Apple Will Reportedly Launch iPad Mini 5 and Entry-Level 10-inch iPad Next Year

[nelsonammo]

I have an iPad Air 2 and have never thought of upgrading to either the newer iPads or the iPad pros. However, if they come out with a budget 10" with USB C, thin bezels and face ID, then I would probably upgrade.

 

[Techwatcher]

That's not Apples problem.

By the way, I believe the App Store is slowly dying.

I know literally no-one who bought a paid app, maybe a really small In-App purchase.
I cannot recall wether Apple has bragged about the payouts to devs recently.

Considering the hardware lineup, with limited Xcode support, I know lots of people who simply stopped developing.
Also, GDPR, Terms and Conditions, etc. play a role for small devs.

Just because “you” know no one that bought a paid app doesn’t mean its not happening. Matter of fact the App Store is one of their strong streams of revenue. This is a really misinformed post.

 

[Greenmeenie]

How about a new iPod touch?

My kid has been playing with an old iPhone 5C, and the current iPod touch is old and way too similar to that old phone.

I did a little experiment. I ditched my iphone awhile ago. I was grandfathered in on the 2010 AT&T unlimited data plan from the original ipad that is now on my ipad mini. Had a google phone #. I also had the latest ipod touch that i used mostly as my travel camera and not for music. With Pandora & spotify, theres not much need for a music ipod anymore. I kinda wished Apple would release a photography specific ipod touch with cellular...lol...but i seriously doubt that would ever happen. Like never. Unlike the ipad mini which is rumored to get an update this March, i think the ipod touch will be officially discontinued soon.

 

[timber]

I have an iPad Air 2 and have never thought of upgrading to either the newer iPads or the iPad pros. However, if they come out with a budget 10" with USB C, thin bezels and face ID, then I would probably upgrade.

That would be quite nice.
But I want and need the jack. I use the iPad a lot on airplanes and I don't want wireless stuff and an extra gadget with a battery to look after.
I will probably be disappointed... it sucks because the iPad is the most difficult to replace. Nobody is caring about tablets.

 

[kirk.israel]

Just goes to show you that it’s Apple killing iPad mini and not a lack of demand. Now they want to boost sales with it? But but the iPad mini is dead they said. There’s no market for it they say. Regardless have you ever seen such a mixed message? Oh and let’s make sure we cheapen the display all we can. This will further boost sales and quality.

What happened to delighting consumers with the best products it can make?

Who is the "they" in "they said"? 'Cause I think Apple keeps a pretty tight lid on its decision making process - people read the tea leaves and figure "huh, Apple must think there's no market here or it's too much confusion w/ large iPhones" but that is a guess. So there's no message to be mixed here.

And cheapen the display? News for you buddy, for many many any consumers, any Retina-level display is MORE THAN FINE. All this stuff about color range and what not is just bragging rights or for the very very small amount of people who can tell the difference.

"best products it can make" - making something affordable is a part of that, no?? I mean hell usually Apple gets crap for going to high end and expensive, and now you give them grief for working on the other side....

 

[sofila]

I would buy a reasonable priced iPad mini on day one. There are a lot of simple tasks I'd prefer to do on a screen larger than the phone's, while still on the move. I.e. on commuting. An iPad mini would always be with me.
Unluckily my idea of reasonable price and Apple's are fastly movin' away from each other.

 

[rowspaxe]

Maybe we could get another half dozen iPad models. That should work and fit Cook's strategy. Double the number of models, double the revenue, right? I remember back when we did not need an engineering degree to figure out which models to buy of any Apple product.

This is MacRumors--buy them all and then return them

 

[satchmo]

This smells like nothing more than a way to raise the price of entry for the lower end iPads.

Sure, it’ll have a ‘new’ older processor, but I think it’ll be more expensive as than the current 6th gen.

 

[dazz87]

Im all in for the Mini 5!!!! Hopefully it comes pre bend from factory........

 

[ghanwani]

As for Apple's entry-level iPad, today's report claims that next year Apple will replace its sixth-generation 9.7-inch iPad with a similarly priced model that features a 10-inch display within a narrower frame.

Will soft, bent frames be a new feature on these new ones?

Apple's 9.7-inch iPad is thicker, heavier, and has fewer features than iPad Pro models, but it does support Apple Pencil and is also Apple's most affordable tablet, starting at $329.

By 1 gram for WiFi models. Is that really noteworthy?

 

[Justanotherfanboy]

Have they lost their mind?
iPad mini, 9.7”, 10”, 10.5”, 11” and 12”.
At the moment the only one with optimised apps (including Safari) is the 9.7”.
This is ridiculous.

I’m a bit of a stickler Meseeks....

12.9” would be rounded off to 13”, NOT 12”, yeah?

 

[Loge]

they introduced a 10” iPad Pro last year so apps are already optimized for that screen size

That was 10.5 inch, though, of course it might actually mean that.

