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9to5Toys Last Call: iPad mini 2 $250, LG 50″ 4K UHDTV $1299, Kensington lock $17, more

Keep up with the best gear and deals on the web by signing up for the 9to5Toys Newsletter. Also, be sure to check us out on: TwitterRSS FeedFacebookGoogle+ and Safari push notifications.

Today’s can’t miss deals:

Last Call Updates:

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Best Buy 2-Day Sale: iPad mini 2 $250, iMac from $1,000, Pebble Steel $170, much more

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HDTVs: LG 50″ WebOS 4K UHDTV $1,299 (Reg. $1,499), Haier 58″ 1080p 120Hz $629 (Reg. $749), more

Kensington ClickSafe Keyed Laptop Lock (K64637WW-04

Kensington ClickSafe Keyed Laptop Lock $17 Prime shipped (orig. $40+)

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iTunes Free App of the Week: Dark Echo ($2 value)

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You’re going to want this $8 iPhone 6 armband if you plan to workout with Apple Watch

Exclusive: Incase 13-inch MacBook Air Hardshell Cases for $25 shipped (50% off)

More new gear from today:

Headphones: ATH-M50X Professional Over-Ears $129 (Reg. $169), Philips Over-Ears $63 (Reg. $75+)

  • New! Daily Deals: Motorola Moto G $160, Seagate Expansion 5TB External HDD $130, more
  • New! Games/Apps: The Order 1886 $40, Battlefield Hardline $54, Xbox One bundle $349, iOS freebies, more

More deals still alive:

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WD Elements 1TB Portable USB 3.0 Hard Drive: $50 shipped (orig. $70)

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Apple extends deeper discounts to its refurbished store: AirPort Extreme $129, 13″ MacBook Air from $719, more

Apple laptops up to 25% off: MacBook Air from $750 w/ .edu, Pro w/ Retina display from $1,100 w/ .edu

Updated Apple TV pricing gets passed down as players refurbished by Apple hit a new low of $59

New products & more:

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Bosch’s new REAXX table saw uses advanced sensors to protect your hands and its blade

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9to5Toys Last Call: Retina iPad mini $225, Infinity Blade iOS Trilogy 50% off, JBL Bluetooth speaker (refurb) $29, more

Keep up with the best gear and deals on the web by signing up for the brand new 9to5Toys Newsletter. Also, be sure to check us out on: TwitterRSS FeedFacebookGoogle+ and Safari push notifications.

Today’s can’t miss deals:

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Pre-Black Friday iPad sales:

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Infinity Blade iOS Trilogy goes 50% off this week: $10 (Reg. $20)

jbl-onbeat-awake-bluetooth-wireless-loudspeaker-with-30-pin-dock-connector-e1417017545631JBL OnBeat aWake Bluetooth Wireless speaker w/ 30-pin Dock (refurb) $29 shipped (Reg. $139)

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Amazon Kindle HD6 color tablet will be $79, HD 7 $109, Kindle readers start at $49 shipped

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Verizon’s “Connection Day” gives customers 2GB of extra data, Pandora One for free, two months of Audible, more

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Small States: JDS Labs makes powerful iPhone headphone amps, giveaway worth $279

Other new deals:

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More deals still alive:

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Black Friday:

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We’re updating our email newsletter with Black Friday/holiday shopping ideas and savings

Top leaks:

All other leaks/info:

New products/ongoing promos:

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9to5Toys Lunch Break: Apple TV $85, UE Mini Boom BT speaker $79, Samsung EVO SSD 500GB $225, more

Be sure to follow 9to5Toys to keep up with the best gear and deals on the web: TwitterRSS FeedFacebookGoogle+ and Safari push notifications.

