New iPad mini: Is it still coming or already buried?
Apple has been offering its smallest iPad unchanged for almost three years. But there is unlikely to be a new model before the end of 2024, if at all.
Sixth-generation iPad mini: It's still from 2021.
(Image: Apple)
For a long time, Apple thought that compact tablets made little sense - in particular, company co-founder Steve Jobs, who died in 2011, rejected them, saying that you couldn 't sand your fingers. Then the iPad mini series finally appeared, which was last launched in 2021 with (then) modern technology and an outdated design. But nothing has happened since then. And the compact device was also ignored at last week's Apple iPad event. Does this mean that Apple is abandoning the series? The rumor mill is buzzing.
End of 2024 at the earliest
While some observers claim that the product series itself could have reached the end of its lifespan, as Apple is making its iPhone bigger and bigger, Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman still believes in the iPad mini. In his opinion, however, a new model will be launched "towards the end of the year at the earliest", as he wrote in his paid newsletter over the weekend.
A seventh-generation iPad mini is therefore not expected any time soon. "It's perhaps no surprise that the iPad mini has taken a back seat. The iPhone has gotten so big - and it's only going to get bigger. Many consumers don't realize why they still need a small tablet," writes Gurman.
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There is a lot to do
In terms of hardware, Apple could do a lot – although no big surprises are expected. While the form factor of the current iPad mini 6 is considered a success, the inner workings are now grossly outdated. The small tablet still uses an A15 Bionic, which was launched with the iPhone 13. There are also problems with jelly scrolling, where the screen content scrolls rather jerkily – something that Apple could get under control with hardware interventions and a revised display. The outdated camera infrastructure with 12 megapixels at the front and rear could also do with an upgrade.
It is still unclear when Apple's fourth tablet series, the standard iPad, will receive a refresh. The iPad 10 from 2022, which received USB-C support, is the current model. Here, too, innovations are not expected before the end of the year, unless Apple carries out model maintenance out of sequence.
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