iPad Mini Coming in Q3 with Sub-$300 Price?

Apple is rumored to be working on a smaller version of its iPad tablet and according to a new report, the company will launch the device sometime during the third quarter of 2012 with a price tag under $300.

The rumor comes from Chinese website NetEase, courtesy of Kotaku, and it states that Apple is planning on releasing the device, the ‘iPad Mini’, during Q3 with six million units available at launch.

In the past, the iPad Mini was rumored for Apple’s Back to School event which takes place during the fall.

Read: Why a 7.85-Inch iPad Makes Sense Alongside the iPad 3.

Pricing on the device is said to be between $249 and $250 which would position it nicely against competition which will include Windows 8 tablet and is rumored to include a Google Nexus tablet and multiple tablets from Amazon.

The device is said to be in the company’s labs and it is rumored to feature a 7.85-inch display, two inches smaller than the screen found on the company’s current iPad.

The iPad Mini’s display is apparently rocking 1024×768 resolution, which is lower resolution than that of the new iPad. There is, in fact, a benefit to this.

If the iPad Mini were to come with a lower resolution display, it would help to mitigate the app scaling issues that developers might run into with the different size of the display.

There is likely a strong demand for a smaller version of the iPad so it’s not surprising to see Apple toying around with the idea.

But just because an iPad Mini might exist in Apple’s labs, it doesn’t mean it will ever become available to consumers.