Apple Rumored to Discontinue iPad Mini

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Mini tablet fanboys: "Aspect ratio and benefits, portability, display size! It's bigger and there's no substitute! Apple is wrong."

Rest of world: "Hey, neither Samsung, Apple, nor any major Android tablet manufacturer has refreshed their mini tablets since 2015. Sales of tablets and especially mini tablets have gone down. Maybe Apple's not alone here and consumers are using phablets or choosing 9.7-inch?"

Com'on man. People are mostly just saying they really like this particular Apple product. Many are saying they stand ready to buy a new version with updated guts that is not basically 2+ years old. It's not fanboyism... nor is it an attack on Apple. It's not a question of Apple being right or wrong. It's statements about really liking this particular Apple product... and wishing Apple would update it and make the money some of us are ready to spend on a Gen 5 model. Like with Macs, some people don't want to buy outdated tech. Wait a long time to update tech and sales may start falling off. Yes, it may be that buyers in general are losing interest in a form factor... or it may be that buyers- like me- stand ready to buy one if it had modern technology it.

I'm also ready to upgrade some Macs. I've seen many reports of declines in desktop & laptop sales. Should Apple kill those products too due to "sales going down"?

Even iPhone has had some quarters where sales have gone down vs. prior year quarters. Should Apple kill off iPhone too due to "sales going down"?

This thread has 11 pages of many posts of people mourning the potential demise of this one product. Many are commenting how they are ready to buy an updated one if Apple would just roll one out. I'm in that same boat with them. I definitely do not think I'm some fanboy but the money that would buy a Gen 5 Mini will not be redirected to a bigger form factor iPad if this rumor turns out to be true. Like others are saying, I guess I buy the Gen 4 model and hope it works well for the next few years... not because Apple is wrong or right... but because it's just a favored form factor of tablet (to me).

 

[AZhappyjack]

Considering its been almost 2 years since the Mini 4 has even been touched (and even then they put 1 year old tech in it), this isn't a shocker. Looking the sales breakdown the larger iPads are actually showing growth while the mini sales continue to decline quarter over quarter.

So, which is the cause and which is the effect? Are sales slumping for the Mini because it hasn't "even been touched" for 2 years? One could argue that is the case.

 

[Plutonius]

what's a Touch 6?

iPod Touch 6.
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I'm old myself, but we old folks still read books. And if those books are in electronic form, we would read them on book-sized tablets. If the Mini disappears, that probably will mean the Amazon Kindle for many, which would be a blow to iBooks.

For reading books, nothing comes close to the Kindle e-ink readers (Paperwhite, etc). An iPad is a great general purpose tablet but I would never buy one primarily for reading.

 

[Doomtomb]

This isn't surprising at all

 

[PaulRustad007]

don't do this Apple. The mini is perfect for taking with me on my travels. The screen aspect ratio is brilliant for E-books and DSLR Photos. I do whole presentations from mine using a Lightning to HDMI cable.
It works and for me it is perfect.
If you do can it at least make a similar sized Pro. For me even 10in is too big.

best buy 5 while you can.....and you are all set.

 

[timborama]

Crap, I hope not. Like others have mentioned, I really like this form factor and so does the wife. For us it is just the right size. We actually sold our large form versions and purchased two of the mini's.

It hasn't. iPod Touch hasn't seen an update in years. iPod touch is long dead, unfortunately. 5" iPod touch would be a killer product.

 

[JPack]

So, which is the cause and which is the effect? Are sales slumping for the Mini because it hasn't "even been touched" for 2 years? One could argue that is the case.

If it were as simple as "touching" the product, Apple would have done it. Refresh with a DCI-P3 display, A9, 3GB of RAM, matte black casing, and call it the iPad mini 5.

The fact that Apple isn't touching the iPad mini tells you the problem is likely on the demand side.

 

[imola.zhp]

A bezel-less 9.7 will be about the size of an iPad mini.

 

[unobtainium]

Action speak louder than words.

