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Electronic components each year are more powerful and much smaller. The upcoming SoC A12 will be 1/2 size of the A11! Everything is still getting smaller including storage and flash memory! Apple will finally have to increase their screen resolution routine by not rewriting the screen resolution to save on battery time. Everything takes less energy now!
 
If you absolutely need buttons/joystick, there'a always the Gamevice, which works pretty well:

https://www.apple.com/shop/product/...wgo-pla-btb-catchall--slid--product-HKPA2VC/A

Just imagine if Apple really decided to support/update the Mini design. Reduce the bezels and make it a tad smaller/lighter (keep screen size and increase resolution as desired), and then combine it with an optional device similar to the GameVice to add gaming buttons (maybe make it two pieces on either side similar to Switch). Add Pencil support and voila!
 
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Perhaps the best evidence that there is still a demand for iPad minis is the fact that I just sold my 2.5 year old Mini 4 for $350 CDN (about $274 USD). Within hours of putting it up for sale I had multiple buyers willing to pay my full asking price.

Paid for most of my new 2018 iPad right there.
 
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It costed me less money when I bought mine a year ago. lol.
How does the amount of money you spent on it prove that "it is the best design"? :confused:

I've owned my Mini 4 for over a year and half (to supplement my 12.9 iPad Pro) and it continues to surprise me at how smooth it still performs (at iOS 10.3 and will forever remain there), battery life is still the best among the iPads I currently use regularly.

I use a powered capacitive stylus with it and it has shown me just how useful a Pencil-supported Mini could be. With the release of the 2018 iPad, I'm not too hopeful that a Mini w/Pencil support will be produced. Such a Mini would be more expensive than the 2018 iPad which will trigger people to complain about it being "too expensive"... not by those of us Mini fans who want a quality iPad with a 7.9" screen.

I'm in no rush. I'm having a blast with my Mini 4, but I'll be keeping an eye in June, and maybe Oct.
 
Perhaps the best evidence that there is still a demand for iPad minis is the fact that I just sold my 2.5 year old Mini 4 for $350 CDN (about $274 USD). Within hours of putting it up for sale I had multiple buyers willing to pay my full asking price.

Paid for most of my new 2018 iPad right there.

That’s ridiculous. I just bought a brand new 128gb model for $299 online from Walmart plus got $15 back from topcashback.
 
That’s ridiculous. I just bought a brand new 128gb model for $299 online from Walmart plus got $15 back from topcashback.

Well, I did also throw in a Smart Cover...

But seriously, I saw a lot of people asking for more than I did on the second hand market. You don’t tend to see a lot of sales on current Apple stuff here in Canada, and a 128GB Mini 4 retails for $529 (plus 13% tax in my province). So $350 for my 64GB wasn’t unreasonable, I think.
 
Apple can still milk the product for revenues. There are plenty of existing users stuck or invested in the mini form factor.

But the pricing and the fact it doesn’t support AR is already Apple’s way of telling consumers not to buy it.
[doublepost=1531845531][/doublepost]WHAT is AR? If I pay apple $200 to replace my broken apple mini 1 that i bought five years ago, they will only replace it with the exact same model of ipad mini (with only a ninety day wty, not a one year wty like newer purchased ipads carry). Should I pay more for a new ipad replacement that has AR? all we use it for is browsing, screenshots, and as a reader. but if AR is something important to have i would consider paying more for a new model ipad as replacement for her broken one that apple store will hold for her to exchange it for a same same replacement ipad until august 1, so we have two weeks to make up our mind which way to go.
 
[doublepost=1531845531][/doublepost]WHAT is AR? If I pay apple $200 to replace my broken apple mini 1 that i bought five years ago, they will only replace it with the exact same model of ipad mini (with only a ninety day wty, not a one year wty like newer purchased ipads carry). Should I pay more for a new ipad replacement that has AR? all we use it for is browsing, screenshots, and as a reader. but if AR is something important to have i would consider paying more for a new model ipad as replacement for her broken one that apple store will hold for her to exchange it for a same same replacement ipad until august 1, so we have two weeks to make up our mind which way to go.

Check Apple’s website for certified refurbished units and consider those as well. I’m not sure what storage size your old iPad mini is or whether it’s WiFi only or WiFi + cellular, but there are Mini 4’s starting at $279 in the WiFi only models.

https://www.apple.com/shop/browse/home/specialdeals/ipad/ipad_mini_4

The benefit of going certified refurb direct from Apple would be a full 1 year warranty on the unit. There were many improvements added to the 4 even though it hasn’t been updated in a while - display quality, processing power, camera quality to name a few that you’d likely notice compared to the 1st generation model.
 
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