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iPad mini Do you think they will release a new mini?

bitethis

bitethis

macrumors member
Original poster
Dec 21, 2012
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I have been bouncing iPads around my brain for weeks with the event coming up and all. I finally landed on the mini as the perfect size for a table side device for browsing and texting. The specs are great except possibly the ram. Ive been reading a lot about future updates and amount of ram. Other than that I am sold. Just wondering what the thoughts are of a possible mini being announced. I suppose anything is possible.

Thanks
 
bitethis said:
I have been bouncing iPads around my brain for weeks with the event coming up and all. I finally landed on the mini as the perfect size for a table side device for browsing and texting. The specs are great except possibly the ram. Ive been reading a lot about future updates and amount of ram. Other than that I am sold. Just wondering what the thoughts are of a possible mini being announced. I suppose anything is possible.

Thanks
Click to expand...
I doubt that there will be a new Mini announced this year - they go longer between updates.
 
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I really like my mini 6 a lot. I've always wanted the updated design in this form factor and that's exactly what I got. At the time when I bought it, out of the 4 Apple stores in my vicinity, there was one available. Not one model, one unit. It was the starlight, cellular, top storage model. I jumped on it as a total splurge purchase.

I've had it for about 6 months now, and I use it even more than I thought I would. I went ahead and activated the cellular on it, and find that I actually do use it in place of my iPhone in certain situations. There's just something special about the iPad mini form factor, especially this new design.
 
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As an iPad mini fan, it is always disappointing to me how much it gets overlooked. It often goes years between upgrades. There was even talk about the mini being discontinued once or twice. I‘m an artist, and I have a larger iPad Pro for drawing & video/photo editing… but I like the iPad mini for when I want to travel light but still be creative. It really makes the perfect portable sketchbook & creative device. I‘m glad it‘s finally able to use the Apple Pencil 2. There was a brief rumor of an iPad mini Pro, but that never happened. Knowing Apple’s track record with the ipad mini, i wouldn’t expect an upgrade for awhile. It was last updated in Sept 2021. I wouldn’t be surprised if it doesn’t get another until Sept 2023.

I am very happy with the performance of my iPad Mini 6. No complaints. I wouldn’t hesitate to buy one now. I used always get the mini with cellular because I travel a lot… but got the mini in wifi only since I always have my iPhone in my pocket. I can just create a hotspot for my iPad mini when i need to surf the web or send things.
 
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Greenmeenie said:
As an iPad mini fan, it is always disappointing to me how much it gets overlooked. It often goes years between upgrades. There was even talk about the mini being discontinued once or twice.
Click to expand...
Primarily because of bigger iPhones, if it wasn’t for Eddy Cue… iPad Minis wouldn’t exist. He’s probably the only one fighting for their existence.

But once OR if Apple decides to put Apple Pencil on a larger iPhone… I’ll consider the iPad Mini near the end of life.
 
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Ludatyk said:
Primarily because of bigger iPhones, if it wasn’t for Eddy Cue… iPad Minis wouldn’t exist. He’s probably the only one fighting for their existence.

But once OR if Apple decides to put Apple Pencil on a larger iPhone… I’ll consider the iPad Mini near the end of life.
Click to expand...
I dunno about that. I have the iPhone 11 Pro Max… and altho large, I do not consider it even close the the creative usability of the iPad mini. Even if the iPhone Pro max was able to use the apple pencil, i’d still choose the ipad mini for creative projects. The iPad mini is just so much bigger & the screen size difference is huge. For serious video & photo editing as well as sketching, the iPad mini will win every time. Altho the ipad mini may be considered niche to some, besides artists like me, there are fairly large groups that rely on it. The iPad mini is the device of choice for pilots. The iPhone is too small & the regular iPad too large for use in the cockpit. Apple even featured this in one of their ads. So despite what some believe, I wouldn’t cross off the ipad mini as dead. Not for the foreseeable future Anyway. Perhaps if Apple ever comes out with a foldable iPhone… maybe. But currently there are just too many issues with foldable phones. Cracked & creased screens etc. No, i think the iPad mini will be around for awhile. It may not be as popular as the larger iPads, but it does have a fairly large & loyal fan base.
 
