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Apple Announces New Fifth-Generation iPad Mini With Apple Pencil Support, Revamped Retina Display and A12 Bionic Chip

Greenmeenie said:
...I know that would require a redesign. But after using the Apple pencil 2 with my ipad pro...the first gen pencil charging method seems so ancient and frankly...un-Apple like.
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but how many folks don't buy a pencil because of cost. If Pencil 1 can drive the adoption of even having a pencil at all substantially up, then it is probably worth it overall over the extended long term.

The wireless thing is nicer (more 'magical' ), but it is also substantially more expensive initial "buy in" . For the contexts where pencils get lost (e.g., schools, workplace were walking around doing other tasks at same time), the more expensive the unit is also a problem.

Now that there are substantially more iPad that have Pencil 1 support out there, it would probably help more if Apple adjusted the price ( which they probably won't do directly, but it won't be surprising to see more sales pop up. )

If Apple got a wireless charging pad out and did a Pencil 1.5 that could charge on it for $99 (or less ) that would be great. ( or even going to design of LogicTech Crayon which just as a lighting socket and can simply just plug in a normal charger cable. )

I understand where folks who have both iPad Pro and non Pro iPad will be irked, but that is probably a relatively very small percentage of the population that buy the non pro iPads. For the general non Pro iPad population most probably don't even own a pencil , let alone use one. That is a bigger issue.
 
How does the quality of the display and its ability to accurately reproduce colors compare to the iPad Pros, 9.5 or 10.5 models?
 
sracer said:
I know that I'm in the minority, but I think these new models are great. They offer great value (not at MSRP, but at the usually discounted sale prices). They omit the gimmicks IMO (ProMotion, no-headphone jack, bezel-less), and are capable of doing what iOS is capable of.
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Blasphemy--You will be shearing from the moderator shortly!
 
Zdigital2015 said:
So, if I read the comments correctly - Putting USB-C on a non Pro device (iPad, iPad mini, iPad Air) is good, but removing USB-A on a Pro device is bad?
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Not for me. I say USB-C everywhere. That is the beauty of it! It can be all things to all people!
 
Stella said:
Apple's product line across the board is a confused mess.

I'm guessing Apple wants keep a distinct line between the Mini and more expensive iPads? Keep costs down?
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Maintaining a design difference on the pros reinforces the premium pricing strategy
 
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gnipgnop said:
A12 Bionic, 4x the base storage, much better display quality, Apple Pencil support...but people are complaining that the price is the same as 2015? That's bad even for MacRumors.
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Yeah, I'm genuinely surprised by some of the visceral reactions, too. I bought the Mini 4 in September of 2015. It was $499 for the 32gb model then. It's been an excellent tablet for my needs, and I will get the 64gb Mini 5.
 
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TVreporter said:
Kids use the original mini for games - tempted to get this one for myself.

No iMac update?? :(
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That tweet by Gurman mentioning iMacs really set me off. Intel has announced most of the 9th Generation CPUs Apple would need to do a 1:1 replacement of the 7th Generation CPUs used in the current iMacs. The missing piece right now is the lack of a “next gen” GPU from AMD to put into the iMacs, which should be announced in May (AMD 7nm Navi). Despite the grousing about reuse of components in this thread, I do not see Apple putting 9th CPUs in an iMac update only to have them saddle with Polaris 20/30 or even Vega 56/64. I pray that no one at Apple would think Vega 16/20 would be an acceptable alternative (it isn’t). The RX590 is a nonstarter as far as power consumption/performance, so no one should think of that as a suitable part either. I think WWDC is the soonest we will see a new iMac.
 
Zdigital2015 said:
The new iPad mini retains the exact same dimensions as the iPad mini 4 .
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It isn't. They shaved 0.03 inches off the height ( height when laid flat : 0.29 -> 0.24 ) and added to length 0.13" ( top to bottom when looking at it from front : 7.87 -> 8 ) [ 7.1 mm -> 6.1 mm and 199.9 mm -> 203.2mm ]


Not a huge change, but super tight fit cases may have issues in height and probably have issues on length.

P.S. i think that is for camera and WiFi issues, but will see when teardowns pop up in a week or so.
 
Stupidest, lamest Apple refresh ever. Now they have two different pencils that look the same, and only certain iPads can work with certain pencils. They have iPads with buttons and iPads without buttons. They have an iPad Pro which is not really "pro" at anything except sucking money out of your bank account.

My god, Tim, are you not paying any attention to what's happening over there?
 
They are looking for more “ midrange” prices and a in the middle spec iPads .
They failed miserably.
The iPad Air i can understand and seems like a pretty good deal.
This iPad mini? I really can’ t understand this move.

Perhaps they would have been better off by releasing a new pro version of the iPad mini, with the new “less” bezel design at about 8.3 inch for $549, and a low cost regular iPad mini for about $299with an a10,pencil support, old design, touchid, no True Tone , etc. And should have revamped the old 9.7 inch iPad pro of 2016 with an a12 and pencil and Smart Keyboard support, laminated screen, True Tone , etc. They would only have to replace the soc and it would have been a wonderful machine. They could have it priced at $399-449 and could be a great high end machine.