Today’s can’t miss deals:

Apple Deals:

Mini BOOM-UE-BT speaker-sale

Ultimate Ears MINI BOOM Wireless Bluetooth Speaker/Speakerphone (Red/Black): $79 shipped (Reg. $100)

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Samsung Solid State Drives: 840 EVO Series 500GB $225 (orig. $480), 850 Pro Series 256GB $185 (Reg. $200)

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Exclusive: Get an extra $20 to trade in your old iPad at Gazelle (up to $430)

Other new deals:

  • New! Daily Deals: Klipsch BT Speakers from $155, Sharp 1080p HDTVs from $600, more
  • New! Games/Apps: Rayman Origins for Mac $10, 50% off Logitech gaming accessories, more

More deals still alive:

New products/ongoing promotions:

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Despite courtroom battles, Apple picks Samsung to make iPad mini displays, claims report

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While there seems no end in sight to the courtroom patent battles between Apple and Samsung, that doesn’t seem to be interfering with the business relationship between the two. Korean site ETnews (via G4Games) reports that Apple is bringing Samsung into its manufacturing mix for display panels for the iPad mini.

Apple currently uses a mix of three manufacturers for its iPad mini displays: AUO for the non-Retina model, and LG and Sharp for the Retina displays. The report claims that Apple is dropping AUO altogether, and cutting back its orders with Sharp, giving the resulting business to Samsung.

While media sources in manufacturers’ home markets are not always reliable where supply chain rumors are concerned, this one has enough specifics to seem credible at least – and the quality of the Retina iPad mini screen has been criticized in both reviews and benchtests.

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Qualcomm employee said Apple’s 64-bit A7 chip was Spinal Tap moment

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If Qualcomm seemed rather taken by surprise by Apple’s use of a 64-bit chip in a smartphone, first dismissing it as a gimmick and then hastily backtracking and announcing it would be making 64-bit smartphone chips itself, that’s because it was, says Dan Lyons in a nicely-written piece on HubSpot. The piece includes what has to be a strong contender for tech quote of the year:

The 64-bit Apple chip hit us in the gut,” says the Qualcomm employee. “Not just us, but everyone, really. We were slack-jawed, and stunned, and unprepared. It’s not that big a performance difference right now, since most current software won’t benefit. But in Spinal Tap terms it’s like, 32 more, and now everyone wants it.”

The reference is to a scene in the 1984 mockumentary This is Spinal Tap where the band proudly shows an amp that goes all the way up to 11, explaining that “it’s one louder.” What Qualcomm missed was that while 64-bit smartphone chips may be of limited immediate value, the A7 made for a compelling marketing sell, leaving other companies scrabbling to catch up.

Qualcomm has just created a 64-bit version of its Snapdragon SOC and expects to see it appearing in Android phones sometime in the second half of next year.

Analysts raise AAPL target price in response to Black Friday shopping

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Image: businessinsider.com

Image: businessinsider.com

Both Deutsche Bank and Global Equities Research have raised their target price for AAPL – the price they expect the stock to achieve – in response to spot checks of Apple sales on Black Friday, reports Fortune.

After spot-checking Black Friday weekend sales, Deutsche Bank’s Chris Whitmore raised his price target to $625 from $575. “We have become significantly more confident in our near-term estimates for Apple” […]

Global Equities Research’s Trip Chowdhry raised his price target to a Street-high $800 after visiting nine Apple Stores and five Targets and talking to “no less than 300 people.”

Anyone planning to invest on the basis of these numbers might want to dig a little deeper, however … 
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DisplayMate tablet shootout puts Retina iPad Mini in last place, with ‘out-dated technology’

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DisplayMate, a company specializing in scientific display testing and calibration, gave the Retina iPad Mini third place in detailed lab tests of three leading 7-inch tablets, criticising Apple for “really bad planning” for what it considers to be out-dated display technology.

And finally… the iPad mini with Retina Display unfortunately comes in with a distant 3rd place finish behind the innovative displays on the Kindle Fire HDX 7 and new Nexus 7 […]

All of this reliance on IGZO is really bad planning… Right now there is a readily available display technology that has much higher performance than IGZO. It’s Low Temperature Poly Silicon LTPS, and it is used in all of the iPhones and in all of Samsung OLEDs (so it’s available in large quantities). Two innovative tablet manufacturers, Amazon and Google, have significantly leapfrogged Apple by introducing Tablet displays using LTPS (in the Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 and the new Nexus 7), and they are significantly outperforming the IGZO and a-Si displays in the current iPads. Apple is now lagging in displays, an area where it was once the leader… 
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Sketchy claim of Retina iPad Mini production being boosted to 4M units this month

Photo: ibtimes.co

Photo: ibtimes.co

Digitimes is citing its usual unnamed supply-chain sources to support a claim that Apple is boosting production of the Retina iPad Mini to almost four million units, with shipment dates this month.

