14 DAY TRIAL // A smaller device means a smaller battery and this may negatively impact the marketing numbers that you’re going to advertise about your new device. It’s only a matter of time until Apple launches the smaller iPad, but there are many design and configuration issues that the company will have to deal with.
One of the problems is the fact that, because the device will end up being smaller than the current iPad, the battery inside will also be smaller, and there’s a strong chance that the possible advertised battery life won’t please Mr. Cook.
The processor and the modem inside the tablet are two of the main power drains, and having a more efficient processor will definitely improve the situation.
Integrating the modem inside the SoC will further reduce power consumption and, considering that Qualcomm is the only company to have a 4G modem integrated into its SoCs, we started wondering about the possibility of Apple using Qualcomm’s chip instead of its own ARM processors.
We also talked about the possibility of Apple simply using Qualcomm’s chips here, the reason being the fact that Qualcomm’s architecture is both: the most powerful and the most power-efficient.
Correlating this with the fact that Qualcomm has been placing huge orders to four different FAB companies, we might end up with yet another clue that points towards a deal between Qualcomm itself and Apple.
The US market is very important for Apple and 4G technology is reportedly very important for the US buyers, so there is a strong chance that a 4G model of Apple’s iPad Mini will come to life and if so, it will need a 4G modem.