So:
iPad mini 7.9 32 gb with a11 , pencil support, laminated display from $329
iPad Pro/air 9.7 inch 64gb with a12, pencil and Smart Keyboard support, True Tone, laminated better speakers from $429(iPad Pro 2016 9.7 inch with just a soc update)
iPad mini pro 8.0-8.5 inch with new design, faceiD, new pencil support, with magnetic charging(no smart connector for keyboard) for $549
iPad Pro 11 inch at $749
iPad Pfro 12.9 at $949

Just drop the 10.5 inch, we have the 11 inch now.

8.0-8.5 inch iPad Pro would have been a great development tool for a future foldable iphone though.
 
If they give us an SE2 I'll get a ipad mini 5 and ditch the plus phone.

Failing that it's a refurb 10.5 or continue to hold for the right iphone.

Anyone use the mini for comics? Is it OK or hell?
 
deconstruct60 said:
but how many folks don't buy a pencil because of cost. If Pencil 1 can drive the adoption of even having a pencil at all substantially up, then it is probably worth it overall over the extended long term.

The wireless thing is nicer (more 'magical' ), but it is also substantially more expensive initial "buy in" . For the contexts where pencils get lost (e.g., schools, workplace were walking around doing other tasks at same time), the more expensive the unit is also a problem.

Now that there are substantially more iPad that have Pencil 1 support out there, it would probably help more if Apple adjusted the price ( which they probably won't do directly, but it won't be surprising to see more sales pop up. )

If Apple got a wireless charging pad out and did a Pencil 1.5 that could charge on it for $99 (or less ) that would be great. ( or even going to design of LogicTech Crayon which just as a lighting socket and can simply just plug in a normal charger cable. )

I understand where folks who have both iPad Pro and non Pro iPad will be irked, but that is probably a relatively very small percentage of the population that buy the non pro iPads. For the general non Pro iPad population most probably don't even own a pencil , let alone use one. That is a bigger issue.
Click to expand...

I hear ya. But even for school use. Losing a $99 pencil will hurt just as much as losing a $129 one. And the charging method of the first gen pencil is not only awkward...but actually risky. The chances of snapping that $99 apple pencil while it precariously sticks out the side of the ipad is probably as great as losing that pencil if not more.

Not complaining. I get why Apple is doing this. It helps create very clear tiers and justify those who will pay up for the pros. But still, i look forward to when the first gen apple pencil is no more, and all ipads can use a pencil that charges wirelessly on the side.
 
Clean up (almost )done. Since iPad Air 2019 replaces the 10.5“ Pro there at least is now a clear distinction between consumer and pro iPad lines from a design point of view. With the new chip in place, i guess they whole line up is ready for iOS13 and AR. Lets see whether the iPad 2018 gets the same treatment at the march keynote. By then no matter wich iPad you get, it will beat other competitors in performance and features.
 
deconstruct60 said:
It isn't. They shaved 0.03 inches off the height ( height when laid flat : 0.29 -> 0.24 ) and added to length 0.13" ( top to bottom when looking at it from front : 7.87 -> 8 ) [ 7.1 mm -> 6.1 mm and 199.9 mm -> 203.2mm ]

Not a huge change, but super tight fit cases may have issues in height and probably have issues on length.

P.S. i think that is for camera and WiFi issues, but will see when teardowns pop up in a week or so.
Click to expand...

According to the Apple website - https://www.apple.com/ipad-mini/specs/ - the new iPad mini 5 is 203.2mm tall, 134.8mm and 6.1mm thick and the iPad mini 4 - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPad_Mini_4 - has the exact same dimensions.

Are you referring to the iPad mini, mini 2 and mini 3? I readily acknowledge those are a different size, but the new mini 5 is the same dimensions as the mini 4.
 
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aapl owner said:
"Generous" you must be kidding. This thing is overpriced by $100-$150. Was interested in the new iPad mini but this price is just outrageous and I will pass.
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But Apple usually raises prices for this sort of big spec bump, so out of character. You can argue it is over priced, but keeping the prices the same is very unusual. Usually Apple raises the prices for this type of revision.
 
sracer said:
I know that I'm in the minority, but I think these new models are great. They offer great value (not at MSRP, but at the usually discounted sale prices). They omit the gimmicks IMO (ProMotion, no-headphone jack, bezel-less), and are capable of doing what iOS is capable of.
Click to expand...
I disagree about Pro-Motion, but whole-heartily agree with that everything else. The new iPad Pro to me represent a higher price for more inconveniences right now.
 
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There was a time, not long ago, that one of the things that differentiated the regular ipad from the pro ipad was the apple pencil. You couldn’t use the Apple pencil on the regular ipad at all. You had to buy a 3rd party sucky stylus.

Flash forward to today. One of the things that differentiates the pros from the regular ipads is still the Apple pencil...it’s just btwn the apple pencil 1 & apple pencil 2 now.

I am sure eventually regular ipads will get apple pencil 2 support. It’s inevitable.
 
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