7.9" iPad Pro one day?

[bniu]

anyone think we'd ever get a 7.9" iPad with the 4 speakers, smart connector, and Apple Pencil support? Seems logical to add those features in.

 

[Macalway]

Maybe, if they can squish all that stuff in there. Could be tight

 

[Mr. Buzzcut]

Hate to see the keyboard cover they come up with for that!

 

[Gregintosh]

Not sure it'd be an all out pro, but in a few years I can see Apple Pencil being supported by all iOS devices, even iPhones. True tone is also bound to make it to all devices, even MacBooks and Cinema Displays.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Rest assured that if there is a way for bean counter Tim to raise the average selling price of any portion of Apple's product lines he will.

Adding a couple features and slapping the pro label on the iPad mini plus boosting the retail price… ?

Consider it done at some point

 

[Rafterman]

I' be happy with an iPad Mini with 256GB storage.

 

[12vElectronics]

I'm going the opposite direction I can see them discontinuing the Mini.

 

[Rafterman]

I'm going the opposite direction I can see them discontinuing the Mini.

I think the Mini is their best selling model. And 8 inch tablets are the best selling of all brands.

 

[lax28]

I'm going the opposite direction I can see them discontinuing the Mini.

I don't see them discounting the size, but not that the Pro refers to 2 sizes 9.7 and 12.9, I can see them maybe dropping the name mini, having just iPad (7.9 and 9.7) and iPad Pro (9.7 and 7.9)

 

[JohnnyGo]

I don't see them discounting the size, but not that the Pro refers to 2 sizes 9.7 and 12.9, I can see them maybe dropping the name mini, having just iPad (7.9 and 9.7) and iPad Pro (9.7 and 7.9)

+1

IMO Apple may move the iPad line to iPhone SOC (A9/A10) and leave only the iPad Pro line with the X SOCs (A9X/A10X)

True tone, Smart Keyboard, smart connector, etc may also remain a PRO exclusive/differentiator

 

[jclardy]

anyone think we'd ever get a 7.9" iPad with the 4 speakers, smart connector, and Apple Pencil support? Seems logical to add those features in.

I doubt it, mainly because the keyboard will be tiny.

 

[turbineseaplane]

I'm going the opposite direction I can see them discontinuing the Mini.

The old one, sure....but they will find a way for the "new Mini's" to go up in ASP.

This is what BCT does very very well....

(BCT = Bean Counter Tim)

 

[apolloa]

I would say no you won't see one, the speakers take up a fair bit of room which means less battery space, couple that with a more powerful SOC and I don't think you'll get away with it in an 8" iPad. The battery life would suffer.
Maybe they'll offer a half way house design? A faster then stick SOC but with still reasonable battery life by under locking it, and Apple Pencil support and the new storage options.

 

[Amplelink]

I would say no you won't see one, the speakers take up a fair bit of room which means less battery space, couple that with a more powerful SOC and I don't think you'll get away with it in an 8" iPad. The battery life would suffer.
Maybe they'll offer a half way house design? A faster then stick SOC but with still reasonable battery life by under locking it, and Apple Pencil support and the new storage options.

I'm pretty sure there's a huge amount of empty space in the mini that's still usable. Thought I saw that in a teardown once.

 

[apolloa]

I'm pretty sure there's a huge amount of empty space in the mini that's still usable. Thought I saw that in a teardown once.

Some I guess but the component placement would need to be re-engineered (iPad Mini 4 is on THE RIGHT):

iPad Pro 12.9" for comparison: