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And being fully analogue and wired is why they don't need any changes or updates for decades

(as opposed to things like the APMs you'd mentioned)

The Airpods Max are a relatively new product, and will need updates for new standards, but my point was that it's ridiculous for people to expect them updates every year or two - they're headphones.
 
Apple can seriously F off with these so called updates. It’s not even worth calling it a refresh. It’s below mediocre.

I was so looking forward an updated iPad mini AND an iPad mini Pro.
I don't know what the f you want?
It's an iPad mini, it already does what it is supposed to do.

If you're looking for ProMotion (there's already a PRO iPad that has that), if you're looking for OLED, the same.

Some people just want Apple to introduce pro features in the iPad mini so they can get those features at a cheaper price. Sorry honey, that won't happen.
 
I’m surprised that they’re using the A17 Pro for the iPad mini 7. I thought they were discontinuing the N3B process because it’s more costly than the N3E process used for the A18/A18 Pro. Unless they know the iPad mini 7 will only be available for a year before the iPad mini 8 is released next year? I don’t see Apple using the N3B process for three more years.

It's very possible they have warehouses of the chip sitting around already made in quantities that will last for the run of the Mini7

iPhone numbers (and thus component production) is orders of magnitude beyond that of all their other products, so you can end up with LOTS of extra stuff


People always forget about the development costs of the 3nm chip itself, which is around $1 billion. The mask set costs $20 million alone. You don't just dump those things because the variable cost is relatively high.

It's like saying, dump the brand new luxury gas car for an EV just because electricity costs less. Few people would do that.

Apple was never going discontinue the N3B process so quickly. They were involved in its creation with TSMC and knew about the challenges all along. It's not as if they were suddenly surprised about the costs.

Apple will still be doing N3B for years to come. Don't forget M3 iPad Air. Wouldn't be surprised if the next HomePod mini or Apple Display came with an N3B-based chip for AI.
 
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This and the updated airpods max are my favorite apple products 2024
/s
Zero love from the development team. So sad.
 
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People always forget about the development costs of the 3nm chip itself, which is around $1 billion. The mask set costs $20 million alone. You don't just dump those things because the variable cost is relatively high.

It's like saying, dump the brand new luxury gas car for an EV just because electricity costs less. Few people would do that.

Apple was never going discontinue the N3B process so quickly. They were involved in its creation with TSMC and knew about the challenges all along. It's not as if they were suddenly surprised about the costs.

Apple will still be doing N3B for years to come. Don't forget M3 iPad Air. Wouldn't be surprised if the next HomePod mini or Apple Display came with an N3B-based chip for AI.
Yet when Apple did the iPhone 16 they went with a new TSMC N3E A18 instead of the last generation A17 Pro. So Apple certainly believes that there is some downside to continuing with the N3B node.
 
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Yet when Apple did the iPhone 16 they went with a new TSMC N3E A18 instead of the last generation A17 Pro. So Apple certainly believes that there is some downside to continuing with the N3B node.

We don't know if it's cost or performance. Or even marketing.

A18 on N3E shows significant improvement in single core performance and overall power efficiency. It's possible Apple wanted those benefits for iPhone, but were not needed for iPad mini.
 
I’m surprised that they’re using the A17 Pro for the iPad mini 7. I thought they were discontinuing the N3B process because it’s more costly than the N3E process used for the A18/A18 Pro. Unless they know the iPad mini 7 will only be available for a year before the iPad mini 8 is released next year? I don’t see Apple using the N3B process for three more years.
I was as surprised as you to see the A17 Pro show up in the iPad Mini due to the well publicized issues with N3B (higher cost, lower efficiency and yield compared to N3E). Once I saw that these were binned A17 Pro chips though it kind of makes sense. I suspect Apple hung onto a stockpile of A17 chips that didn't meet the standard they set for the iPhone 15 Pro but are serviceable with a disabled graphics core (and possibly slightly slower clock speeds). The iPad Mini is likely low enough volume that the binned chips leftover from volume production for the iPhone 15 Pro could easily be enough supply to put in the iPad Mini for the next 2-3 years without having to keep N3B going. Just my thoughts on the matter anyway...
 
