"The 7-inch [form factor] is really limiting," she says.

CIRP's research results indirectly support Milanesi's view. The third-generation iPad apparently appeals to businesses users, in part, because of the Retina display. Creation and consumption of Excel spreadsheets, Word documents, PowerPoint slides, emails, and other company-related content is much easier on the eyes thanks to the Retina display.

Not only will the iPad mini have a smaller, eye-straining screen, says Kyle Wiens, founder of iFixit and an iOS developer, "It probably won't have a Retina display, either."

Wiens, though, does think an iPad mini will carve out a place in the enterprise. He envisions the iPad mini used extensively in the field by service technicians, where mobility trumps everything else. Such employees don't have much use for fancy Retina displays.

"With service manuals, you need to see pictures to do repairs, which makes the iPad much more usable than the iPhone," Wiens says. "Yet you might be in tight places, so ."