Supply Chain Hints Suggest Retina iPad Mini Could Debut in Second Half of 2013
Paul Semenza, an analyst at market research firm DisplaySearch, tells CNET that an iPad mini with Retina display could debut in the third or fourth quarter of this year.
"We're seeing potential in the third quarter of panel production for a higher-resolution iPad Mini," DisplaySearch analyst Paul Semenza told CNET today.
"When would the Mini be available? Could be third quarter or fourth quarter," he said, adding that the speculation is DisplaySearch's best guess based on supply chain data.
Unsurprisingly, Semenza tells CNET that his data points to a resolution of 2048 x 1536 pixels for the Retina display iPad mini, giving it the same number of pixels as the full-size iPad but at a higher density of 324 pixels per inch. He goes on to note that it would be a challenge for Apple and its display partners to pair that kind of display with the current iPad mini chassis at just 7.2 mm thick, hinting that the company may need to increase the device's thickness somewhat as it did when the full-size iPad moved to a Retina display.
Semenza says that LG Display is the strongest candidate to make the display, but that AU Optronics, Sharp, and Japan Display are other possibilities. Japan Display currently produces the display for the iPhone 5, but Semenza says that the company is looking at getting into tablets.
DisplaySearch's report falls in line with what KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicted in mid-January, and Kuo has been fairly accurate in the past with his Apple product predictions.
iMore's Rene Ritchie has also been relatively accurate, and he reports that Apple is set to debut the new iPad mini as soon as next month. Ritchie says, however, that a Retina display "doesn't sound imminent", suggesting that an April iPad mini would not contain the higher-resolution display. If Apple moves to a biannual release for its tablets, the company could announce an iPad mini in April and a new Retina iPad mini later this year, matching all three predictions.
Popular Stories
Last year, Apple launched CarPlay Ultra, the long-awaited next-generation version of its CarPlay software system for vehicles. Nearly nine months later, CarPlay Ultra is still limited to Aston Martin's latest luxury vehicles, but that should change fairly soon.
In May 2025, Apple said many other vehicle brands planned to offer CarPlay Ultra, including Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis.
In his Powe...
The calendar has turned to February, and a new report indicates that Apple's next product launch is "imminent," in the form of new MacBook Pro models.
"All signs point to an imminent launch of next-generation MacBook Pros that retain the current form factor but deliver faster chips," Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said on Sunday. "I'm told the new models — code-named J714 and J716 — are slated...
Apple is planning to launch new MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips alongside macOS 26.3, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
"Apple's faster MacBook Pros are planned for the macOS 26.3 release cycle," wrote Gurman, in his Power On newsletter today.
"I'm told the new models — code-named J714 and J716 — are slated for the macOS 26.3 software cycle, which runs from...
We are still waiting for the iOS 26.3 Release Candidate to come out, so the first iOS 26.4 beta is likely still at least a week or two away. Following beta testing, iOS 26.4 will likely be released to the general public in March or April.
Below, we have recapped known or rumored iOS 26.3 and iOS 26.4 features so far.
iOS 26.3
iPhone to Android Transfer Tool
iOS 26.3 makes it easier...
Apple recently updated its online store with a new ordering process for Macs, including the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac, Mac mini, Mac Studio, and Mac Pro.
There used to be a handful of standard configurations available for each Mac, but now you must configure a Mac entirely from scratch on a feature-by-feature basis. In other words, ordering a new Mac now works much like ordering an...
