During episode #86 of The Talk Show, John Gruber was talking about the rumored smaller iPad and told Dan Benjamin that Apple is testing a 7.85-inch tablet in its labs. Gruber says the tablet has a 1024 x 768 resolution display and looks like an iPad that’s shrunk down a bit. You can get a feel for the size of the device by taking a screen capture of the iPad in portrait mode and then viewing this image in landscape mode.
As The Next Web points out, this comment shouldn’t come as a surprise. Steve Jobs confirmed during a 2010 earnings conference call that Apple toyed with the idea of a 7-inch tablet and rejected the idea back then. After the introduction of the Kindle Fire, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Apple revive those plans and take a second look at a smaller and presumably less expensive tablet.
The suggestion that Apple’s testing a 7-inch tablet isn’t a guarantee the device will make it out of the prototype stage and into production. The company could put an end to this speculation by rejecting the device just like it did last time. It could also send the tablet back to the drawing board for another round of engineering and design. It’s also possible that Apple is doing the legwork now, so when the time is right, it has a product that’s ready to launch.
[Via The Next Web]