Those who follow Apple believe they have figured out most of the particulars of a smaller iPad expected to be revealed today. One big question remains, though: What will it cost?
Apple hasn’t said anything about the device, but the veil of secrecy it throws over unreleased products has been a see-through affair this year.
Most of the details of the iPhone 5 were known well in advance of its launch a month ago.
In the case of the “iPad Mini” (the real name is not known), tech bloggers and analysts expect a device with a screen measuring 7.85 inches on the diagonal, making it about half the size of the regular iPad.
It would be slightly larger than the 7-inch tablets it’s presumably designed to compete with, including Amazon.com Inc.’s Kindle Fire and Google Inc.’s Nexus 7.
The Kindle Fire starts at $159, and the Nexus 7 at $199. Meanwhile, Apple sells the iPad 2 for $399 and the 4-inch iPod Touch for $199.
Company watchers are pegging the price of the smaller iPad somewhere in between.
Most of the guesses range from $249 to $299, but the blog Boy Genius Report said Monday that the price would be $329. That would make the iPad Mini twice the price of the cheapest Kindle Fire.
Boy Genius did not disclose its source and has had a mixed record in predicting details on unreleased Apple products.