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The new iPad Mini that Apple announced last week has everything it needs to be a cheaper alternative to the iPhone, with a bigger screen to boot.
- There’s only one thing that disqualifies him from the role: Apple is preventing you from taking traditional calls or dialing a number.
Why is this important: Many users want to enter the world of Apple without paying the high entry cost of a new iPhone.
The big picture: The idea of using a tablet instead of a phone seemed absurd at one point. But phones got bigger, tablets got smaller, and the ubiquity of wireless headphones meant you didn’t have to try and hold a tablet to your head.
Driving the news: While unveiling the new iPhone 13 lineup, Apple also launched the new iPad with support for some 5G flavors as well as a faster processor and improved camera.
- This immediately left some techies wondering if the 8.3-inch screen tablet could be a suitable replacement for the iPhone.
Starting at $ 649 with cellular capacity, the iPad mini costs less than the cheaper new iPhone, and that’s significantly less than any model of Apple’s big-screen phone.
- The new mini contains the A15 Bionic processor – the latest version of the chip from Apple and that of the new iPhones. The iPad’s rear camera doesn’t stack over the multi-lens matrices found in all of the latest iPhones, but it is capable for a tablet.
Yes, but: Apple has made software choices that will keep most people from embracing the small tablet as their phone. Specifically, the device does not include the dialer app or support for access to cellular voice networks.
- It will work with a range of internet voice apps, including the built-in FaceTime app and services like Skype and Facebook Messenger that make audio and video calls, as well as Google Voice, which is probably as close as it gets. to the iPad phone service.
- The iPad mini also doesn’t support the faster version of 5G, known as the millimeter wave. But such networks remain rare and are needed for fast data, not voice, anyway.
The big picture: Even without the software limitations, most people would probably go for a phone that fits in their pockets. However, the fact that it can even be considered shows how much the notion of smartphone has changed in recent years.
Between the lines: Apple has powerful business reasons for keeping its phone and tablet lines functionally distinct, even though they come close to each other in terms of screen size and hardware.
- Its phones traditionally sell for more, and the customers who buy them are more valuable to wireless carriers than those who buy smart tablets.
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