Our goal was clear: create the smallest possible iPad that could still deliver the full iPad experience. iPad mini is 23 percent thinner, 53 percent lighter* and fits in one hand — yet it can do everything an iPad can do. To accomplish that, we went back to the very beginning and designed it from scratch.
Since iPad is all about the display, that’s where we started. We wanted it to be small, but not too small. It had to be big enough to do all the things you love to do on iPad. And it had to work with all the apps made for iPad. With that as our guide, we were able to determine the perfect size: 7.9 inches. Because at that size, it feels like an iPad in every way — only it’s mini.
But iPad mini isn’t just a scaled-down iPad. We designed it to be a concentration, rather than a reduction, of the original. A refined unibody consolidates more parts into one. A single-cell battery — the thinnest ever made by Apple — takes up less space, but lasts just as long. The iSight camera is smaller, yet still takes 5-megapixel photos and shoots full 1080p HD video. And while the display is slimmer and lighter, it’s also incredibly vibrant.
The iPad mini display stands out in all the right ways. It has the same 1024-by-768 resolution as iPad 2 — in a size that’s significantly smaller. So everything looks incredibly crisp and sharp. And since the iPad mini display has 35 percent more screen area than a 7-inch tablet, everything is easier to read and interact with. The iPad mini display is also designed to take greater advantage of every pixel. So apps, magazines and documents fill the screen, from top to bottom and edge to edge. In portrait and in landscape.
iPad mini is small. But when you use it, it doesn’t feel small. That’s because it’s designed to give you the maximum amount of screen in the minimum amount of space. To achieve that, we had to rethink the relationship between the screen and the overall shape of the product. iPad has symmetrical bezels around all of its edges. But for iPad mini, we reduced the width of the bezels on two sides of the display. So although the screen is smaller, it’s even more prominent. Rethinking the screen meant we also had to rethink the software behind it. iPad mini intelligently recognizes whether your thumb is simply resting on the display or whether you’re intentionally interacting with it. It’s the kind of detail you’ll notice — by not noticing it. And it’s a great example of how Apple hardware and software work together to give you the best experience possible.
In making iPad mini, we executed every detail with extraordinary precision. That’s what gives iPad mini its incredible fit and finish. Take, for example, the aluminum unibody — our most advanced yet. We took everything we’ve learned about making a unibody enclosure and refined the process to be even more material-efficient and exact. With tolerances measured in microns, mono-crystalline diamond-cut edges and sleek metallic finishes, iPad mini was designed and engineered to incredibly high standards. And you can sense that every time you pick it up. It feels beautifully made. Precisely because it is.
Megapixels matter. But the quality of a photo is determined by other things, too — like the camera’s optics, image signal processor and software. The iSight camera uses advanced optics to give you the best picture possible. With an ƒ/2.4 aperture and a five-element lens, it captures light efficiently to produce a sharper and brighter overall image. And the hybrid infrared filter — typically reserved for expensive SLR cameras — keeps out harmful IR light for more accurate, uniform colours.
Advancements that go layers deep.
The five-element camera lens built into iPad mini captures light efficiently to produce a sharper and brighter overall image.
How a product looks and performs matters, but so does its impact on the environment. That’s why nearly every Apple product is made from highly recyclable materials like aluminum, and why we refuse to use harmful toxins in our components.
Every iPad mini is free of brominated flame retardants (BFRs) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC). In fact, Apple has one of the strictest BFR-free and PVC-free standards in the industry. And we expect the same from our suppliers. We go so far as to disassemble our products into individual components and materials in our Cupertino lab. Then we test them using many methods, including X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy and ion chromatography. We do this to ensure that every product we release meets our environmental standards.
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