We should all know by now that when it comes to pre-release versions of iOS there is generally no stone left unturned by those investigative minds that love nothing more than ripping through the internals to see what they can find. The latest iOS 7 beta SDK release is no different, and this time it seems that a keen-eyed developer has cottoned on to Apple testing out an enhanced iPad mini, evidence of which is located deep inside of a hidden file within the SDK.
Apple's iPad mini is pretty much the undisputed king of the small tablet market at this point, and with good reason. Small, light, powerful and above all backed by the App Store, the iPad mini has a lot going for it. Even with all the good though, there's one tick in the bad column that many still find impossible to ignore: the lack of a Retina display.
Apple is largely expected to release a Retina-displaying version of its iPad mini this year, along with an incrementally-improved iPhone dubbed the "iPhone 5S". According to a research note from Ming-chi Kuo of KGI Securities, both have hit delays, and with the iPhone 5S release date initially being touted for announcement in June in preparation for a July release, it now appears as though neither will be hitting the market anytime soon.
Apple's decision not to opt for the Retina display with the iPad mini was met with disappointment by many, but recent reports have suggested the second generation of the downscaled slab will indeed feature a much higher resolution in line with the rest of the iDevice range. With this in mind, further images have today been sourced from a Chinese forum depicting what is said to represent the rear shell of an iPad mini featuring a high-density display.
It may be one of Apple's newest product lines that has only been publicly available for a matter of weeks, but that hasn't stopped the rumors about the potential specifications of the second-generation iPad mini from circulating extremely early. Reports from hit-and-miss rumor site DigiTimes are suggesting that Apple already has one eye on the future of the new mini iPad and could potentially have plans to introduce a higher-resolution display to the mid-range tablet as well as making changes to the standard sized iPad to make it lighter.
The iPad mini may only have been out for a short while, but Apple's hardware partners are already purportedly preparing for its predecessor, with a Retina display high on the agenda. The iPad mini has, on the whole, been well-received, but of the numerous gripes bloggers and consumers alike have had, the lack of an über-sharp display has consistently been one of the main issues.
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