Just about everything has a Retina or “retinal” screen nowadays. Most products from the company that coined the phrase, Apple, come in a Retina version, but not the popular iPad Mini. With a new Mini on the horizon, reports are now suggesting that the device will receive the Retina upgrade, and that the screen will be made by rival company Samsung.
The Wall Street Journal, prolific with regards to Apple rumors, reports that the omniscient, ubiquitous beings known as sources familiar with the matter claim that the new iPad Miniwill release in the fourth quarter of this year and will feature a Retina display made by Samsung. The new iPad Mini won’t get any less or more mini and will stay the same size of the 7.9-inch model with which we’re all familiar. Like with every mobile Apple device rumor as of late, the company is also experimenting with colorful back covers for the next Mini.
Another interesting facet of the report is that Apple plans to tap Samsung — its biggest mobile device rival — to make the displays for the upcoming iPad Mini. The current model of the tiny tablet uses screens produced by LG Display and AU Optronics. It’s tough to tell if tapping Samsung to make the Mini’s display is indicative of either Apple’s lack of display-making ability, Samsung’s stranglehold on the display market, or both. It is likely, however, that Apple put in a call to Samsung simply because the company can produce the quantity and quality of screen Apple requires, and in the provided timeframe. At least Apple and Samsung have worked together before, and frequently — notably on iPod and iPhone chips — so this likely isn’t representative of Apple walking over to Samsung’s house with hat-in-hand.
Though a Retina iPad Mini is currently just a report — regardless of how omniscient sources familiar with everything under the Apple sun may be — it does seem likely that the Mini would include a higher resolution display, as one of its biggest rival tablets, the Nexus 7,just released with one of its own. While neither Apple or Samsung commented on the matter, AU Optronics did note that it would not be producing the screen, as it could not meet the rate of output Apple demands.
Rumors have been recently flying around in a will-they-won’t-they manner, suggesting Apple will produce a Retina Mini one minute, then decrying the notion the next. In all likelihood, these rumors of stark contrast are the product of Apple’s rigorous testing phases, wherein the company produces a wide variety of units, but in Highlanderian fashion, chooses only one in the end. With the last iPad Mini’s release creeping up on its one year anniversary in a couple of months, we can except to see a refresh soon, and this tangled soap opera web of the device’s display will all be revealed in a hopefully dramatic fashion
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