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iPad mini 4 - the last mini?
- Thread starter chillip
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Yep. Personally the + sized iPhones are too big to be a good phone and too little to be a good tablet. Thats just me though. The Mini is a great size and I hope Apple keeps it around. I highly doubt they're loosing money on it.
No one CREDIBLE is, but there are plenty of garbage tech sites out there that say plenty of garbage things all day every day. I read it in the news all the time that "the mini is more or less the same as an iPhone Plus". Again, I couldn't disagree more, but once there's a narrative out there, it's out there.
Grabbed one when Best Buy had the 128GB on sale for $299.
Just bought one this weekend, they are 299 at bb again this week.
I don't think that they're losing money, and contrary to popular belief, the Mini is not to blame for declining iPad sales. I recall relative sales figures of iPads being released for the holiday quarters of the last two years, and both times the Minis (2 and 4) actually accounted for more units sold than any of the Pro models. This was especially apparent in 2015 when the Mini 4 came out, showing that when Apple provides an update, and price it reasonably relative to other models, people will buy it. Granted, I'm sure the Minis don't enjoy the same profit margin per unit.
As I've mentioned in another thread, I think the really reason why the Mini is being neglected is because it doesn't fit Apple's narrative of the iPad being a laptop replacement. The Mini 4 is a really good tablet, and that's exactly what I want. It's not going to replace my laptop, nor can my phone replace it. But Apple is trying to get consumers to a place where all we have is a phone and an iPad.
That's what I thought as well - I don't think its in some massive decline.
Maybe Apple can give it a similar treatment to the 2017 9.7 iPad - update it and drop the 'Mini 4' numbering and just call it the iPad mini or iPad 7.9 2017 and update it.
I wish, but with the way they priced the ipad 2017, i cant see them releasing a new mini and pricing it any lower than that. If they price it the same then people will complain.
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I follow Neil Cybart's analysis over at Above Avalon, and 99% of the time, even when he sounds like a total kook, he ends up being right. It looks like the mini still gets big sales booms in the month of December, and then goes back to nothing most other times of the year. So according to him, the huge declines in mini sales mask pretty stable sales in the larger sizes, and the holiday sales of the mini mask the real sales problem that the mini actually has.
Again, not saying your theory is wrong, but just that there are several different angles to possibly look at this from. Either way, I think the refreshes at the iPad/iPad Pro levels this year are going to change the calculus quite a bit. I think that $329 iPad especially is going to be the sleeper hit of 2017 and will probably see some massive promotions this holiday season.
Not arguing with that theory, you could be right, but I've read that the holidays is pretty much the ONLY time when the mini does well anywhere. People pick bargain bin models up on sale to give to the kids--I think it was two Christmases ago where you could still get a mini 2 for a song at several retailers.
I follow Neil Cybart's analysis over at Above Avalon, and 99% of the time, even when he sounds like a total kook, he ends up being right. It looks like the mini still gets big sales booms in the month of December, and then goes back to nothing most other times of the year. So according to him, the huge declines in mini sales mask pretty stable sales in the larger sizes, and the holiday sales of the mini mask the real sales problem that the mini actually has.
Again, not saying your theory is wrong, but just that there are several different angles to possibly look at this from. Either way, I think the refreshes at the iPad/iPad Pro levels this year are going to change the calculus quite a bit. I think that $329 iPad especially is going to be the sleeper hit of 2017 and will probably see some massive promotions this holiday season.
The mini 4 is right there on the main iPad page, compare models page, and buy page. We really don't know how much longer the Mini will be around, but it is still prominently for sale. Best Buy is having a sale on them this week. I would not be surprised to see Apple announce a Pro Mini some time the end of this year/early next.
Apple no longer mentions the mini on the iPad page footer. The 32GB mini was discontinued a few months ago. The writing is on the wall and has been since early this year.
Well, that makes 2 of us keeping hope alive.
I regularly use a 1/2 letter size (5.5x8.5) notepad. The Mini is the exact size. With support for the Apple Pencil, I could really make use of that. Or better yet, Apple should produce the "Apple Golf Pencil".
You have to hunt for the iPad mini page by clicking the top navigation bar.
The natural tendency for visitors to Apple.com is to click through the huge landing page and view the contents.
This isn't an oversight on Apple's part. It's pretty clear where the focus is and where it isn't.
Sorry but I didn't have to "hunt" for the iPad mini page. Apple.com -> click on the iPad icon in the navigation.
That is considered hunting. Potential iPad buyers would click right through the huge iPad Pro landing page.
The other half of the visitors to Apple.com will be on a smartphone, not a desktop browser. They have to invoke the navigation menu on the top left to even see the word iPad.
If that is your definition of "hunting" then you are free to believe that. As for potential iPad buyers clicking on iPad Pro when they are interested in something else is simply speculation, which is fine too.
If I were an advertiser and both spots had the same cost, I know which spot I would choose. The click through rate on a size 50 font object with a photo is probably an order of magnitude higher than a navigation menu item.
Ultimately, my post is about the footer of the iPad page. If you're on the new iPad Pro page, you're invited to step down to the $329 iPad. But not the mini. There's no excuse why the iPad mini wasn't shown unless Apple didn't want it there. The iPhone page shows SE, 7, and 7 Plus. The iPod page shows the shuffle, nano, and touch.
Note that for a 16:9 device to have the same screen area as the iPad mini, it would have to have a 8.35" diagonal. That's a larger difference to 6" (factor 1.39) than between the 9.7" and 12.9" iPad (factor 1.33) or between the 7.9" and 10.5" iPad (also factor 1.33).
That is exactly what I did. The Mini is by far my favorite Apple device. I love it.
I have a perfectly good Mini 2 and just purchased the Mini 4 because it may be discontinued. Today i noticed that Best Buy is once again running the $299 promo. If you like this form factor, this could be the deal for you.
I still have an iPod Classic by the one. Old as dirt, still working great
That is exactly what I did. The Mini is by far my favorite Apple device. I love it.
I have a perfectly good Mini 2 and just purchased the Mini 4 because it may be discontinued. Today i noticed that Best Buy is once again running the $299 promo. If you like this form factor, this could be the deal for you.
I still have an iPod Classic by the one. Old as dirt, still working great
Well I'm in Canada so I don't think we'd get a deal that good on the iPad Mini.
That is exactly what I did. The Mini is by far my favorite Apple device. I love it.
I have a perfectly good Mini 2 and just purchased the Mini 4 because it may be discontinued. Today i noticed that Best Buy is once again running the $299 promo. If you like this form factor, this could be the deal for you.
I still have an iPod Classic by the one. Old as dirt, still working great
That's so cheap!!! Best Buy, Staples, and Walmart here in Canada still have the 64gb model at $530 + tax