iPad Mini 2 Skipping Retina Again: Here's Why

If you're waiting for a so-called "Retina" display on an iPad mini in the near future, you'll be better off planning to wait it out for at least another season. While the iPad mini currently sits with the same display resolution as the iPad 2, the trend for best-of-the-best in all things display and specifications have suddenly proven to be topped out. While this isn't the only indicator for the iPad mini staying with the display it's got now, the trend has become rather apparent: the next waves of smartphones and tablets selling out of stores wont necessarily beat out the previous generation for high-end specs, they'll be aimed at the everyman.

Suggestions from Economic Daily News Report lead the pack this week with suggestion that the second-generation iPad mini will either be pushed back to 2014 for a full launch OR will be appearing with an incremental update – not quite a full second generation, that is. Almost like an iPad mini S, as it were.

While we've seen the casings from the iPad 5 matching up quite well along the edges with that of the current-generation iPad mini, the iPad mini itself has had no such leaks. Only suggestions of Retina or non-Retina from sources close to the matter, analysts, and factory floor enthusiasts.

You'll find a May 6th report from NPD DisplaySearch that suggests that the iPad mini with Retina display will be coming inside 2013, but without a boost to the machine's processor. Similar reports suggest the opposite, with the processor (and perhaps the camera) getting a bump in an incremental update while the display would get its full-on retina upgrade in 2014.

Meanwhile the rear shell from the iPad mini 2 appeared to leak earlier this year and cannibalization continues.

The most recent update to iOS 7 – still in beta mode at the moment – suggests that the "x2" mode included with all devices has been given a quality boost. This means that the applications made for smaller displays like the iPhone grow in size to meet the display they're on, and with the iPad 2's display size – it's amount of pixels, that is – rolling strong with the iPad mini, the change will be welcome. Don't be surprised if the iPad mini 2 continues to be called the iPad mini (without the 2) later this year, complete with upgrades to its insides, but not to its out.