At the end of the day, I haven't seen a convincing argument in this thread that supports the theory Apple will update the iPad mini.
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At the end of the day, I haven't seen a convincing argument in this thread that supports the theory Apple will update the iPad mini.
Did anyone see the ipad 2017 coming?
I don't really see why anyone should expect to be convinced one way or another. It will either happen or it won't, and whichever way it goes it will likely be based on a multitude of factors that average consumers like you or I aren't even aware of.
Apple didn't kill the iPad mini 4!! They killed the 32gb version it's now 64gb at lowest storage.
At this point, I think the most probable outcome is that they treat it like the iPod touch. Keep it around and update the internals every few years. They're actually both relatively similar with the design, 6.1mm thickness and A8. Though pretty strange how the iPod has 4 storage options at the moment. Actually even more strange, just noticed the 128GB iPod touch is $399 like the 128GB iPad mini 4.
Neither a convincing argument supporting theory that iPad mini is dead...
Kind of. There have been rumors of a "low cost" 9.7" iPad for a while, but these were in the same batch of the "bezel-less" Pro.
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You know, it's funny because I was wondering the same thing about you (and no, I didn't ignore it, I pointed it out because it was different than otherwise a long term of fairly steady sales DESPITE the disappointing Mini 3).
I think...
With the new iPhone 8 coming out later with most of the screen being utilised, we may see a new line up of iPads being released without much of a bezel and the OLED screen
This would be a fine time for Apple to increase sales yet again, and introduce the new bezel free iPad Pro line up
This may include the iPad Pro in 3 sizes which includes the Mini
With the new iPhone 8 coming out later with most of the screen being utilised, we may see a new line up of iPads being released without much of a bezel and the OLED screen
This would be a fine time for Apple to increase sales yet again, and introduce the new bezel free iPad Pro line up
This may include the iPad Pro in 3 sizes which includes the Mini
Apple doesn't typically do "tests" like that. Typically when they shrink a product down to a single model being sold (without updating it) well past the point of its typical upgrade frequency, that's its victory lap. They did this with the iPod classic for many years (and they probably would've culled it sooner if they weren't sentimental about it themselves), they did it with the 13" non-retina unibody MacBook Pro, they did it with the iBook G4 and the Power Mac G5 just after the Mac Pro first came out. There have been many examples of this kind of marketing behavior both before and after Jobs' final departure from Apple. This is just something they do just before killing a product in their line outright.
I agree with you with everything except the iPad Pro and conventional notebook computer bit. If you're taking notes or don't care that you're in a smartphone OS, it's fine if space is too limited to accomodate something like a 13" MacBook Pro (be it non-retina, retina, touchbar, or otherwise). Otherwise, it's not "good enough" if what you want is an actual computer and not something running iOS.
Lack of yearly updates isn't why people are making the assumption that it's dead. With the exception of the new "iPad" all of the iPads are over a year old.
People are making the assumption that it's dead because Apple is a marketing company and where it really cared about marketing the iPad mini circa the first and second generations, the third was an absolute afterthought and while the fourth was the best upgrade it has ever gotten, they made barely two sentences worth of mention about it at a keynote (and mind you, they pick what to emphasize in those keynotes). The biggest indicator that it is dead is that it's down to only one model, where previously they had the mini 2 at one size and an additional capacity of the mini 4. Now it's down to a lone mini 4 without anything new in that particular product line. That's NEVER a good sign.
No. 12.9" was September 2015; 9.7" was March 2016; it's now May 2017. Nice try though!
Your best bet is the Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 8.0. Like Apple, they had a 9.7" screened Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 9.7. However, they recently updated the latter and there's now a Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 9.7 aimed squarely at the 9.7" iPad Pro. They did not update the Galaxy Tab S2 8.0 with a Galaxy Tab S3 8.0, which should be another indicator that the mini-tablet party is getting shut down, seeing as there are no other strong competitors around.
Well, you're partially right. The iPad mini isn't in the predicament it is in because no one is buying it. It's in the predicament that it is in because Apple isn't putting any marketing strength behind it, nor is it giving it any kind of love. It was the last of the iOS devices to get an A8 processor (even the iPod touch, a product that there's even less of a reason for now and conflicts way more with Apple's other interests, beat the iPad mini to getting one) and a screen with as good of a color gamut as the iPhones, iPad Airs, and iPod touches have had.
The take-away here though is that the sales figures are almost irrelevant, the rest of the market is done with mini tablets and Apple, for whatever reason, isn't as in love with that kind of product as it was back in 2013 when damn near everyone else was.