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Greenmeenie said:
I dunno about that. I have the iPhone 11 Pro Max… and altho large, I do not consider it even close the the creative usability of the iPad mini. Even if the iPhone Pro max was able to use the apple pencil, i’d still choose the ipad mini for creative projects. The iPad mini is just so much bigger & the screen size difference is huge. For serious video & photo editing as well as sketching, the iPad mini will win every time. Altho the ipad mini may be considered niche to some, besides artists like me, there are fairly large groups that rely on it. The iPad mini is the device of choice for pilots. The iPhone is too small & the regular iPad too large for use in the cockpit. Apple even featured this in one of their ads. So despite what some believe, I wouldn’t cross off the ipad mini as dead. Not for the foreseeable future Anyway. Perhaps if Apple ever comes out with a foldable iPhone… maybe. But currently there are just too many issues with foldable phones. Cracked & creased screens etc. No, i think the iPad mini will be around for awhile. It may not be as popular as the larger iPads, but it does have a fairly large & loyal fan base.
Click to expand...

Agree. I wouldn't put my 12 Pro Max in the same category as my Mini 6 - just the display size delta alone is a significant difference and a major selling point for the Mini with me.
 
Greenmeenie said:
I dunno about that. I have the iPhone 11 Pro Max… and altho large, I do not consider it even close the the creative usability of the iPad mini. Even if the iPhone Pro max was able to use the apple pencil, i’d still choose the ipad mini for creative projects. The iPad mini is just so much bigger & the screen size difference is huge. For serious video & photo editing as well as sketching, the iPad mini will win every time.
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I certainly agree with you and I have no horse in the race. Last iPad Mini I purchased was the 4th generation and absolutely enjoyed the size of it, but I preferred the much larger model.

I’m only looking at it from Apple’s point of view. There’s plenty of people already call an iPad a smaller version of a iPhone. If certain features gets added to the Pro Max such as Apple Pencil support, then yeah… Apple might question the existence of an iPad Mini.

But then again, they just updated iPad Mini… that might be 5 years down the line before that comes into question.

sparksd said:
Agree. I wouldn't put my 12 Pro Max in the same category as my Mini 6 - just the display size delta alone is a significant difference and a major selling point for the Mini with me.
Click to expand...
You could have said the same thing about the iPod Touch and iPhone, however… I do understand there’s a larger difference in display size.
 
Ludatyk said:
I certainly agree with you and I have no horse in the race. Last iPad Mini I purchased was the 4th generation and absolutely enjoyed the size of it, but I preferred the much larger model.

I’m only looking at it from Apple’s point of view. There’s plenty of people already call an iPad a smaller version of a iPhone. If certain features gets added to the Pro Max such as Apple Pencil support, then yeah… Apple might question the existence of an iPad Mini.

But then again, they just updated iPad Mini… that might be 5 years down the line before that comes into question.


You could have said the same thing about the iPod Touch and iPhone, however… I do understand there’s a larger difference in display size.
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I agree. Awhile ago, it looked like the iPad mini was truly going to be replaced by the iPhone. Especially when larger iPhones came out. You’re right, the iPhone Max is large enough for the majority of people. And most of those that wanted an iPad tended to go larger than the mini. I think that’s what Apple thought too…. for awhile. The mini wasn’t updated for a loooong time. I think over 2 yrs at one point. But a small but vocal minority spoke up. And i think Apple listened with the release of the iPad mini 6. It got the flat edged design of the iPad Pros and usb-c connector. So it looks like Apple changed their attitude about the mini. At least for now.

Will the release of an iPhone that can use the Apple pencil change that? I dunno. I think people choose the mini for more than the Apple pencil. The screen is significantly larger than even the largest iPhone. So i still think the iPad mini will be around for awhile. At least until Apple comes out with a foldable iPhone… which may or may not happen. We shall see.
 
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Ludatyk said:
Primarily because of bigger iPhones, if it wasn’t for Eddy Cue… iPad Minis wouldn’t exist. He’s probably the only one fighting for their existence.

