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Apple Rumored to Discontinue iPad Mini

geoff.barnett said:
I have an original Mini, I deliberately did not buy the original iPad as I thought it too large, thinking that if I wanted to carry something that size, I would just carry a laptop. Friends of mine, who think me a bit of an Apple Fanboy were surprised that I was not buying an original iPad and I remember saying at the time "When they make one the size of a book, I will get one."
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Yup, this was me too. Heck, you could probably go through my old MacRumors post history (if you were really really bored) and find a half-dozen times where I said "I'm waiting for a smaller iPad before I buy, the current size is just too big".

I actually bought an iPhone 6 Plus a couple years ago to see if it was an adequate replacement for my Mini. But, after two years and change, I can say that was a bust... my plan is to get a new Mini; and, when the 6 Plus needs to be replaced, downsize the phone.

People who think this is about price don't get it at all. Unfortunately that group seemingly may include Tim Cook.
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Plutonius said:
For reading books on a viewer, you can't beat a Kindle Paperwhite.
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Sure you can - it's called the Kindle Oasis. :D

(and I love mine)
 
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I would recommend a Galaxy Tab S2 8 inch while they are still available and cheap. Vastly superior AMOLED display, and the perfect size. I love mine. Apple really needs to step up with AMOLED and ditch the bulky inferior LCD screens with unneeded backlights. Maybe thats why they are talking discontinuing the Mini, because they will shrink the ipads size and weight
 
MacFather said:
The comments that I think you're referencing are comments that Steve had made before about seven inch tablets. And, let me be clear, we would not make one of the seven inch tablets. We don't think they're good products, and we would never make one. Not just because it's seven inches, but for many reasons. One of the reasons, however, is size... the difference between just the real estate size between the 7.9... versus 7 is 35 percent. And when you look at the usable area it's much greater than that... The iPad mini is a fantastic product. It is not a compromised product like the seven inch tablets. It's in a whole different league.

- Tim Cook | Oct 25, 2012
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Tim Cook had to say something because they launched this product, i am guessing its a lot less popular and less usefull, now they understood it
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FactVsOpinion said:
And while I liked the first mini when I got it, I think that was largely because iphones were still too small.

Now I enjoy a large phone with a large iPad. Perfect pair for me.
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Exactly
 
dominiongamma said:
Was hoping for a mini 5 but I expected this day would come, the 10.5 will be my next iPad it looks like.
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The Mini4 will be my last iPad then. I've never been comfortable with the 9.7" size going back to my first-gen iPad, which I replaced in short order with a Nexus7(2012), then a Nexus7(2013) and now a Mini2.
 
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Red Oak said:
Good news here is Apple is dramatically simplifying the product lineup
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I just added up all the iPad models currently available on Apple's website, looking at the iPad mini, the iPad, and the iPad Pro, taking into account all the different size and color options as well as Wi-Fi versus cellular models. Assuming I counted correctly:

There are 57 different iPads right now. Fifty-seven. That includes 39 different models of iPad Pro, alone.

I'm not in favor of killing the mini, but jeez, whittle the line down, Apple. It confuses the customer, and spreading limited dollars over so many models is a not a winning strategy.
 
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Westside guy said:
Sure you can - it's called the Kindle Oasis. :D

(and I love mine)
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The Kindle Paperwhite and Kindle Oasis both have a backlit 6" 300 DPI screen (It looks like they might have the same screen). The Oasis battery last much longer but I can usually read 2-3 novels on my Paperwhite between charges. The Paperwhite is $120 and the Oasis is $290 on Amazon.
 
Apple is rumored to introduce a new 10.5-inch iPad Pro as early as the WWDC 2017 keynote on June 5, so it's conceivable to think the iPad mini could be axed then if the report is accurate.

That statement makes no sense. Maybe somebody transposed the size and came up with the Mini as the intended victim.

The rumored 10.5" iPP would replace the 9.7" iPP. What's that got to do with the Mini? Apple has dropped the Air 2 and the Mini 2, so there's plenty of room for the Mini 4 or a Mini 5. Neither the iPhone Plus size or the 9.7/10.5" iPads are a suitable replacement for that form factor.

But since Apple doesn't release individual sales figures, it could be that the Mini just doesn't sell. That's a shame.
 
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Perhaps it has escaped Mr. Cook's notice that the iPad Mini is a nice size to read a book on. What else does Apple offer which would be as comfortable?

Meanwhile, the proliferation of larger iPads—roughly the same in size—seems no less than byzantine and a logistics mess.
 
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Nooooo. The mini is my favorite iPad of all. I've been ready for a while to get a new one as soon as one is released. I really hope this isn't true. A smaller iPhone or larger iPad just aren't adequate replacements.
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FactVsOpinion said:
Agreed!

They are not suitable for much more than is a phone.
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Perhaps for your needs, but there are others out there who use iPad minis for whom these devices are very suitable. ;)
 
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I guess it's always possible Apple will make a bezel-less iPad with a 7.9" screen and name it the "iPad Nano"...
 
Plutonius said:
The Kindle Paperwhite and Kindle Oasis both have a backlit 6" 300 DPI screen (It looks like they might have the same screen). The Oasis battery last much longer but I can usually read 2-3 novels on my Paperwhite between charges. The Paperwhite is $120 and the Oasis is $290 on Amazon.
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I mis-spoke... I have the Voyage. I bought a refurbished one about a year ago (it was $150, but I also had an $18 credit from that ebook settlement IIRC).

