7.85-inch screen iPad reportedly to be revealed this year

Apple is expected to announce a 7.85-inch screen iPad some time before the year ends, according to a report.

The Cupertino, Calif., tech company is working on a smaller version of the iPad that will sell for significantly less than the price of the current 9.7-inch screen iPad, sources familiar with the matter said, according to the report.

The smaller iPad has been reported by several outlets since the late June unveiling of the Nexus 7, a 7-inch screen tablet made by Google.

The latest report, by the New York Times, says a smaller tablet would be part of Apple’s tried and true strategy to get its customers by offering a multitude of similar devices at various price points, just as they did with iPods during the last decade.

The smaller touch device may also be marketed as the next version of Apple’s iPod Touch rather than a mini iPad, according to the report.

Evidence that Apple may be working on the smaller device is also presented with the story that the original tablet prototype developed by Apple was a 7-inch device, according to the report, which cites “a former engineer at the company.�

However, an iPad mini is a device that’s been speculated about even before the Nexus 7 was announced. Obviously those reports proved false, and they’ve always been highly questionable due to comments made by the late Apple CEO and co-founder, Steve Jobs, who dismissed a smaller iPad as a device Apple would put out.

In fact, the report says Jobs at one point wondered out loud whether a 7-inch tablet was too small and good for anything besides surfing the Web in the bathroom.

But Jobs was also known for completely changing his mind at the last second. And with so many reports now pointing to an iPad mini, perhaps Apple is getting into the small-size tablet market.

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