welcome.
  • Reply 13 of 68
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jd_in_sb View Post


    Apple has received world wide acclaim for its current iPad form factor and Steve Jobs unambiguously stated that the 7" form factor sucks. So this "new information" is highly suspect.



    Steve also said they were not making a phone and have no interest in the tablet market. In public he only focused on announced or shipping products. Behind the scenes they were working on those products at the time.
  • Reply 14 of 68
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by sflocal View Post


    Are you implying that a guy, commenting about what women want on a tech site, doesn't really know what women want?? Say it ain't so!



    Great response. I'll remember yours for a long time. Bravo!



    Well to be fair my comment was an exact quote from a woman who tells me all her secrets.
  • Reply 15 of 68
    There is only one reason for Apple to go with a 7" display. To buy up all the displays in that size to prevent other companies, namely Amazon, from being able to purchase them as freely.
  • Reply 16 of 68
    andysolandysol Posts: 2,506member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by paxman View Post


    But in an fast moving hi-tech world what is true today may not be true tomorrow. Taking someone at their word as the absolute and irrevocable truth and thus trusting they will stick to that truth forever more is unwise to say the least. Now that the tablet market is becoming more developed generally and the 7" tablet is becoming acceptable (is it?), it may be worth it for Apple to enter it. My kids use their iPod touches for a lot more than music and the devices spend most of their time at home or in the car. For them, a 7" iPod Touch / iPad Mini would make perfect sense.



    I think a 7" would be cool too, but at what price? $499 for a 16gb iPad.... $199 for a Touch.... So were talking $299-$399? Gonna be a hard sell at $399, when you can get a full iPad for $100 more..... and not going to have anywhere near the margins they normally get at $299. Although $299 would be an incredible deal and I'd be all over it for my wife.
  • Reply 17 of 68
    801801 Posts: 271member
    Would the 7" be a better form factor for the expanding (youth oriented) gaming market?
  • Reply 18 of 68
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jd_in_sb View Post


    Apple has received world wide acclaim for its current iPad form factor and Steve Jobs unambiguously stated that the 7" form factor sucks. So this "new information" is highly suspect.



    One needs to realize what marketing speak is all about. Beyond that one would have to be crazy not to believe Apple will evolve the very successful iOS devices into a larger family. IOS is making them money better than anything previously, Apple will likely try all sorts of products with this OS as a basis.
  • Reply 19 of 68
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mstone View Post


    Well to be fair my comment was an exact quote from a woman who tells me all her secrets.



    Just ask any guy that ends up with a surprise divorce on his hands.
  • Reply 20 of 68
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by 801 View Post


    Would the 7" be a better form factor for the expanding (youth oriented) gaming market?



    The lack of imagination in these forums is shocking at times. A 7 inch device is very useful where extreme portability is a primary factor.
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