This would seem unlikely. The rather more reliable KGI had forecast shipments of just 2.2M for the entire holiday quarter, rising to 4.5M in the first quarter of 2014. The bottleneck is believed to be the retina screen.

Currently, supplies of the wifi model appear good, availability of the cellular models is poorer, and we’d expect things to get tighter as we get closer to the holidays.

The Retina iPad Mini was very well received in reviews, though there have been criticisms of the reduced color gamut compared to the iPad Air.

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iPhone 5s supplies almost caught up with demand, says U.S. store survey

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A biweekly survey of 60 U.S. Apple Stores says that availability of the iPhone 5s has reached 90 percent of all iPhones in stock, almost triple the 31 percent figure measured just a fortnight ago, reports CNET.

Apple’s online store lists a ship time of three to five business days for the iPhone 5S, down from two to three weeks earlier this month. Munster said he believes that supply of the 5S will meet demand in early December, mimicking the same route taking by the iPhone 5.

However, the figures come from Gene Munster, an analyst not always a reliable source when it comes to predictions, and not everyone agrees.

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Time will tell, but if you’re planning to buy one as a holiday gift, sooner rather than later remains advisable. Even more so for the Retina iPad Mini.

As always, the best deals for iPhones and other Apple and Apple-related products for the shopping season will be on 9to5mac’s product pages and 9to5Toys.

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Anticipated Retina iPad Mini shortages take effect as carrier dates slip

Photo: slashgear.com

Photo: slashgear.com

Analyst predictions that the Retina iPad Mini would be in short supply in the run-up to the holidays appear to be confirmed by slipping dates for the cellular models at carriers, reports CNET.

Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile are all back-ordered on the cellular version of the Mini Retina, with Verizon’s date now slipping to December 2.

Last week, Verizon had been saying November 25. And the carrier isn’t saying when the device may arrive in stores, according to a company spokesperson. T-Mobile is now showing the Mini Retina back-ordered 6-8 weeks. AT&T is saying 21-28 days for orders to ship.

Apple made store purchase of the new iPad Mini exclusive to personal pickup, though availability of cellular models currently looks very poor. Apple is currently quoting availability of 5-10 days for all four major US carriers for iPad Minis ordered from its own website.

The Retina iPad Mini was well-received in reviews and is expected to be a popular holiday gift.

Review roundup: The Retina iPad mini verdict is ‘pricey but best small tablet ever’

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A Retina display may have been some time coming on the iPad mini, but the general verdict appears to be that it was worth the wait.

Many are querying the price, especially now that the full-size iPad Air is so much smaller and lighter than its predecessors, and costs just $100 more. But if portability is key, reviewers seem every bit as impressed by the iPad mini as I was by the Air.

Read on for the conclusions from five early reviews … 
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Retina iPad Mini stock-checker hides on obscure site but still likely won’t last long

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If you’re trying to track down a Retina iPad Mini, there’s a new stock tracker on the block – hiding out on the rather unlikely location of the Global Seat Turtle Network website!

The obscure location may simply be an Apple enthusiast running the website (update: it is, see below), or an attempt to hide it from Apple, which recently issued a DCMA takedown notice to the Apple Tracker website on the basis that screen-scraping the Apple website was an infringement of the terms of use. The owner of that site understandably decided to promptly comply.

The tracker uses a particularly useful grid format, enabling you to see which models are in stock where. Note that the numbers are not the quantity of stock available – there’s no way for anyone but Apple to know that – but the number of minutes since that cell was last checked. You can update a check by clicking on any of the blue numbers or column headings.

Now that the word is out on this one, don’t expect it to last too long, even with its claim that it uses a publicly-available XML tool rather than screen-scraping to gather the data, but it may prove helpful in the meantime.

Update: The site told CNET:

Because we are Apple fanboys and we want to know when our favorite iPhone model will be available! Also, SEATURTLE.ORG runs on Apple products. From the Xserve that powers this website, to the iMac where most of the programming happens, and the iDevices that allow us to keep tabs on the sea turtle world from where ever we are.

