what will be the price of iPad mini that is full screen, less bezels like the iPad Pro and with faceID?
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iPad mini When do you think mini6 will come?
- Thread starter thadoggfather
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Agree with not wanting the mini to grow physically. Aspect ratio is key as you say. Keeping the maximum physical width of the Mini when held in portrait orientation as it is but adopting the display aspect ratio of an iPP 11" scaled down to fit within that width would achieve a larger display while retaining physical width. This would most likely require doing away with TouchID sensor on the bottom and going with a FaceID one up top though, due to the smaller top/bottom bezels resulting from the new display aspect ratio. In the end if that is done the total height could even be reduced along with this display size increase. That would be awesome IMO.
But my thing is, do they really need to merge? If one wants to have a bigger screen, they can already buy one of several bigger iPads now. If one wants the smallest possible iPad, then the current iPad mini is it. Sure, if they can fit a bigger screen in the mini without any growth in any of its dimensions, then why not I guess (though I would much prefer making the entire device smaller rather than making the screen bigger). But making the device width bigger even a little, just for a bigger screen—which would likely be the case if this particular rumor is true—, I feel is going away from the mini’s unique role in the iPad lineup.
Exactly!
Only it doesn’t fit in my back pocket, unfortunately (I guess I’m a smaller person). I really really wish it could, which is why I’d prefer a reduction in the mini’s size.
Yes and as tiny as even the largest iPhone is next to the mini, I’m sadly willing to try it as a mini replacement if the mini gets any bigger in dimensions. That just says how much I’d dislike a bigger mini.
Edit- this large iPhone would not be used as my phone btw. It would be strictly used as an iPad mini. I prefer my se for phone.
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Love the display wars website. Calculating PPI, though at the 324 ppi of the mini, the display would have to be 8.99” at 1.43:1 to be a “mini” to the 11” Pro. Source
Just like the 11” Pro had a slight wider but slightly short chassis than the 9.7” and 10.5” Pro, a mini in the same form factor at that aspect ratio and resolution would also presumable be ever so slightly wider and shorter than the current mini.
Back when the rumors of the smaller iPad Pro were swirling (prior to the release of the 10.5” Pro) I was speculating and secretly hoping they would do the same thing they did with the regular iPad and the iPad mini - i.e. make it a 324 ppi panel with the same resolution as the 12.9” Pro. That would have made it like this:
It would have been the same aspect ratio and resolution, but in the smaller package, just like the mini. It seemed so much more simple and elegant a solution than creating weird new resolutions and aspect ratios to update and conform to. Especially weird ones like the 10.5” & 11” models have...
Still wish they would do that.
Just like the 11” Pro had a slight wider but slightly short chassis than the 9.7” and 10.5” Pro, a mini in the same form factor at that aspect ratio and resolution would also presumable be ever so slightly wider and shorter than the current mini.
Back when the rumors of the smaller iPad Pro were swirling (prior to the release of the 10.5” Pro) I was speculating and secretly hoping they would do the same thing they did with the regular iPad and the iPad mini - i.e. make it a 324 ppi panel with the same resolution as the 12.9” Pro. That would have made it like this:
It would have been the same aspect ratio and resolution, but in the smaller package, just like the mini. It seemed so much more simple and elegant a solution than creating weird new resolutions and aspect ratios to update and conform to. Especially weird ones like the 10.5” & 11” models have...
Still wish they would do that.
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Well here’s hoping that the pessimist in some of us is wrong and the physical girth of the next Mini doesn’t increase. As has been demonstrated a larger display can fit within the current size albeit with some design changes. Who knows, maybe Apple will experiment with forking the mini lineup too with a pro and traditional variant. With all of the iPhone variants these days, however unlikely that would be (and do think it’s very unlikely given the smaller market) it is possible.
Or it could be a 326 ppi version of the iPad Air which would come out to about a 8.5” diagonal. Or a 326 ppi version of this rumored 10.8” iPad whatever aspect ratio that will have. Anyone have any idea what would be the reasoning for this new 10.8” size btw?
I am also wondering why they would change the size of the regular iPad so soon.
Regarding the Mini 6, we’ll see. I’d ditch my 11” iPP so fast if the mini gets pencil 2 support.
Yeah I hope at the minimum it keeps it's current physical size, although I'd be good even if it was a bit smaller. It does fit into my back jeans pocket, but only barely. I'm not huge either, I wear 34 in jeans.
Question is how affordable would the mini 6 be if they do make it bezel less/Face ID as surely that will bump the cost up a fair amount?
Q. When do you think mini6 will come?
A. Two months after the resident "experts" here at MR declare the Mini dead.
A. Two months after the resident "experts" here at MR declare the Mini dead.
who cares? A lot will if it bumps up the price by lot...
