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(Image source: Bloomberg)
BY ELIZABETH HAGEDORN
File this one away as a rumor for now — there's buzz that Apple's latest generation of the
iPad mini will come with a retina display and it's teaming up with Samsung, of all companies,
to make it happen.
In the past, Apple is said to have dismissed using a retina display on its tablets because
it drained battery life and added an unneeded thickness. But that's all changed, according
to The Wall Street Journal, which explains Apple will use screens from rival Samsung's display
unit. The Journal writes: "Apple's choice to have Samsung make displays for its next
generation iPad mini underscores the unique relationship between the two companies. Apple
and Samsung have worked together for the better part of a decade."
Of course, Samsung has since emerged as Apple's toughest competitor, and its tablet market
share has been climbing quarter by quarter. It could eventually overtake the Cupertino
company as the world's No. 1 tablet provider.
An unlikely alliance makes for a good rumor, but there could be another wrinkle. 9to5Mac says
Apple isn't testing a retina display at all. The numbers don't match up. "Perhaps corroborating
this is that the rumored Retina display iPad mini codename is 'J85,' while the iPad mini
model we have learned about is 'J75.'"
A writer for Fortune gleaned this bit of insight from the mixed reports from The Wall
Street Journal and 9to5 Mac: "Both offer their findings as honest-to-goodness scoops. But
because Apple is not talking to them -- and never will -- neither really knows what's
in the works. And toward the end of their stories, each offers a version of the same
caveat."
That is, Apple is always testing new designs
— many of which don't make to the shelves anyway. But for those of you itching know
when we might see an iPad mini possibly with retina display, some reports have its release
projected as early as this November.