If you were hanging your tablet hopes on snagging an iPad Mini 2 with a Retina display this year, you may have to pin your expectations on early next year instead.

According to a report by the Taiwan Economic News, the planned launch of Apple’s next iPad Mini has been delayed from a release later this year and in time for the December holidays, to early in 2014 instead.  

Furthermore, the report elaborates that Apple may release both Retina and non-Retina flavours, although we fully expect it to see a bump up in processing power.

Indeed, it wouldn’t be inaccurate to call the current iPad Mini a smaller iPad 2 from a specs point of view, as it boasts the same processor (1 GHz dual-core Apple A5 processor) and screen resolution (1024 x 768).

Captain, we have a leak

What’s more, earlier this year it looked like an iPad Mini 2 wasn’t just the result of wishful thinking, as leaked photos of an iPad Mini 2 backplate surfaced. This hinted at a slightly thicker profile, one that is largely accepted as being the payoff for including a larger battery to accommodate a Retina display.

This should hardly be unexpected. The Retina-sporting iPad 3 and iPad 4 both gained a little heft as compared with the iPad 2 to accommodate the high resolution screen. Apple is purportedly working on reducing the Retina display iPad 5’s weight while also applying a smaller bezel to increase overall screen size.

While a report from Digitimes is a bit more optimistic, pegging the the iPad Mini 2’s release as possibly still making the November-December holiday period, it did assert that a delay could be influenced by “the supply chain being unable to meet the mass-production schedule.”

Differences of opinion

Furthermore, it noted that the iPad Mini 2 could be strategically delayed as well, citing market observers observations that the 9.7-inch iPad sales “were seriously impacted” by the launch of the iPad mini in 2012. Thus, it is believed that Apple may choose instead to focus on one sized tablet at a time, presumably to give each – the 9.7” iPad and the 7.9” iPad Mini – its own time in the sun.

NPD DisplaySearch offered a different projection, namely of a thinner iPad Mini 2 being launched before the end of this year, but without a Retina display. Its analyst, Richard Shim, is quoted as asserting that the next iPad Mini will only receive a processor overhaul and iOS 7, with a Retina Display model then following in its wake next year.  

For the inevitable iPad 5, the outlook for release this year is a bit brighter. According to a report by Digitimes, the iPad 5 could enter production either this month or in August, well ahead of schedule to capture shoppers’ hard earned money at the peak shopping season.

To the point

However, those who have their hearts set on a smaller iPad with Apple’s HD display can at least take heart. Judging by previous experience, there are certain things that are immutable certainties – death, taxes, and newly updated tablets or smartphones.