But once OR if Apple decides to put Apple Pencil on a larger iPhone… I’ll consider the iPad Mini near the end of life.
Click to expand...
I would absolutely use Pencil with my iPhone if they added support. I really don’t think they’ll ever add it though.
 
For those interested in the history of the mini, a couple of years ago there was an interview with some Apple people and they revealed that Apple was planning on discontinuing the mini after introducing the $329 iPad 5th gen in 2017, because they thought nobody would buy the mini anymore at $399 (that was the then current price once every storage tier other than the 128GB had been removed) now that it was no longer the budget model.
However they noticed that people kept buying a 2015 device with a 2014 chip even after the budget iPad was introduced, and it did not really affect the sales of the mini 4, so people were buying the mini because of the size, not the price.
So instead of discontinuing it in 2018, they decided to make a new version together with the planned return of the air (which, at $500, would fill the gap created by the increased price of the pro to $800 and the now decreased price of the standard iPad) with the same specs but at $100 less, which was the same price as the mini 4 (but now at 64GB instead of 128GB for the mini 4). And in Spring 2019 the mini 5 was released, after 3.5 years from the mini 4 and a jump in chip of 5 generations.
From then on they seem to have moved to a difference rhythm, with both being upgraded every 2 years but the air first then the mini the following year.
 
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I’m ready for a new mini. I was excited about my mini 6 until I started scrolling and the jelly still to this day drives be nuts. Other than that, I love it and take it with me pretty much everywhere. If they did nothing but improve the display I would update again. 120Hz or mini LED or maybe OLED whatever they decide. If they moved the controller to the landscape orientation that would work better for me, I use mine primarily in portrait.
 
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Ludatyk said:
Primarily because of bigger iPhones, if it wasn’t for Eddy Cue… iPad Minis wouldn’t exist. He’s probably the only one fighting for their existence.

But once OR if Apple decides to put Apple Pencil on a larger iPhone… I’ll consider the iPad Mini near the end of life.
Click to expand...
I disagree with the assertion that I bolded. At the time of the iPad Mini's initial release, 7" Android tablets were selling in quantities large enough to catch Apple's attention. The 9"-10" tablet space we already securely in Apple's hands, but the smaller form-factor was growing.

When the first 7" Android tablets began to appear, Steve Jobs said that tablets smaller than the 9.7" iPad did not provide for a good user experience. It was a wise move for him to back off that position and produce the Mini.

It was market forces that were the primary pressure to produce the Mini.
 
sracer said:
I disagree with the assertion that I bolded. At the time of the iPad Mini's initial release, 7" Android tablets were selling in quantities large enough to catch Apple's attention. The 9"-10" tablet space we already securely in Apple's hands, but the smaller form-factor was growing.

When the first 7" Android tablets began to appear, Steve Jobs said that tablets smaller than the 9.7" iPad did not provide for a good user experience. It was a wise move for him to back off that position and produce the Mini.

It was market forces that were the primary pressure to produce the Mini.
Click to expand...
But this is public knowledge which was in the emails (Epic vs Apple trial) and discussed on some podcast… can’t recall which one.

Eddy Cue was the main executive championing this… as you mention 7” Android tablets were selling in quantities, but Eddy Cue looked at this and brought it to Steve Jobs attention. I know you are looking at it from the standpoint of “hey Androids 7” tablets were selling in large quantities“… so that leads us to believe Apple would have went in that direction.

But Steve was indeed hesitant and it was Eddy Cue who was pushing him to rethink his position.
 
gsmornot said:
I’m ready for a new mini. I was excited about my mini 6 until I started scrolling and the jelly still to this day drives be nuts. Other than that, I love it and take it with me pretty much everywhere. If they did nothing but improve the display I would update again. 120Hz or mini LED or maybe OLED whatever they decide. If they moved the controller to the landscape orientation that would work better for me, I use mine primarily in portrait.
Click to expand...

120hz OLED would be incredible in this form factor. But then it would probably cannibalize Air sales.
 
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