Back in October 2010, Steve Jobs appeared on an Apple earnings conference call to address the Android-based iPad competitors that were just then coming to the market. With the majority of those tablets carrying 7-inch displays, Jobs noted that the screens were only 45% as large as the iPad's and that Apple believed the iPad's 9.7-inch display was the minimum necessary for an acceptable user experience.
With rumors of an "iPad mini" having circulated since that time and now appearing to gain traction with more prominent sources beginning to point to a launch later this year, interest in the potential device has continued to build. Supporting the idea of a 7-inch tablet, Wired's Christina Bonnington notes that part of iOS software chief Scott Forstall's testimony in the Apple-Samsung patent trial has revealed that content chief Eddy Cue was pushing for a 7-inch iPad by January 2011.
In email, Eddy Cue wrote "I believe there will be a 7-inch market and we should do one." referring to a 7-inch iPad
Apple internal email shows Eddie Cue advocated in 1/11 for 7" iPad, said Steve Jobs seemed receptive most recent time
iMore, which has offered reliable information on a number of topics in recent months, claimed earlier this week that Apple's September 12 media event that has been all but confirmed by numerous mainstream media reports will see the introduction of both the next-generation iPhone and the iPad mini. Other reports have been less clear on the timing for an iPad mini launch, but many believe that it will launch in time for the holiday shopping season.
Update: CNET posts the full email sent by Cue to other senior executives at Apple:
Having used a Samsung Galaxy, I tend to agree with many of the comments below (except moving off the iPad). I believe there will be a 7" market and we should do one. I expressed this to Steve several times since Thanksgiving and he seemed very receptive the last time. I found email, books, facebook and video very compelling on a 7". Web browsing is definitely the weakest point, but still usable.
Wednesday February 19, 2025 8:02 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple today introduced the iPhone 16e, its newest entry-level smartphone. The device succeeds the third-generation iPhone SE, which has now been discontinued.
The iPhone 16e features a larger 6.1-inch OLED display, up from a 4.7-inch LCD on the iPhone SE. The display has a notch for Face ID, and this means that Apple no longer sells any iPhones with a Touch ID fingerprint button, marking the ...
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Over the years, Apple has switched from an aluminum frame to a stainless steel frame to a titanium frame for its highest-end iPhones. And now, it has been rumored that Apple will go back to using aluminum for three out of four iPhone 17 models.
In an investor note with research firm GF Securities, obtained by MacRumors this week, Apple supply chain analyst Jeff Pu said the iPhone 17, iPhone...
Thursday February 20, 2025 5:06 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Now that Apple has announced its new more affordable iPhone 16e, our thoughts turn to what else we are expecting from the company this spring.
There are three product categories that we are definitely expecting to get upgraded before spring has ended. Keep reading to learn what they are. If we're lucky, Apple might make a surprise announcement about a completely new product category.
M4...
Wednesday February 19, 2025 11:38 am PST by Juli Clover
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All three pages now state that new Apple Intelligence features and languages will launch in early April, an update from the more broader April timeframe that Apple provided before. The next major point updates will be iOS ...
Friday February 21, 2025 1:08 pm PST by Juli Clover
Apple finally released the first beta of iOS 18.4 to developers for testing purposes, and while the beta is lacking some of the Apple Intelligence features we were hoping for, there are some notable new additions.
Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos.
Priority Notifications - Apple Intelligence
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Thursday February 13, 2025 8:07 am PST by Joe Rossignol
In a social media post today, Apple CEO Tim Cook teased an upcoming "launch" of some kind scheduled for Wednesday, February 19.
"Get ready to meet the newest member of the family," he said, with an #AppleLaunch hashtag.
The post includes a short video with an animated Apple logo inside a circle.
Cook did not provide an exact time for the launch, or share any other specific details, so...
Friday February 21, 2025 8:01 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple has confirmed that its custom-designed C1 modem in the iPhone 16e has nothing to do with the device's lack of MagSafe support, according to Macworld.
Following the launch of the iPhone 16e, there was some speculation online about how MagSafe magnets might have interfered with the C1 modem's cellular connectivity performance, and this was considered to be a potential reason for the...
Apple today announced its first custom cellular modem with the name "C1," debuting in the all-new iPhone 16e.
The new modem contributes to the iPhone 16e's power efficiency, giving it the longest battery life of any iPhone with a 6.1-inch display, such as the iPhone 15 and iPhone 16.
Expanding the benefits of Apple silicon, C1 is the first modem designed by Apple and the most...
It's important to remember that this "7 inch" iPad people are talking about is rumored to be closer to 8 inches.
The math I saw worked out to this smaller iPad having 40% more screen space than the current 7" Android tablets (http://thenextweb.com/apple/2012/07/10/a-conduit-for-content-how-an-ipad-mini-could-define-the-small-tablet-market/).
So worth remembering...when Steve said those 7" tablets were too small they could still have been planning something in between that and the current iPads.
It's funny that everyone is saying Apple needs to build a 7" iPad to compete in the $199 to $299 market.
I keep thinking about something Jobs once said....
"What we want to do is deliver an increasing level of value to these customers, but there are some customers which we choose not to serve. We don't know how to make a $500 computer that's not a piece of junk; our DNA will not let us do that. We've seen great success by focusing on certain segments of the market and not trying to be everything to everybody, and you can expect us to stick with that winning strategy." - Steve Jobs
Remember this is a company that sales $2199 to $2799 base price laptops that they cannot keep in stock due to demand.
Why would they care about the $199 to $299 market?