 

[sracer]

Who is the "they" in "they said"? 'Cause I think Apple keeps a pretty tight lid on its decision making process - people read the tea leaves and figure "huh, Apple must think there's no market here or it's too much confusion w/ large iPhones" but that is a guess. So there's no message to be mixed here.

And cheapen the display? News for you buddy, for many many any consumers, any Retina-level display is MORE THAN FINE. All this stuff about color range and what not is just bragging rights or for the very very small amount of people who can tell the difference.

"best products it can make" - making something affordable is a part of that, no?? I mean hell usually Apple gets crap for going to high end and expensive, and now you give them grief for working on the other side....

There is definitely that segment of Apple customers who want to keep the brand exclusive... I mean, what would happen if the caddies were allowed to swim in the golf club's swimming pool?! I've seen the movie "Caddyshack" I know what can happen.

In the Appleland country club of customers, I'm Al Czervik.

 

[MacRazySwe]

Read through all 7 pages, I’m surprised to see so many people expect a brand new 10” design!

Is it not obvious?

The iPad 5/6th gen reused the old iPad Air (1) chassis, including its non-laminated display.

The new 7th gen will most likely reuse the iPad Pro 10.5” chassis. Thus, Apple can recoup the development cost over a few years of additional revenue.

9.7” will die off.

As long as it doesn’t bend, I might be interested.

 

[edwrap]

Apple, please start using laminated screens on the cheap iPads. Quad-speakers would be appreciated, as well.

Pro models can keep true tone, HDR, 120fps, smart connector, and the better SoC obviously.

 

[JoB4031]

It will be interesting to see what if anything changes with the mini. I tried to get in on the Black Friday mini 4 for $249 but couldn’t find one in stock. A new mini is on my list if it has the right specs and price. A mini 5 with 2018 9.7 specs for $299 or less and I’m in. The way Apple is going these days it would be no surprise if it’s a mini Pro for $599.

It would be awesome if I could sync my Apple Watch to one.

 

[groovyd]

finally! need to upgrade my last gen mini

 

[Mac 128]

There was supposed to be an iPhone SE 2 also. Still waiting on that.

I’m giving it until March. If I had to guess, they dropped the SE from Apple Stores in order to push customers toward the more expensive new models for the holidays oboist the bottom line. Anybody who resisted that marketing effort will be rewarded in the Spring, when they’ll also introduce the other mini iOS device. Maybe we’ll get the new displays and Pro Mac too.

It would be awesome if I could sync my Apple Watch to one.

Yes, I’ve been saying this from day one. There are many Android phone customers who use iPads which are otherwise restricted from owning an Apple Watch. Now there’s really no excuse, at least with the cellular models.

 

[coolkid93]

Great! Let’s not make them bendable like “silly putty” either this time

 

[seanoo]

Good God just let that mini have pencil support. I (and Apple, don't read this part) almost don't care about price, pro/base form factor, processor. Just having pencil support would make it such a perfect on the go creative tool: just getting ideas out there more organically, overlaying sketches on images of existing buildings, jotting quick notes and having them be convertible/searchable and linked with audio.. If they tweak the form factor a hair it would even (and again, Apple, don't read this part) be a potential iPhone replacement.

 

[DevNull0]

Apple seems to have ran out of ideas. Same products, albeit, with improved specs and a limited OS.

If only that were how the Mac division ran, there would be a lot more happy Apple customers instead of ex-Apple customers grudgingly fighting with windows on excellent hardware.

 

[Silver Idaten]

I hope the iPad 7 doesn’t use the 10.5 Pro body or at least revised the interior design, or else there are going to be more bright spot iPads out there.

But Mini 5 holy **** that’ll be my first Mini, I was holding off on getting an overpriced Mini 4 because of this possibility.

 

[Crowbot]

I think Apple under estimates the potential with the mini and those who don’t alway favor the larger iPads. Portability in a smaller form factor is still key for the mini when you have those times you want just want ease of use with one hand. Hopefully Apple Pencil support would be a consideration as well.

I agree. I found that my iPad mini fit perfectly into a hospital lab coat side pocket. I'd love to see a "Pro" version Mini with all the features of the bigger ones.

 

[MikeSmoke]

If a mini 5 ditches the 3.5mm output I will either stay with my pair of mini 2’s or find a mini 4 used or refurbished. I rely on the output for Audio/MIDI apps.

 

[longhorn2004]

A quick search indicates the iPad mini is 8 inches tall and about 5.3 inches wide. If it were all screen and 5.5 inches wide, that would translate to a 9.7-inch screen.

So iPad mini, 11-inch non-Pro iPad (though I don't know what they would cut from the Pro to achieve that), 11-inch Pro, 12.9-inch Pro.

That would be one helluva line up.

I speculated something similar but instead just merging the 9.7 and mini product lines. A bezel-less 9.7 is almost a mini.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/what-if-the-ipad-9-7-and-mini-merged.2154798/#post-26803553