Consumers have spoken. Apple now sells one-quarter volume of the iPad minis compared to the peak in 2013/2014.

Well to put that in context, ALL tablet sales have declined, in all sizes.

 

[stevemiller]

I don't specifically have a horse in the race regarding the mini, but I just wish "bigger screen" would stop being synonymous with "newer and better."

I'm not saying bigger screens are bad, but I'm a fan of compact design when it comes to portable devices, and am sad to see that side of the market seeming to dry up.

 

[jonnyb098]

So, which is the cause and which is the effect? Are sales slumping for the Mini because it hasn't "even been touched" for 2 years? One could argue that is the case.

No.....I'd bet a lot it's due to phones getting bigger. Many people defending the mini on here use it for extremely basic tasks like reading or watching video......or for their kids. None of those reasons warrant an upgrade. The rest of the people who might have considered an iPad are using a larger phone. The numbers reflect that the iPad Pro has had an overall positive effect on sales for those sizes.

One thing is for sure, iPads aren't going anywhere anytime soon and I think people will be in for a treat come WWDC.

 

[bubbleboil]

The same story as Ipod touch.

Apple refused to update the device with top of the line internals and claimed nobody buy.

Which in fact, consumers are smart enough to know that the updated device is a sub par compared to current generation

 

[AZhappyjack]

No.....I'd bet a lot it's due to phones getting bigger. Many people defending the mini on here use it for extremely basic tasks like reading or watching video......or for their kids. None of those reasons warrant an upgrade. The rest of the people who might have considered an iPad are using a larger phone. The numbers reflect that the iPad Pro has had an overall positive effect on sales for those sizes.

One thing is for sure, iPads aren't going anywhere anytime soon and I think people will be in for a treat come WWDC.

Well, I have an iPhone 7+… I've had the 'plus' size since Apple released it on the iPhone 6. But for my 64 year old eyes, the size of the screen on the IPad Mini hit the sweet spot - large enough to be able to see/read comfortably without being so large and unwieldy to carry around.

I will adapt to whatever Apple offers… may not be happy about it, but I will. I was looking for the perfect sized iPad when I found the Mini … so I guess I'm off to find the next perfect sized tablet.

 

[Tulani]

it will make a comeback in some years ahead

 

[bigpoppamac31]

Having a Mini, "regular" and Pro sizes is the best way to go. I had the Mini previously and my brother has one and it's the perfect size. Getting rid of it would be dumb.

 

[AZhappyjack]

If it were as simple as "touching" the product, Apple would have done it. Refresh with a DCI-P3 display, A9, 3GB of RAM, matte black casing, and call it the iPad mini 5.

The fact that Apple isn't touching the iPad mini tells you the problem is likely on the demand side.

This assumes that Apple has considered the update, and done the market research... I am not saying that it hasn't... but to not update a device for two years, and then observe that sales have fallen off causes one to scratch his head.

 

[bluespark]

Yes, sorry, didn't put the /S tag there - but will fix it.

Edit: done.

Apologies: I did get the sarcasm but was not in a laughing mood. My fault entirely.

 

[Wildhope]

I hope not. Its the best for me

 

[4jasontv]

It would be Cannibalization.

We have a $329 iPad now, how to continue with Minis? How much could Apple charge for a new mini with that larger iPad priced at what it is?

And we have a rumored larger iPhone coming so .....

THIS^

The iPhone+ is to big for a phone, but as an iPad its almost big enough. They found the sweet spot where its sucks for any application.

They could just as easily charge the same amount for all the iPads and pocket the extra revenue of the devices that are cheaper to make. No, they won't do that. They are to busy trying to reinvent the car stereo by giving it apps to actually listen to their customers. Instead they will give them a stripped down out of date version of what they asked for all while claiming they heard us. I stopped using my iPad because it's to large. When I went to buy a mini it was out of date. So I waited, and then they came out with a bigger iPad. Ok... So I waited longer. You know why people don't buy the iPad mini? It's not because it's the wrong size, but rather because it's old. Update the dang thing and people will buy it. Make an iPad mini pro with stylus and people will buy them.
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If it were as simple as "touching" the product, Apple would have done it. Refresh with a DCI-P3 display, A9, 3GB of RAM, matte black casing, and call it the iPad mini 5.

