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

sracer said:
It's not odd at all. The Pencil 2 uses a magnetic connector to charge it. The new 2018 iPad Pro chassis is designed for that. The iPad Mini 4 chassis does not.
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Sorry, I misspoke...I should have said that it will seem odd/confusing to customers that this new Mini can’t use the new Pencil. As someone else stated, they probably should have called the new Pencil the Pencil Pro.
 
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ksec said:
Edit: It is very strange that 1) People thought the iPad mini and Air with this spec is expensive, and 2) People actually want a A10 Mini for $100 dollar less. But Spending $100 more could get you two more years of iOS services life time. 3) Apple has always been about offering value. And these new prices certainly has a lot to offer.
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I think what some people wanted was an A11 mini with non-laminated display for $100 less. The jump from A11 to A12 isn't that great for most applications.

The A10 came out last year on the basic iPad. A bump to the A11 would not be unexpected and keep the $329 price tag. Apple dropped the laminated display from the basic iPad when they discontinued the Air 2 and dropped the price from $500 to $330 in 2017, so doing the same thing for the mini was a hope.

Maybe Apple found itself backed into a corner with no non-laminated chassis in production for the mini and the choice was use what they had or engage in some expensive retooling. In that case I guess Apple did the best it could do.
 
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pika2000 said:
Prior to this day, the cheapest A12 device cost $749 for a much smaller screen (iPhone XR). Today, you can buy an A12 device for just $399, and still have the same 64GB storage with a much larger screen and Apple Pencil support.

I say the new iPad mini is a steal.
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Or does it show how the XR is overpriced?
 
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kurosov said:
Eh, If it had the same design with faceid as the 2018 pro and support for the 2nd gen pencil i'd have bought one just to keep around the house as a companion to my 12.9" pro but im not interested in this.
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That would have been cool, but probably would have started at $599.
 
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deconstruct60 said:
The even larger number of pre 2018 iPad Pro owners can make exactly opposite argument since many of them already have a Pencil 1 and do not have a Pencil 2. A mini with a Pencil 2 would have to make them buy a new Pencil device. .
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Except the fact that they chose to keep lightning on these new iPads means they could have supported both pencils.

NickName99 said:
That would have been cool, but probably would have started at $599.
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They absolutely could have released a redesigned mini for less than that. There are plenty of features it is lacking over the Pro and even the a12 phones. Not to mention there are other things they could have cut back on instead, They probably only made it an A12 device because it works out cheaper or helps shift them because an A10/11 would have been enough for most uses for a mini.

Price isn't a massive concern though, They have shown their future design language for the phones and iPads and it's very likely they'll move the entire like to match it in the future, These iPads are clearly a stopgap release to fulfil demand while keeping the pro models more appealing to those who don't need them for a while longer.
Eventually they'll release a mini with the no home button design, I'll wait for that.
 
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I always said the iPad mini with Pencil support would be an instant buy, however...

I wasn't expecting it this week and I have a car repair to pay. Will have to pick it up next week!
 
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deconstruct60 said:
The even larger number of pre 2018 iPad Pro owners can make exactly opposite argument since many of them already have a Pencil 1 and do not have a Pencil 2. A mini with a Pencil 2 would have to make them buy a new Pencil device.

What is substantially bigger at this point: the previous 3 years of iPad Pro sales or the ones sold over last 6 months?

If want to make the "I bought a Pencil I'm now anchored" argument, then Pencil 2 is smaller. Much smaller ( probably on the order of magnitude if factor in the regular iPad sales over the last year or so. )



There are going to be lots folks who buy a new Mini and don't buy a Pencil. There is complaints in this thread about how the storage capacity dropped in the new Mini ( versus the revised baseline Apple had set up over last couple of years). Pencils 2 infrastructure costs pushed onto folks who aren't going to use it is in the same "everyone is different" category. In the price zone that the Mini is in, the Pencil 1 is dominant right now and probably for the immediate future.

Who are the bigger block of folks who will be buy what matters (everybody is also not 100% different). Not the narrowest of corner cases. Multiple iPad single owners with Pencil 2 is a corner case.

If Pencil 2 infrastructure was cheaper and smaller internal iPad volume than Pencil 1 then sure it could be fast tracked with minimal interactions. It isn't; actually opposite on both fronts. More internal volume and more expensive. Pushing the iPad Mini further up against the iPad Air prince point isn't going to help the Mini. Pencil support is a feature of the Mini. It isn't the primary broad spectrum driver.