The Retina iPad Mini teardown reveals cross between iPad Air & iPhone 5s

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Following close behind its teardown of the iPad Air, iFixit has now taken its toolkit to the Retina iPad Mini. While the company understandably focuses on repairability – that’s how it makes it’s money – we’re betting most people just want to have a peek inside.

Unsurprisingly, the new iPad Mini is essentially a cross between the iPad Air and the iPhone 5s … 
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Retina iPad Mini supplies expected to remain tight through the holidays

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If you’re planning to give anyone a Retina iPad Mini as a holiday gift, it might be advisable to buy it sooner rather than later. Retina iPad Mini supplies are expected to remain constrained for the rest of the year, with two analysts both estimating production at around two million units. This is a very small number in what is likely to be a quarter with high demand.

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KGI’s Ming-Chi Kuo and IHS iSuppli’s Rhoda Alexander had both previously said they expected supply to be very tight, but this is the first time we’ve had sight of KGI’s estimates of the numbers.

We maintain our iPad mini R shipments forecast of around 2.2mn units for 4Q13. Considering production yield improvement at the supply chain, we forecast shipments will grow 102% QoQ in 1Q14 to 4.5mn units.


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Initial Retina iPad mini Apple Store rollout to be exclusive to Personal Pickup, Apple issues press release

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Due to “limited supply” and “high demand,” the new iPad mini with Retina display will be available at Apple Stores exclusively through the Personal Pickup service for the time-being. Personal Pickup allows a customer to purchase a Retina iPad mini via the Apple Online Store, then pick it up at an Apple Retail location of their choosing. This also means that a customer who wants a Retina iPad mini cannot simply walk-in to an Apple Store and buy one (yet). It’s likely that Apple will allow walk-in purchases when demand meets supply. Apple notified its retail employees of the current sales exclusivity to Personal Pickup customers, and Apple’s own retail website seems to imply similar…


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Report: GlobalFoundries Apple tie-in not as big a deal as it sounds, might be overflow supply line

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Suggestions that Apple is looking to chipmaker GlobalFoundries to reduce its reliance on Samsung chips are rather wide of the mark, according to sources cited by AllThingsD. The rumors followed a story in the Albany Times Union that Apple might be looking to the Malta, New York, chipmaker to make iPhone and iPad chips.

In the most likely scenario, Samsung will still be the primary manufacturer of Apple’s chips for the iPhone and iPad, they said, continuing the role it has played since the earliest days of the iPhone: Building the chips that Apple designs under contract […]

Samsung will use GlobalFoundries for what is known as “flex capacity.” This is a long-standing industry practice under which a chip manufacturer pays to occasionally use another company’s factories when demand on their own factory is running higher than they would like, and they need a little help … 
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Retina iPad mini could be the new gold iPhone 5s, with ‘ridiculously tight’ supplies

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A second analyst has warned that supplies of the Retina iPad mini are likely to be “ridiculously tight”, after KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo previously predicted they would be “highly constrained.” The comment comes from Rhoda Alexander, director of tablet research at IHS electronis and media, quoted in the Telegraph.

Apple could face supply issues for the iPad mini 2 with Retina, as its supply is one third the size of its shipments from this time last year, an analyst said.

Rhoda Alexander, director of tablet research at IHS electronis and media, said: “The supply of the Retina Mini is going to be ridiculously tight in the fourth quarter … 
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Apple will be live-streaming today’s launch event on web & Apple TV

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Apple will be live streaming today’s launch event, first revealed by the Apple Events channel returning to Apple TV, the icon displaying the theme for the event and a message saying “tune in at 10 am for the live stream.”

The event will also be streamed on the web when it begins at 10am Pacific/1pm Eastern. As usual, live streaming requires Safari 4 or later on OS X v10.6 or later; Safari on iOS 4.2 or later. Streaming via Apple TV requires second- or third-generation Apple TV with software 5.0.2 or later.

Details below of what we’re expecting to see … 
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Apple announces October 22nd iPad event: ‘We still have a lot to cover’

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Apple has announced that it will be holding its next media event on October 22nd, which is in line with expectations. The event will take place at 10 AM Pacific/1 PM Eastern Time at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, California.

The event will likely showcase new versions of the iPad, including a redesigned full-sized model that looks like a larger iPad mini and a new iPad mini that boasts a Retina display.