Nope. The Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 8.0 is really you're only other competitor. There is a Samsung Galaxy Tab A 8.0, but it's got a non-retina screen, hardly any internal storage (by Android's standards) and a CPU that is probably similar to the one from the Galaxy S5 phone from 2014. But I'd lump that into the pile of subpar Android tablets that make up the vast majority of the remaining mini tablets.
You're kind of forgetting the obvious fact - which has been pointed out several times on this thread - that Apple has not been giving the iPad mini the same attention that it has the 12.9" iPad Pro. The latter has ads that pollute my Facebook feed about how it can replace my laptop. I haven't seen an iPad mini ad since the days of the very first generation iPad mini. Furthermore, when the 12.9" iPad Pro launched, my options were 32GB with WiFi, 128GB with WiFi and 128GB with cellular. Today those options are still there, but I now have 256GB with WiFi and 256GB with cellular as well! Compare that to the iPad mini 4, which sold with six models (three WiFi, three WiFi and Cellular) at launch and now only sells with two.
Furthermore, you're also forgetting the fact that when Apple shrinks down a model of something to only a single model without introducing its successor, that ALMOST ALWAYS means that there will be no successor.
That was actually shared earlier in the thread. Go check it out.
Sales figures are irrelevent. Yeah, I said it. Because it's true. If Apple wants to discontinue it despite there being a following of people buying it, then it doesn't matter, it will still get discontinued. They have a vision for the future of the iPad line and the iPad mini doesn't fit with it. Furthermore, they only entered the mini tablet market because, at the time, that market had a lot more activity among competitors than the 8.9" to 10.6" range tablet market. That activity is all but gone now. The iPad mini 4 and the Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.0 are the last ones that aren't of seriously low-quality and Apple and Samsung have shown no clear signs up updating either (if any, they've shown clear signs that they WON'T be updating either).
Furthermore - and I've seen no one in this thread cite this at all - the iPad mini 4 was rumored, way back in Spring of 2015, to be the final generation of iPad mini. It was mentioned in the same breath as the rumors stating correctly that the iPad Air 2 wouldn't be updated that September.
Colorful words. Anyway, you clearly are new to following Apple and have much to learn about identifying the tell-tale signs of what is obviously a dying product line.
No, there's enough writing on the wall now. There wasn't quite enough before the introduction of the "iPad" and the reduction of the iPad mini line to a single capacity of iPad mini 4. But now it's pretty obvious that the mini is on its way out. You just don't have the historical context to know that when Apple reduces a product to a single model without introducing its successor that there's no successor. It's cool. After three or four of these things happening, you'll realize the trend. Took me a while at first too.
Considering you still have several basic apps that aren't supporting the 12.9" iPad Pro's screen resolution natively (Facebook, HBO Now, etc.), this is probably unlikely and way moreso than the notion that there won't be a new 7.9" iPad. Apple cares a ton about that 9.7" form factor. That form factor has ALWAYS been the flagship to them.
No one having followed all four iPad mini launches closely would've thought that they'd have introduced a new iPad mini alongside the new "iPad". The iPad line isn't in a strange place at all. It's actually in the most logical place it has been in since they first started the stupid practice of selling yesteryear's model alongside the current. You have Pro and non-Pro at 9.7" (much like you had 13" in Pro and non-Pro/Air, and still sort of do if you consider the non-touchbar 13" MacBook Pro to be a continuation of the Air/non-Pro line) and you have Pro at 12.9" (much like how you only have 15" MacBooks in a Pro variety). Then you have the mini doing its victory lap until Apple finally gets ready to pull the plug.
First off, Samsung just refreshed its 9.7" tablet and we now have a Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 9.7 to replace the Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 9.7 of 2015/16. The S3 9.7 came out this year, so whatever info you're going on, it's a bit out of date.
The Galaxy Tab S2 8.0 is not as powerful as the iPad mini 4. I'll grant you that. But woefully underpowered? No. Only if you're a tablet/smartphone gamer. As for their other tablets in the 7.0 to 8.4" form factor, you're absolutely right. They are all woefully underpowered.
Samsung typically updates their tablets first and their phones second, which means the phones get the better features. So the Galaxy Tab S3 is much more similar to the Galaxy S7, just as the Galaxy Tab S2 was very Galaxy S6-esque. So, it's probably fair to assume that next year, we'll get something more Galaxy S8-like in the Galaxy Tab S4.
As for your comments about the iPad mini, whether or not it's a hit with customers is almost irrelevant. It's not a hit with Apple and Apple is the one with the final say, not the customers. It doesn't fit with Apple's strategy and whether it DOES fit with buyers strategy is moot.
