It looks like someone has turned up some pictures of the box for the new 12th generation Kindle Paperwhite that Amazon is expected to release soon (maybe tomorrow).
The pictures don’t reveal very much in terms of details, but it looks like it’s going to be another one of those generation upgrades with a few minor changes, like Amazon often likes to do with Kindles.
The back of the box says the 12th gen Kindle Paperwhite has a 7″ glare-free display, so it looks like Amazon is changing from a 6.8″ E Ink screen to a 7″ E Ink screen.
The other details on the back aren’t anything new. It says it has an adjustable warm light, it’s waterproof with an IPX8 rating, and it has “weeks” of battery life. The box also says it has 16GB of storage. All those things are the same as the 11th gen Paperwhite so it looks like the main difference is going to be a slightly larger screen. Maybe it’s going to use a newer screen technology like Carta 1300, but from my experience with the Kobo Clara BW the previous Carta 1200 screens have better contrast so I don’t know if that’s a good thing or not, but Carta 1300 screens are a tiny bit faster so there’s that.
The overall design appears to be mostly the same as the 11th gen model, but the corners look like they’re a little bit more rounded, and it still looks like the power button is located on the lower edge.
There’s also a note on the back of the box toward the bottom that says it comes with a USB-C charging cable, and unfortunately Amazon is still going to be doing the ad-supported nonsense so you’ll have to pay $20 extra to get rid of the screensaver ads. They didn’t do that with the Kindle Scribe so I was hoping they’d move in that direction with other Kindles too, but apparently not.
So now we know partially what to expect with the new Kindle Paperwhite and the new basic Kindle, and once again it doesn’t look like much is going to change. Hopefully the Signature Edition model will get a few more upgrades, and maybe Amazon will get around to releasing color Kindles next year, like the rumors indicate. For now, some minor changes to existing Kindles are likely all we’re going to get.
Here’s the picture of the back of the box:
via: reddit
Claude says
The Carta 1300 screen on the Scribe looked very good.
Have you compared it to the 11th gen Paperwhite ?
We’ll wait for the video reviews to know more about the 12th gen Paperwhite.
JoelN says
The Scribe has Carta 1200 technology.
Claude says
I was so sure… But you’re right. Sorry. I’ll go sit in the corner…
fx says
This is a bad joke. 0.2″ inches bigger screen as the only difference when Kindle already lacks behind the competition so badly? I really hope people will start switching to Kobo and Boox more, Amazon needs to wake up.
Christian says
The power button being on the bottom is such a poor choice 🤣
I’m OK with Amazon not updating much. Helps the competition and hopefully wakes up Kindle-only users to how there are better options out there.
Norval says
The new basic with a now 25% brighter backlight was strike one. This .2 extra inches was strike two. I don’t know what strike three is but it’s coming.