John Gruber of Daring Fireball, who has a good track record when it comes to Apple related news, added yet more weight to the rumors claiming that Apple does have a 7.85-inch iPad in their labs during his Talk Show podcast with Dan Benjamin. When Benjamin asked Gruber if he thought a 7.85-inch iPad will ever be released, he responded:
“Well, I don’t know. What I do know is that they have one in the lab…a 7.85 inch iPad that runs at 1024×768… it’s just like the 9.7" iPad shrunk down a little bit. Apps wouldn't need to be recompiled or redesigned to work optimally on it. It's just the iPad smaller.
It has been speculated that the 7.85-inch iPad will come with a 1024×768 resolution, which is the same resolution as the original iPad and iPad 2. Some rumors have suggested that Apple is working with suppliers on the smaller iPad and could launch it later this year.
Jim Darylmple of The Loop who has an impecable track record when it comes to Apple related news had told us about the existence of a 7-inch iPad back in October 2010:
In a brief post on the website, he writes that Apple has been toying with tablets of various sizes and form factors all along and that the 7-inch iPad is not exactly a new thing. He further points out that Apple is in no hurry to release this new device simply because the company virtually owns the tablet market and the release of a smaller variant, which is expected to come at a lower price, could effectively cannibalize its own revenues.
It remains to be seen if Apple believes that the time has come to launch a smaller iPad. Though a smaller and cheaper iPad will help Apple to compete with Android-based tablets like Amazon Fire that is available for $199, we feel that if Apple had any plans to launch an iPad mini this year, then it would have unveiled it alongside iPad 3. It seems highly unlikely that it will launch a smaller and cheaper version of the iPad after sometime as it would not go down too well with early adopters of iPad 3 who would feel robbed of the opportunity of buying a smaller and cheaper iPad.
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