Tablets are never seen as quintessential devices like computers and smartphones are. They are very much accessories. Phablets are closer in size to mini tablets and many people have still had trouble justifying buying a tablet as it is. Therefore buying one more similar to their phone or their computer is a much harder sell unless it replaces one of those devices (which a mini tablet is never going to do). Therefore, yes, Phablets have LARGELY displaced mini tablets. Personally, I own both, so obviously this isn't universal. But I'm not every person out there.
Again, the mini 4 isn't endangered because they're not selling. The mini 4 is endangered because Apple is ultimately a marketing-driven company and it doesn't fit with their larger marketing strategy for the iPad line as a whole. It was made to deter people from leaving the Apple ecosystem when mini tablets were starting to get huge in 2012 and 2013 and it persisted to ensure that people stuck around. Now that the danger of people flocking to comparable products has died down (due to the competitor products literally dying out), it is safe to start slowly transitioning the iPad line to a place where there is no longer a 7.9" iPad in it.
@Yebubbleman - I sincerely hope you didn't spend too many hours of your life on that post above. You're very adamant - to the point that you actually believe you have some special insight or understanding about how Apple works than any of the rest of us. Everything you wrote should have a big fat disclaimer in front of it - IMHO.
Similarly...
Apple wants to be in all the spaces within each respective market that it can. That's why it has 3 sizes of iPhone, 3 sizes of laptop, and yes, 3 sizes of tablet.
It is exactly the same situation on the iPhone side. The SE still exists and was updated just this Spring because it covers a market segment in smartphones that no competitor touches or can touch. Because that is far and away the best smartphone you can get in a 4" screen. There aren't even any high end 4" phones left on the market from any other manufacturer. Apple wins there. Competitors turned to competing on screen size to try and get an edge. And now Apple have turned their attention there, and want to win the larger screen size market as well.
Very similar situation in tablets. It is just as you say, but IMHO the underlying reason is much different. The mini completely cornered the small tablet market when it was released. There was nothing out there among the many many tablets in that size category that could touch it, because it was a proper iPad in a smaller form factor. That holds true today as well. Competitors were driven away from that market and still can't compete there, because iPad mini is even more so today far and away the best tablet in that size category.
If you want a smaller phone, the only high end option is the iPhone SE. If you want a smaller tablet, the only high end option is the iPad mini.
Apple also has two crossover devices, to cover that market - an iOS device and a macOS device - the iPad Pro and the MacBook. They aren't going to do a true hybrid device.
The reason I am so confident that there will be another iPad mini is because Apple isn't going to just exit a market segment it is easily dominating, as long as it is worth being there. The current and historic sales numbers are not irrelevant. Even if the margin is smaller, the unit sales numbers are important for Apple as they seem to be what all the analysts are hot on as well. Take away mini sales from the iPad sales numbers and it looks pretty dismal.
I say the iPad line-up is a bit strange at the moment because everything is out of sync. You've got the flagship pro with an inferior screen and camera to its smaller sibling, and an updated basic model combined with a mini model that provides an arguably better value proposition, even in its aged state.
On the iPhone side you have a synched-up upgrade cycle. Same on the Laptop side, although the MacBook is pretty close to missing it's next upgrade window now as well. Let's not even talk about desktops, please, that is a mess as well.
Similarly...
Apple wants to be in all the spaces within each respective market that it can. That's why it has 3 sizes of iPhone, 3 sizes of laptop, and yes, 3 sizes of tablet.
It is exactly the same situation on the iPhone side. The SE still exists and was updated just this Spring because it covers a market segment in smartphones that no competitor touches or can touch. Because that is far and away the best smartphone you can get in a 4" screen. There aren't even any high end 4" phones left on the market from any other manufacturer. Apple wins there. Competitors turned to competing on screen size to try and get an edge. And now Apple have turned their attention there, and want to win the larger screen size market as well.
Very similar situation in tablets. It is just as you say, but IMHO the underlying reason is much different. The mini completely cornered the small tablet market when it was released. There was nothing out there among the many many tablets in that size category that could touch it, because it was a proper iPad in a smaller form factor. That holds true today as well. Competitors were driven away from that market and still can't compete there, because iPad mini is even more so today far and away the best tablet in that size category.
If you want a smaller phone, the only high end option is the iPhone SE. If you want a smaller tablet, the only high end option is the iPad mini.
Apple also has two crossover devices, to cover that market - an iOS device and a macOS device - the iPad Pro and the MacBook. They aren't going to do a true hybrid device.
