iPad mini Is the iPad mini going the way of the iPod Touch?

Eh, it's too early to tell. It was really hilarious that Apple's "100% satisfaction" product that Tim Cook was so proud of received such a laughable update.

Unless they surprise us next year, I could see it constantly staying one generation behind the iPad Air and maybe discontinued if they feel the iPhone 6 Plus has acceptably filled that market.

Personally, I think there will always be a market for this sized tablet and think they'd be foolish to get rid of it.

It is likely that they are both headed in the same direction.

I say this with sadness, as I very much like both products and have little interest in either an iPhone or a large tablet.

colodane said:

It is likely that they are both headed in the same direction.

I say this with sadness, as I very much like both products and have little interest in either an iPhone or a large tablet.

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Totally agree, I love my rMini and hope the line has a very long life... but I don't think it will, unfortunately.

I don't think so. It still sells pretty well. It seems to me that they chose to keep the iPad Mini a generation behind due to profit margin reasons and nothing else. They weren't making as much as they would like to per device by selling the iPad Mini 2 with equal specs to the iPad Air for $100 cheaper.

So they decided it they would rather reduce the specs and maintain the $100 price difference from the Air than to match the price of the Air and give it equal specs.

Next year we'll likely see an iPad Mini with equal specs to the iPad Air 2.

It will happen sooner or later. There may be one more update left in the Mini.

I doubt it. It seems an overreaction to me to conclude the ipad mini is dead after one lackluster upgrade, especially when that upgrade followed upon a very satisfying one the previous year. And while the upgrade was minimal, they did at least equip it to take advantage of their newest technologies involving Apple Pay. That's something they didn't do with the iphone 5s, a form factor who's future is I think, sadly limited.

It makes sense that Apple would want to use their limited supplies of faster chips on their more expensive devices for now. But While the mini may not be as popular as the full sized air, from reading these boards it seems to me it still has its fans. And it doesn't make sense to me Apple would abandon this niche after it went to so much trouble expense to develop the mini in the first place, and then to upgrade it to the retina.

But regardless, I don't think it's worth worrying about. The mini serves me well now, and looks like it will last me a couple years at least, and that's all that's important for now. If I'm wrong and Apple abandons the device, I'll worry about it when I need to upgrade, and who knows what devices, Apple and non-Apple, will be available by then.

Imo, it's definitely dead. The iPad line in general is being severely cannibalized by the iPhone 6 and 6+. There have already been stats on this. So that's probably why they didn't upgrade the mini. They're already phasing it out, in favor of the Air. Then maybe they're going to try a iPad Pro too.

VanillaCracker said:

Imo, it's definitely dead. The iPad line in general is being severely cannibalized by the iPhone 6 and 6+. There have already been stats on this. So that's probably why they didn't upgrade the mini. They're already phasing it out, in favor of the Air. Then maybe they're going to try a iPad Pro too.

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IMO, I think the reason is because the Air is their top of the line model and the Mini isn't. It's sort of like the Mac Mini vs the Mac Pro. Last year the Mini and Air were pretty close spec wise and probably shifted more sales towards the Mini if the specs had a wider gap.

I seriously doubt the Mini is going anywhere. Right now Apple's biggest worry is slowing global sales for tablets in general.

IPad is definitely not here to stay. Just too many tablets on the market by a variety of makers. IPad sales are way down ever since iphone 6 came out. Eventually iPad will cease to be financially viable for Apple much like the 17" MBP was discontinued. There will be another device or technology that will be invented that we will all just have to have much like iPad is now. Technology does not stand still. Just enjoy iPad while it is here.

It's nowhere near the iPod Touch. The iPod Touch crowd grew up and got iPhones. The people getting the Mini are those that wanted a smaller iPad, or weren't happy with the 7" Android "tablets" that continue to be the biggest sellers in the stuff available.

The iPhone will never BE an iPad Mini like an iPad will never BE a computer for a lot of people.

I love how everyone knows whether iPad sales are up or down. Even employees at Apple have no clue about total sales figures. Apple plays ALL their cards closely.

Maybe the Mini saw a modest upgrade this year because Apple engineers had their hands full with the Air 2 and the Watch. There's a lot more room inside an Air to play with when it comes to making something faster and thinner while maintaining a decent size battery. Maybe a faster processor and more RAM would have eaten too much battery life, and since there's no more room for a larger battery, they said screw it.

Maybe they overproduced the Mini last year and conservatively decided to clear out existing stock with a fresh coat of paint and Touch ID, before moving forward. That's basically what they did with the iPhone 5C...it was the overrun of the previous year's iPhone 5 stock, with a plastic housing.

Or maybe the Mini really isn't selling well and they're phasing it out.

One thing is for certain; only a relative handful of people know exactly what the plan is for the Mini, and none of those people are participating in this thread.

Rodster said:

Right now Apple's biggest worry is slowing global sales for tablets in general.

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Exactly

according new japanese rumors no - mini wil get a8x next year, thinner profile..