Also in Apple’s pipeline are new iWork suites, a new version of the Apple TV, new MacBook Pros with faster chipsets, OS X Mavericks, and the new Mac Pro. It’s unclear which of the aforementioned products will actually get stage time this time around, but the new Mac Pro, MacBook Pros, and OS X Mavericks are the most likely to appear in addition to the tablets…


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Report claims both likely & unlikely display changes for future Apple devices

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A report from Korea’s ETNews has outlined a series of claims pointing to dramatic shifts in display technologies for Apple devices. Over the next year, the report says that Apple is expected to redefine its screens for iPhones, iPads, and MacBooks. Here are the reported display trends:

  • iPhones will move to screens larger than 5-inches
  • iPads will be diversified into entry-level and premium models depending on display size. This report reiterates claims of a 12.9/13-inch model
  • iPad mini will gain a higher-resolution display next year
  • OLED displays will be integrated into Apple products, including Apple’s upcoming “iWatch”
  • More power-efficient LED displays for MacBooks
  • Further, the report claims that Apple will continue to use displays from Japan Display, but the company will increase its reliance on both LG and Samsung for screens

Looking at each claim on its own, some make sense, while others do not. The iPhone has long been expected to adopt a larger display in 2014, but the exact screen-size has been unclear. Apple has been testing screen sizes between 4.7-inches and 6-inches, with a reliable analyst recently pointing to a screen size in between 4.5 and 5 inches


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iPhone’s Touch ID metal ring fits in iPad 5 part, but likely isn’t evidence for fingerprint-scanning iPads

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With the announcement of the new iPads approaching later this month, rumors surrounding the new full-sized iPad have centered around a thinner, lighter design, but it’s been unclear if the new tablet will sport the Touch ID fingerprint authentication system from the iPhone 5s. I’ve heard that Apple’s most recent internal next-generation iPad prototypes have lacked Touch ID sensors, so it’s unclear if it will make the cut for this year. There are a few reasons why Touch ID wouldn’t make sense on an iPad this year:

  • Exclusivity to iPhone 5s could help with sales for Apple’s flagship phone. Notice the iPhone 5c doesn’t have it.
  • Supplies for Sapphire Crystal are obviously tight.
  • Touch ID would be better suited for an iPad capable of multiple users; is the OS even ready for that?

On the other hand, bringing Touch ID to the iPad this year would create consistency for Apple’s fall 2013 iOS Device line. Apple’s iPhone 5s internal test units did not gain Touch ID until late into testing, so there isn’t conclusive evidence right now for either direction…


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Report claims iPad 5 & Retina iPad mini will sport 8MP rear cameras w/ larger aperture

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With Apple’s rumored next-generation iPads expected to be launching as early as this month, often reliable KGI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo is sharing some new details on the expected iPad 5 and second generation iPad mini. Kuo is still expecting both products to launch later this year sometime in 4Q13, but in his latest report claims that Apple is prepping a camera upgrade for the new iPads that would include a bump up from the current 5 megapixel iSight camera to 8 megapixels along with other improvements:

Apple could upgrade the camera as a selling point for the new iPad in a bid to increase competitiveness.

We expect the upgrade will include 8MP rear camera, up from 5MP, and larger aperture. Lens module ASP will rise 10-20% on this optics spec upgrade.

As a reminder, the new iPhone 5s includes a new five-element lens designed by Apple that also includes a larger a F2.2 aperture with an 8 megapixel sensor. The device also brings a sensor with a 15 percent larger active area, auto stabilization, and bigger 1.5 micron pixels.

That would indeed be a nice camera to put on iPads.
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Reuters: Retina iPad mini supplies will be constrained, full production now pushed into 2014

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Reuters is reporting that problems with the rumored retina display for the iPad Mini 2 mean that it will be available only in limited quantities when it launches this year, with full-scale production pushed into 2014.

Apple Inc will be unable to widely roll out a new version of the iPad Mini with a high-resolution “retina” display this month, people who work in the company’s supply chain said […]

Given the time required to ramp up screen production, a retina display-equipped iPad Mini would not be available in large volumes until early next year, the sources said.

The delays are said to be due to the display suppliers – believed to be Samsung, LG and Sharp – having difficulties meeting the strict power-saving specifications laid down by Apple … 
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