Everybody and their brothers — cousins, too — are reporting on the now all but certain 7-inch iPad mini. Although Apple’s Asian supply is leaky, there are many things we still don’t know, but can infer. For the time being, let’s stick to the “facts” as delivered by people, a.k.a. knowledgeable sources, who would rather not read their names in print.
Wall Street Journal and CENS deliver a one-two punch of iPad mini supply chain madness. The latter informs that component production will begin in earnest in August with device manufacturing kicking into gear in September.
Whereas April showers are known to bring May flowers, similar to that baby thing moms and dads do, August components leading to September assembly should by all rights result in 7-inch Apple badged tablet bundles of joy in October and that’s just what Tapscape has been saying, too.
A potentially interesting wrinkle in these rumors of plans of rumored doing to be is that Apple will be adding new LCD panel partners, LG Display and AU Optronics, with the former being the source of the Retina MacBook Pro’s crispy clear display.
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Call it confirmation or just another voice in the chorus, but CENS also reports that the iPad 3’s current Retina LCD will be replaced by an IGZO-based panel from Sharp. They have nothing to say about timing, though.
And, this is how things go in the Apple rumorological business — the facts congeal around a few specifics until we get a clearer picture of all the stuff we don’t know. That said, still largely unfathomed are the components Apple plans to put inside, though Tapscape’s iPad mini spec guestimates make as much sense anyone’s…
What’s your take?