Apple iPad mini 2 Retina display could have already entered AUO's pipeline

The Apple iPad mini might just have landed in stores, but Apple’s manufacturers are already gearing up for a Retina-display second generation of the iPad mini, according to sources from China. 

AU Optronics in particular is said to expect to kick off mass production of 2048 x 1536 resolution 7.9-inch screens by the second half of 2013. While on the 9.7-inch iPad that meant a high pixel density of 264 ppi, on the iPad mini, this would work out to be a mind-blowing display, a candy for your eyes with a pixel density of 324 ppi.

We don’t know why Apple did not ship this first generation of the iPad mini with such a display, but our guess would be price. Working it all out for the second-gen, it seems the company will bring its game up a notch. 

It seems that Apple will continue with its disciplined yearly rollout of new generations of products, and that an iPad mini could come around Q4 2013, but not earlier. A higher-res display would also mean a beafed up processor to go with it. That would simply be a huge update at that price point, but we don’t really doubt Apple is going that way. The real question seems to be when.