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But the RAM and storage *doubled*. So both inflation and doubled capacity. Those are tangible costs, yet a static price. Claiming tech gets cheaper doesn’t offset both of those.

Here's spot pricing for the same 4GB LPDDR4X from June 2021 vs. October 2024.

Price has been cut in half, less if you consider inflation.


1729021828561.png



1729021833692.png


iPhone X sold for $999 for 3GB RAM and 64GB storage. Do we really think Apple is now losing money on iPhone 16 Pro with 8GB RAM and 128GB, 5x the transistors, along with double the cameras, double the buttons, 40% bigger battery, etc.?
 
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Not complaining about the Mini, what it has or doesn't have. What I think odd is what the article lists as features to compare. Seems like a piece of hardware that is all about travel, screen brightness would be a key element to look at yet the intro article mentions nothing about its luminous values.
 
Upgrading from my mini 6 would make my Apple Pencil 2 garbage? No thank you.
I’m hoping that the inexpensive stylus on Amazon will work on the iPad mini. I have one for my M2 iPad Pro and have been happy with it but then I don’t use it much.
 
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Not upset perse with the update. But WHY did it take this long to come out? This could have easily been released with the iPad Pro M4 and iPad Air M2 at the dedicated iPad event where the iPad mini was the ONLY iPad that didn't even get a mention (beyond them acknowledging that it still exists).

Why make us wait (because they really don't care, is probably the answer but still...)
Especially since there were quite a few complaints about the jelly scrolling issue. You would think that they would have wanted to fix that quickly. If you think Apple cares when there is a problem with a device and it needs to be quickly replaced just ask the iPad 3 owners (of which I was one).
 
Not complaining about the Mini, what it has or doesn't have. What I think odd is what the article lists as features to compare. Seems like a piece of hardware that is all about travel, screen brightness would be a key element to look at yet the intro article mentions nothing about its luminous values.
It’s still 500 nits. No change so an article about small changes wouldn’t be expected to note it.
 
Major

Had they actually updated this device meaningfully it would have made me change my Cellular strategy (likely get another line just for the Mini) as right now I swap a SIM between my Mini 5 and an SE1 for various usages

Since they did what they did here though, no such problem exists as I'm not buying this iPad Mini 6.1
I swap it between my mini 5 (never upgraded to the 6) and other tablets, including ones that do not support eSIM, so no mini 7 for me
 
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There's no dedicated iPad mini team, and why do people think headphones need annual refreshes? I wear a pair of Sony MDR-V600s that are over 20 years old, because they sound good, and work well.
And yet Sony stopped producing them for something newer and better.

Yes, I'm aware what my headphones are.
I don't think you do or else you wouldn't be comparing them to a modern "smart" headset. That's like asking why would anyone want a 2024 Honda Accord over a 2004 model?
 
Can you expand on this. So wired backups to my mac aren't faster?! Is that correct? Source?
Yes, it's still limited to USB 2.0 transfers of up to 480Mbps.

This is an OLED iPad Pro connected to M2 MacBook Air with a 10Gbps USB-C to USB-C cable.

edit: added sys info for the same cable with an SSD.
 

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Apple can seriously F off with these so called updates. It’s not even worth calling it a refresh. It’s below mediocre.

I was so looking forward an updated iPad mini AND an iPad mini Pro.
So what exactly should a tablet refresh look like to you? Yeah, nothing exciting, but why does there need to be? Are you this heartbroken when your milk carton isn't radically redesigned every three years?
 
I don't know what the f you want?
It's an iPad mini, it already does what it is supposed to do.

If you're looking for ProMotion (there's already a PRO iPad that has that), if you're looking for OLED, the same.

Some people just want Apple to introduce pro features in the iPad mini so they can get those features at a cheaper price. Sorry honey, that won't happen.
So you are basically saying that it will never happen on the mini, is that it? Stop being such an apple fanboy and look at what Apple is doing. They are holding back and just doing incremental upgrades. They can do better.
 
So you are basically saying that it will never happen on the mini, is that it? Stop being such an apple fanboy and look at what Apple is doing. They are holding back and just doing incremental upgrades. They can do better.

Sort of amazing isn’t it?

Apple could release the exact same product with no changes at all, and it would somehow be defended by some
 
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