The iPad Mini Already Exists
Apple is reportedly testing a 7.85-inch iPad in its labs, according to DaringFireball's John Gruber, who revealed the information in a recent podcast.
Gruber was a guest on a Talk Show podcast hosted by Dan Benjamin, who asked him if he thought a 7.85-inch iPad would ever be released. His answer was quite surprising.
"Well, I don't know," said Gruber. "What I do know is that they have one in the lab … a 7.85-inch iPad that runs at 1024 x 768."
He also described this device's capabilities in comparison to its larger predecessors.
"It's just like the 9.7-inch iPad shrunk down a little bit," he added. "Apps wouldn't need to be recompiled or redesigned to work optimally on it. It's just the iPad smaller."
According the MacRumors, Gruber is reliable source for information pertaining to Apple and its products. He also noted that the company has many products that enter into testing that never actually make it into the open market.
Gruber mentioned the late Steve Jobs as well, saying that the former CEO was proud of the products that Apple hasn't done and the ones that they have.
Rumors of a 7.85-inch iPad have been surfacing for quite some time thanks to Chinese supply chain sources revealing information on a device such as this one.
The fact that supply chain people have been spilling the beans on this mini iPad shows that Apple is not just testing the device out, but might be planning to produce the tablet on a large scale.
The company could be preparing to enter into the low-end segment of the tablet market in order to better compete with other devices such as the Amazon Kindle Fire and Barnes and Noble Nook.
The third-generation iPad launched last month, quickly becoming the best selling Apple tablet of all time.
