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If Apple had to drop one iPad from their lineup which would it be?

If Apple dropped an iPad line, which would it be?

  • Mini

    Votes: 84 58.3%

  • 9.7

    Votes: 41 28.5%

  • 10.5

    Votes: 11 7.6%

  • 12.9

    Votes: 8 5.6%
  • Total voters
    144
stlredbird

stlredbird

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Feb 24, 2009
580
589
So I was thinking there a lot of size choices for iPad all of a sudden. What line would Apple chiise to drop if they only wanted to continue to support 3 sizes. I think the mini has a place for its extreme portability. The 12.9 is a great size for those who use theres for work (as i do as a designer) and i believe it’s by far the superior device for multi-tasking (though i may be bias as a 12.9 user). So my thought is it would come down to 9.7 and 10.5 as they are so close in size. With 9.7 being the well established size i would have to go with dropping the 10.5.
 
I voted to drop the Mini. The sceeen size is really not practical for universal purposes and too similar to a large iPhone, IMO.

Regarding 9.7 vs 10.5, I’d say the slight screen size increase is welcomed by the iPad community. It doesn’t make it any more unwieldy and adds 20% screen space that many appreciate.
 
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The point of the current 9.7 model is pricing. That's the entry level iPad for those unwilling to spend $600+ on a tablet. Apple might just keep that 9.7 and 10.5 distinction similar to how they have the MacBook (12-inch) and MacBook Pro 13-inch.
 
I should have voted for the 10.5. The way I personally see it is that the mini is good for people who think a phone is way too small but a tablet is too big.

The 9.7 is the perfect middle man size and then the 12.9 if you really need that big screen.

That’s the predicament I’m in. I want monster performance but the 10.5’s bezel seems too small for me from what I’ve tried. I could probably get used to it but I feel 9.7 is way better and more comfortable to hold.
 
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The 10.5 is just slightly too big to be comfortable thumb typing on in portrait mode. They clearly made it bigger to distinguish the iPad Pro more from its cheaper cousin, but in my opinion a 9.7" screen with smaller bezels would have been a better product.
 
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The Mini is probably the most expendable. I'm not too clear on how sales of the 12.9 are, but they seem OK? Certainly quite a profit margin on that one.

With that said, some posters here seem unusually eager for the Mini to go away. Reality check: Apple has not discontinued products that fill a product niche for a very long time.
 
The answer is obvious. The mini is the only iPad left that doesn’t support ARKit.
Although personally I wish Apple keep the mini line. The size is ultra convenient for on the go tablet. The Plus size iPhones are still too small to match the mini’s 7.9” screen, no matter how you spin it. The 9.7” is too large to be a really portable tablet.

I hope Apple update the mini, at least to make all their lineup ARKit compatible. Seriously, even current iPhone lineup has A9 as the minimum. Hopefully we can see an A10 mini.
 
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Sorry, I know your question was "which do you think Apple would drop?", but not knowing what they know and not being able to think how they think, I found it too difficult to answer. Instead I answered "which would you WANT Apple to drop?" :D
 
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rkuo said:
The 10.5 is just slightly too big to be comfortable thumb typing on in portrait mode. They clearly made it bigger to distinguish the iPad Pro more from its cheaper cousin, but in my opinion a 9.7" screen with smaller bezels would have been a better product.
Click to expand...
absolutely.

Although I like the bezels the way they are
 
I am a serious supporter of the Mini but I think this answer is clear. Apple has now gone two years without an update for the Mini.
 
The 9.7" should have zero votes as it is by far the best selling iPad, no matter what it has been called over the years (iPad 2, iPad Air, iPad Pro, etc).

It would be between the mini and the 12.9. I'm actually very curious to see how the 10.5" has sold; while it gets great reviews, I would imagine the 10.5" has sold less than the Pro 9.7" mainly because a lot of 9.7" Pro buyers were just buying the best "normal sized" iPad. Many of those buyers probably moved to the plain "iPad." As a heavy iPad 12.9" user, it would be hard for me to go back to the 10.5" or 9.7"
 
I think we already know which one is getting dropped - the Mini. Its the only one that has yet to be updated.
 
I voted for the 10.5 as that is the one I would like to see them drop if they had to drop one. IMO, the 9.7 is the right size. The 10.5 is just a bit too large to replace the 9.7 but a bit too small to replace the 12.9. I understand that many appreciate the 10.5 size so I hope for their sakes Apple keeps it.

I still believe that Apple will not be discontinuing the Mini but will produce a version of the Mini that supports the Apple Pencil. If no updated Mini is announced by March 2018, I'll resign myself to the fact that it will be discontinued.
 
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All four sizes have been successful for Apple. That is why Apple will drop all four of them. New sizes will be next year with when Apple switches to Face ID. Sorry, that is the Apple way.
 
Steve only wanted the 9.7 and now I see why.
9.7 and 10.5 aren't much different.
The 12.9 is a small niche user group.
The Mini is really the perfect size and my favorite particularly for portability and for kids.
 
Last edited:
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The mini is an excellent gift for a person or a child looking for a small tablet . The mini was my first experience with iOS.
 
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potentmf said:
The mini is an excellent gift for a person looking for a small tablet or a child. The mini was my first experience with iOS. It was a gift.
Click to expand...

Not sure if a mini can take the place of a child. Unless maybe you mean this kind of mini:
589AB503-632F-48AA-9A49-25018816C416.png
 
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7.9” iPad mini
9.7” iPad
12.9” iPad Pro

No need to make a reduced size pro, just bring the lineup back into relative parity (maybe leave the pro as the single user of the X chip and the other sizes drop back to regular chips; all models to have pencil support)
 
9.7" and 10.5" are very close, while the other sizes are further apart so my feeling is that one of these should go.
Given what they are and the technology they embed, I would say the 9.7" should go.

To those comparing the size of the mini with that of an iPhone, there are side by side pictures that clearly show the screen area is almost 2x on the iPad Mini. Smart phones have became very good at a lot of things, but there are still plenty of tasks I would not do on a phone screen just for my eyes's sake, and that I could actually do on an iPad mini screen: browse the web for more than a few minutes, read a book, edit a spreadsheet, write an email that is longer than 3 or 4 lines, and more. Now add Apple Pencil support to the mini, and you can do some nice note taking or drawing...
 
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The 10.5 for a pro model is really the minimum for pencil support, I find it cramped enough writing on it as it is. But a 12.9 for me is just too big to be portable.

I don’t see a use for the mini really myself I can do everything on my plus size iPhone that I used to do on my mini 2.
I don’t read ebooks anymore but if I did I would prefer a paper white offering anyway.
 
I never really understood the point of the mini but I can understand that some people like smaller tablets. And obviously they should keep the 12.9, because for some people it can replace their laptop. So like a lot of people, it’s 9.7 vs 10.5. I personally think the 9.7 should go. The smaller bezels on the bigger 10.5 version mean it’s not really much bigger than the 9.7, but has a much bigger screen which is really nice. But if they decided to stick with 9.7, then I reckon it’s time for the 9.7 to get smaller bezels.
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Adelphos33 said:
The 9.7" should have zero votes as it is by far the best selling iPad, no matter what it has been called over the years (iPad 2, iPad Air, iPad Pro, etc).
Click to expand...
Not trying to start anything, but just thought I’d point out that the reason the 9.7 design is the “best selling iPad” is simply because they’ve used this design for ages, as you mentioned. I’m sure some of the other designs would have sold more or less the same if they existed back then
 
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