The fact that Apple isn't touching the iPad mini tells you the problem is likely on the demand side.

No it doesn't. It tells me they aren't making the same profit. If they updated it Apple could charge more the mini and it would sell. People used to pay handsomely for smaller versions of their tech because it's harder to make a good product smaller. (Citation: the 80's & 90's)
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Can you provide a link/quote to him stating that? I did a quick Google search and found this. He essestially said that they didn't think they were good products and would never sell one, and that they were dead on arrival which is obviously not the case.

He also said, and I am paraphrasing: "Can anyone tell me what a twelve inch iPhone is supposed to do?" Having received a satisfactory answer, he continues, "So why the f*** doesn't it do that?"

 

[Ancaster]

As a photog, I was very close to buying an iPad Mini 4 because I love the smaller iPad form factor, bigger than my iPhone 7 Plus, the thinnest and not double handed as the current 9.7 iPad Pro. The Mini slides easily into my MacBook Pro sleeve's side compartment, great for travelling too. Mainly, according to DisplayMate, the Mini 4 has one of the best screens out there across all tablets even surpassing the Pro in certain aspects (previous Mini's were notorious for dull colors).
I really hope the small bezel 9.7 Pro 2 is not much bigger than the Mini. The Mini size is exactly what I want, pair it with a processor faster than the A8 (in the current Mini 4).

 

[ThunderSkunk]

A phone is a nano tablet, cost aside.

Not according to cell providers.

An iPhone is a $3000 purchase by the time you throw the mandatory price gouging data plan in. It is a phone with a display. Not all things that have displays are phones.

An iPad mini is data plan optional (though, iOS devices and even OSX have become increasingly hobbled when not connected to the internet. ...heaven forbid you travel out of cell range or live in the country, or your mobile device is rendered dead weight.). You can add data as needed, go with or without a plan at all, and run skype unlimited with your own phone number and voip quality for $3 a month instead of $120 for worse quality.

But that's cost.

You can take notes on it, it's just big enough to pull up technical drawings, you can sketch out revisions in a pinch, you can see the display clearly without squinting and you can comfortably hold it for an hour without it digging into your hand like a big heavy iPad.

There is a reason that the computers they walk around with on Star Trek are the size of an iPad mini. It just tucks into a pocket. Any bigger, and it has to be operated with two hands. It fits snug in a standard back pocket on a pair of jeans, it's small enough to fit in any jacket or parka I've ever worn and stay warm close to the body in winter.

I have a dead mini 4, that just stopped turning on a week ago.
In spite of iOS's increasing frivolous bloat and lack of productivity features, I did look forward to replacing it with another. It's the only iOS device Apples ever made that's that versatile and useful. I'm on another pro, and it's big and clunky, and stays in the car unless I know I'm going to need it, whereas, I ran my business on the mini, it was my phone, whiteboard, and it went with me everywhere.

I've tried them all, and it's the only iOS form factor I'm interested in spending any money on again.

 

[charlituna]

Buying a mini makes NO SENSE now

I can fit a mini in the pocket of my cargos and take it with me when i'm climbing ladders to do lighting setups and adjustments. a 9.7 not so much.

 

[GuillaumeB]

I always thought the mini was a unnecessary size. Especially with the birth of the plus.

I guess I was right all along haha

Or maybe the iPhone Plus should have never existed. What's more logical, a small tablet pr a giant phone ?

 

[charlituna]

Highly doubt it. This is the #1 selling iPad currently, as they're used for POS systems.

uh no they don't. they use iPhones for their POS. They might use Minis for their tech appts , managers etc

 

[Tech198]

Based on the fact Apple will be keeping round the Air, i too expect this to be false..

Both sides = no evidence.