The reason I am so confident that there will be another iPad mini is because Apple isn't going to just exit a market segment it is easily dominating, as long as it is worth being there. The current and historic sales numbers are not irrelevant. Even if the margin is smaller, the unit sales numbers are important for Apple as they seem to be what all the analysts are hot on as well. Take away mini sales from the iPad sales numbers and it looks pretty dismal.
I say the iPad line-up is a bit strange at the moment because everything is out of sync. You've got the flagship pro with an inferior screen and camera to its smaller sibling, and an updated basic model combined with a mini model that provides an arguably better value proposition, even in its aged state.
On the iPhone side you have a synched-up upgrade cycle. Same on the Laptop side, although the MacBook is pretty close to missing it's next upgrade window now as well. Let's not even talk about desktops, please, that is a mess as well.
The iPad Mini will live on. Apple decided they made a big mistake when they priced the iPad Mini 2 100 dollars below the iPad Air. It made sense when they charged 100 dollars more for the iPhone 6 Plus vs the iPhone 6, because it raised the average price of phone sales. But when they did it to the Mini, it *lowered* the average selling price for what was otherwise identical specs. That's why the iPad Mini is now being kept behind the other iPad's in terms of specs.
Apple is trying very hard to raise their prices across the board. But they aren't going to abandon the market segment the iPad Mini is in to do that. They're just going to make sure the iPad Mini doesn't tempt anyone into spending LESS money than they otherwise would have. Hence why the 32GB option is gone.
I'm OK with it ... heck, I'd pay more money for the form factor and specs I want ... price is not really an issue. But that's just me. Luckily processor improvements have become slightly less relevant in the past two generations.
Apple is trying very hard to raise their prices across the board. But they aren't going to abandon the market segment the iPad Mini is in to do that. They're just going to make sure the iPad Mini doesn't tempt anyone into spending LESS money than they otherwise would have. Hence why the 32GB option is gone.
I'm OK with it ... heck, I'd pay more money for the form factor and specs I want ... price is not really an issue. But that's just me. Luckily processor improvements have become slightly less relevant in the past two generations.
It still doesn't explain why Apple killed the 32GB mini.
Apple could have kept the 32GB mini on the market and maintained the $399 price tag to avoid "tempting" customers as you claim.
If Apple wanted to simultaneously raise prices and keep the mini form factor, they would have updated the mini with an A9. All these theories on why Apple killed the 32GB mini but secretly wants to keep the form factor are just convoluted to put it politely.
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The iPhone SE and iPad mini markets are quite different and you can't compare the two.
The smartphone market is growing. The tablet market is contracting by double digits annually.
There is a massive number of people still buying 'dumb' feature phones. India alone bought over 130 million dumb phones in 2016. The iPhone SE is intended for emerging markets consumers who have yet to purchase their first smartphone.
Emerging markets aren't going to purchase mini tablets like consumers did in U.S., China, and Western Europe. They're going straight to smartphones and then phablets.
I agree, I want a mini sized device, and do not need to pay less than the 9.7 inch variety. I want pencil support. I want a better camera and flash, etc.
As I said, I don't see what the point of these long, extensive arguments is. There will either be a new Mini one day or there won't, and none of us is actually in a position to know, no matter how much "evidence" we think we have.
I say if you like the mini form factor, then enjoy the one you have.
At this point I would venture to guess that when we see the next round of updates for the iPad Pros (whether it be at WWDC or in the fall) if the mini doesn't get Pro treatment, then it likely never will. And if it doesn't get any update at all, then I'd assume it's officially on iPod touch status (internal updates every 2-3 years).
This is exactly the kind of comment I can get behind. We'll all know what the actual status is at the next proper update cycl of the iPad product line. What we've had this Spring was a minor facelift. If iPad mini 4 is all that's left after 2017 is over, then I will retract all my previous statements.
Yes, it will . Mini 4 have plenty of life on it. Mini 2 will only be supported this year
Considering Ming-Chi Kuo, the most accurate Apple analyst out there has predicted:
"Worst has passed for Apple’s iPad. This is due to: [...] (2) a better ASP thanks to improved product mix on decreasing exposure to iPad mini will likely offset the shipment decline"
If there were a new iPad mini coming, the exposure would not be decreasing.
Hi! I have a question for all of you.. i m a big italian fan of iPad mini (Sorry for my not so good english )
Do you think there is a chance to see an iPad mini 5 sooner or later?
I think it's the best size for ipad and I would be sorry to see him die
What do you think guys?
Thanks
Do you think there is a chance to see an iPad mini 5 sooner or later?
I think it's the best size for ipad and I would be sorry to see him die
What do you think guys?
Thanks