It is more convenient, but that connivence has substantive side effect right now. It isn't purely about segmentation. More than a few folks don't want to pay more. Cost isn't 'spin' or an immaterial factor.
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Well, thats my point. It kinda works both ways. Annoying for people who bought the first gen pencil but then got a new ipad pro....and for those who have an apple pencil 2with their ipad pro, but would like to use it on an ipad mini.

For now thats just the way it is. I think Apple’s ultimate goal is to have one Apple pencil that works on all ipads. One pencil to rule them all so to speak. But that would mean a flat edged redesign of the regular ipads similar to the pros. And that won’t happen until the ipad pros get more new features that would differentiate them. Like OLED or microLED screens. Once that happens(probably in a couple years) then Apple could redesign the regular ipads with the flat edge, slimmer bezels, face ID, usb-c & apple pencil 2 support. But not before.
 
bluespark said:
I just noticed this: first-generation Apple Pencil support only. So if you use an iPad Pro and one of these (which I would imagine is fairly common), you need TWO DIFFERENT PENCILS for your two devices.
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Didn’t take the time to read the comments before adding this did you?
 
CarlJ said:
Actually, "EarPod" is Apple's long-standing official name for their wired earbuds with Lightning connector, which have shipped in-box with every iPhone since the iPhone 7. You likely own some. When making fun of someone for mistyping, it helps to get your facts straight.
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All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy huh? You need some sweet to go with that sour. Cheers. :p
 
Scarpad said:
Typical Apple fans bitching they go beyond what people were asking for and they bitch, best processor, kept the screen. And added pencil support, now if they had put a A10 in it, put a non laminated screen, and lowered the price to $249 people would still bitch
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You are right, there is no making some people happy
 
apple new strategy, less for more
my 2017 iPad will do until it runs out of updates
I don't even use it
I only use it as a screen for my phantom 4 pro drone
 
Everything seems good, hard to find a better tablet at this price point... BUT why miss the opportunity to make it even greater?

They could've remove the home button and make it an edge to edge display and use Apple Pencil 2 (even charging a bit more $). I have an iPad Pro with Apple Pencil 1 and it is not the most convenient thing to have a cap and having to plug it to the bottom (potencially breaking the lightning port if my kids are around).
 
bpeeps said:
What are you even talking about. They've had all the time in the world to change the design. They simply don't want to, likely because they want you on an iPad Pro 2018 if you want the latest and greatest.
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ericwn said:
What exactly are you going on about?
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Sarcasm. This wasn't an update to the iPad Mini. This was a spec bump that should have been done multiple times over the last few years. The longer a product goes without an update the more substantial the update needs to be to show your commitment to it. What we have here suggests that Apple still has to many touch id sensors and first generation Apple pencils and pencil sensors on hand.
 
ponchosalazar said:
Everything seems good, hard to find a better tablet at this price point... BUT why miss the opportunity to make it even greater?

They could've remove the home button and make it an edge to edge display and use Apple Pencil 2 (even charging a bit more $). I have an iPad Pro with Apple Pencil 1 and it is not the most convenient thing to have a cap and having to plug it to the bottom (potencially breaking the lightning port if my kids are around).
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Answer: because then they'd have to double the price.
 
I just had a Chat with Apple about cases for the iPad mini 5.
LS3 POWER said:
Apple must have a major back stash of Apple Pencil Gen 1's lol, Maybe that is why they made it work with the old one only
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Or it could be that the P2 requires that the screen glass and sensors have to be upgraded to more expensive parts. And they would have had to redesign the chassis to accommodate inductive charging. That would have raised the price. I ordered my mini 5 to replace my mini 4 today. I'm excited.
 
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Neepman said:
There once was a time apple product lines were more about innovation than just a pricing strategy.
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I am not a brand evangelist--these are all great devices with no competition in the
tablet class. The 2018 ipad pros are innovative and excellent
 
Maybe if they would have called it the iPad Air Mini it would have saved some confusion. This is a mini version of the 2019 iPad Air (or iPad Air 3, which I'm sure many will call it).

Of course maybe that would led to assumptions that there may be an iPad Mini version of the base model iPad, or an iPad Pro Mini, and Apple doesn't plan on doing that?
 
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