Think you are speaking for yourself there not the average user.
The thing is, the 9.7" base iPad is the cheap model, with some stripped out features and older design to reach that sub-$400 price point that makes it appealing to schools and casual users. Giving the Mini a bezelless screen large enough to mostly replace the 9.7" might appear to simplify the product lineup, but by doing so it's no longer going to reach it's intended price point. People aren't really buying the 9.7" because of it's screen size - since physical dimensions of the device are pretty much the same as the 10.5" Air, but rather because of it's price and the fact that it's the baseline model.
The same can't be said for the Mini where people are opting to buy it because of it's physical size, which is why it's actually a mid-range model with specs comparable to the Air, rather then the cheapest of the line. The Mini is a smaller version of the Air, rather then a smaller version of the base iPad.
What we'll probably see instead is the Mini and the Air gaining the bezelless display of the current Pro, the Pro advancing even further in some way, and the baseline iPad graduating to the 10.5" model with most of the bells and whistles that the current iPad Air has. Basically the technology of the iPad lineup slowly trickling down from Pro -> Air/Mini -> Base iPad. Eventually the base model will have a bezelless screen as well, but not until the Air/Mini/Pro have advanced in some other way, such as mini-LED or a Macbook-style spec sheet.
Tend to agree with you, @Akela_A - The mini and the Air (if it stays in the line-up) most likely will get the smaller bezel FaceID form factor, but leave some things to the Pro’s. Maybe keep the Lightning port instead of going USB-C, and have fewer speakers and microphones. Maybe the Air is the new 10.8” model rumored after all, and the mini will actually be a mini 326ppi version of the Air? Would probably allow a new Air to adopt the 11” Smart Keyboard Folio accessory, for example. Would probably also make it slightly more likely that the mini wouldn’t have to increase in width but could become shorter, thus increasing the decrease in overall footprint of the device...who knows!? But I am very interested in following this, as the mini has been my favorite ever Apple Device up until the 11” Pro came along - but that said, I would drop the 11” in a heartbeat for a compelling 8.9” mini option.
As a software engineer, there are still many tasks that iPadOS isn't yet a good replacement to a mac. Among the most notable are:
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- Having multiple screens (and running different apps in different screens).
- Running programs that requires more memory than the physical RAM.
- Background processing (builds, deploys, etc).
- Running server software for development purposes (notably databases and the like).
- Pre-pandemic travel-related semi-work tasks. A 15" laptop doesn't do well in an airplane seat, even 13" Air is difficult to maneuver (probably 12.9 iPad Pro faces similar difficulties). Likewise working in commuter trains is much more doable with my "MacBook Mini" (iPad mini with a keyboard-case). These tasks are mostly centered around reading or writing.
- Conference computer. Attending to conferences, taking notes, presenting slides, all of these are perfectly doable on an iPad mini. The battery lasted an entire full-day (~8 hrs) conference session with plenty to spare. I also only need carry my 10 amp power bank for "just in case" (instead of a 27 amp power bank that I use for the full laptop).
- Taking notes. The pencil has mostly replaced pen-and-paper for taking notes and writing drafts. Although writing on glass still feels kinda weird.
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.... and if face masks would be the "new normal", then Apple should really offer Touch ID alternatives to new devices.
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Good write up. I've seen many people say the Mini is ideal for conferences. Note-taking, etc and then when the networking starters, put it in your back pocket.
I still have my mini-4 and still use it to read my online subs to various e-papers like the FT, WSJ etc. I travel a lot so it's great for that. I bring my MB Pro and the mini and use the mini as a Kindle as well. I rarely use the mini in Landscape.
I've been thinking of getting the iPP 11in to improve the online reading of e-papers and because the Mini4 is getting older and tad slower with reduced battery life.
I still have my mini-4 and still use it to read my online subs to various e-papers like the FT, WSJ etc. I travel a lot so it's great for that. I bring my MB Pro and the mini and use the mini as a Kindle as well. I rarely use the mini in Landscape.
I've been thinking of getting the iPP 11in to improve the online reading of e-papers and because the Mini4 is getting older and tad slower with reduced battery life.
I love my iPad mini 2019. That and my iPhone SE 2020 are the perfect pair.
I’d like stereo speakers in the next iPad mini if they could keep it the same size, and the cameras could use updating, but otherwise it’s practically perfect. I wouldn’t want a bigger screen, but I guess a slightly smaller body would be ok if they wanted smaller bezels.
I’d like stereo speakers in the next iPad mini if they could keep it the same size, and the cameras could use updating, but otherwise it’s practically perfect. I wouldn’t want a bigger screen, but I guess a slightly smaller body would be ok if they wanted smaller bezels.