I think the Voyage uses six LEDs, while the Paperwhite has four; but I don't know how much of a practical difference that makes. Really the reason I got it was I wanted the navigation buttons - my previous Kindle was a 3G, which had physical buttons. I've used the touchscreen Kindles, but just prefer buttons... I wish the Voyage had physical buttons, though, instead of just haptic touch points.

Bottom line - you are spot-on, reading on a Kindle is far superior to reading on the (otherwise excellent) iPad Mini.
 
If they can fit a 5.5" display into the current 4.7" iPhone form factor, then what's to stop them from putting a 6.5" display into the current 5.5" iPhone form factor? At that point you're almost iPad Mini.

What I'd really like to see is some differentiation. 10.5" seems to close to 9.7". Maybe they could knock the 9.7" cheaper model down to 9" with a reduced bezel and it would be close enough to the size of the iPad Mini? The main issue here is the PPI. The 10.5" iPad makes sense because it's supposedly the same resolution as the 12.9" but at 326ppi instead of 264ppi. It's basically what Apple did with the iPad Mini when it had the same resolution as the iPad but at 326ppi instead of 264ppi.

I hope the new Pros come out at WWDC. I'm not holding my breath, but if they do it at WWDC I'm hoping they're going to show off a redesigned iPad iOS that makes it a lot easier to get work done on the device. I decided to hold out for gen 2 of the iPad Pro due to the 2GB of RAM, which seemed like it would become outdated with Pro apps rather quickly. I also figured it would give more time for Pro apps to come on the market, but that is questionable. At least a lot of apps support Apple Pencil now, which is the main reason I want one. Hopefully it can be used as a drawing tablet with the Mac.
 
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Relentless Power said:
Except for the fact that the iPad has purportedly grown in size and clearly Apple is not placing emphasis on a smaller iPad anymore. So that debunks your point about why would Apple even consider retaining a 7 inch iPad, as where The main considerations for the Pro, is the smart keyboard, which is a gateway for the iPad to portray a PC. Rather others agree with that or not, that's Cooks vision at one point or another.
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iPads growing doesn't debunk anything unless I said "ipads aren't going to get any larger"

As far as the rest of your post, I have no idea what you're even trying to say. Why are you so angry anyway?
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The Game 161 said:
There would be no point discontinuing one product for one thats 0.9 smaller..if they are removing it then the reason is lack of a need for a smaller tablet
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We don't know why they're removing it. It could be anything. This report is speculative as is my post, as is yours. Apple could simply be streamlining their product offerings by moving to a single branding with multiple size options. It's a rumors site after all.
 
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I will literally never buy a damn iPad ever again if they discontinue the minis. The regular iPad is obnoxiously big. Especially for presidents that just so happen to have tiny hands.

In all seriousness though, it seems like Apple is doing EVERYTHING it can to lower iPad sales even further.
 
Okay, this was something I was already planning to do in the next month or two... but this story nudged me a trifle.

I just hopped over to the Apple Store and bought a refurbished iPad Mini 4. Right now they've got wifi and cellular versions available - the wifi-only Mini with 64GB is $309; with 128GB it's $339. That's a decent deal!
 
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B--B-Bu-But ... I want an iPad mini with a protruding vertical camera! And TouchID on the back !!!














Not.
 
redscull said:
It makes perfect sense.. for probably too small of a market segment. I buy minis for my children because they're young, and the size accommodates them much better than the larger models.

The iPhone+ is an entire other target audience. That costs twice as much and then has a large monthly cost as well. Nobody looking for a "small tablet" decides "oh maybe I'll just get this iPhone+ instead." And the screen, despite being biggish, is still much too small (and the wrong aspect ratio) for the tasks I or my kids commonly use a tablet for. Anyone who thinks otherwise doesn't really appreciate the purpose a tablet actually serves (and that's ok; your needs are different).

All that said, we upgraded to 128GB mini 4s last fall, and I imagine those will still have a few years of life left. It wouldn't make sense for Apple to stop selling them until the device can no longer run the latests iOS. And they don't really need a new model until that happens either. My family certainly wouldn't upgrade again until that happened because the mini 4 is so capable as is.
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I agree tablets are very useful. I love my iPad Pro 9.7. But as you said the target audience just isnt really there. So like the iPod, They'll let the iPad mini die a slow death.
 
Now all you iPad Mini owners know how us MacBook Pro 17" owners felt when it was discontinued.

:p
 
techwhiz said:
I love that form factor.
I won't be buying another iPad.
I'll pick up one of the last mini's and hang on to it.

iPad air is too big.
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If the new 10.5" iPad actually has edge-to-edge display and minimum top and bottom rim, it can be the same width as the current iPad Mini, and only 1/8 longer than the current iPad Mini, not too different to iPad Mini in its physical form factor.

Although, of course, don't ever expect Apple to sell it at a price similar to the current iPad Mini.
 
tech4all said:
No, he wasn't. He said that people didn't want a small tablet, yet people bought them. And evidently some still do like them based on some of the disappointment in this thread.
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Steve actually meant that the demand for a small tablet is much smaller than a 10" tablet. And, that is definitely true.
 
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