I‘m still holding out hope that the mini 6 will be a Mini Air 4 in every way. Like
@Crow_Servo says, the iPad mini 5 was lowballed in the rumor mill before its release as well. I also don’t buy the Air 3/10.5” iPP design language rumor for the mini. That design actually copied the iPad mini 4 design with the narrower side bezels.
If we get a mini Air 4, with USB-C and Pencil 2 support and any kind of 1st party keyboard cover/folio, it is insta-buy for me.
I finally got what I always wanted in the iPhone 12 mini, a flagship phone in a one-handed use package. If I can finally get an almost-pro iPad mini, that would be amazing. Combine that with iPadOS 15 that allows for external monitor support for real, and an Apple Silicon Mac mini for the desktop and for remoting into, and well, you’ve got my ideal setup!