Apple's 2026 iPad Mini Could Be Water Resistant Like the iPhone

[sleeptodream]

Bath time!

I love reading in the bath, and would really appreciate this. Currently use a Kindle for bath reading duty, though it has other advantages too

Regarding earlier posts about the size of the Mini, I much prefer this size over the larger ones--indeed, I only use my 11" iPad if I have to fly somewhere and want a larger screen for movies. I use my Mini at home for at least two hours a day at home. I know it won't happen, but I would be willing to pay a premium price for a Mini Pro--heck, I'd probably even pay the same price charged for an 11" Pro. It would be worth it to me.

100% agree. The 11” is pretty unwieldy, I wish it was still 10” honestly

I’d love a nano texture option on the mini as well

 

[ececlv]

At work, we use a bunch of iPad Mini's for portable Kiosks. Waterproof will definitely increase utility for our use case.

 

[justmadeupname]

Face ID would be really nice. I use the mini 7 cellular everyday for at least 2-3 hours a day My favorite Apple device. Love the form factor, especially the weight. Yes pro motion would be nice as well OLED. Hopefully the price increase is not too much. In any case I’m in no rush to upgrade.

 

[danpass]

Water resistance is nice …. but I want to be able to MagSafe charge it.

-

 

[dgdosen]

e-sims and wireless charging - completely seal the device.

 

[spac3duck]

Personally, a Pro mini with M-series chip would be ideal for me.

That would simplify the tablets into:
Latest tech vs legacy tech in Small, Medium, or Large sizes (i.e. Pro series vs Air/Mini Series)

 

[orange_galoshes]

It's good to see Apple adding more water resistance to their products. It's always a huge shame to have these electronics damaged by water, something that costs consumers money and results in more e-waste.

To that end, I would like to see the laptops get better water resistance so they can survive a spilled drink or some liquid leaking in a backpack.

At the very least, protect the keyboard and ports. The MacBook Air should be as water resistant as the new iPad mini. The MacBook Pros are more complex with the air intakes but the rest of the device could be more durable.

Lastly the new AirPods, which are IP57 are good but I would like to see IP68 like the phones. How many of us have had to replace a pair after it goes through the wash? It's only happened once to me, but that's still a couple hundred bucks gone.

 

[Happy_John]

While that's all true, the article I linked seems to suggest that the iPad mini's interface software was the last obstacle and wasn't surmounted—by basically bunting—until after Jobs' death. And while many reports have said Steve remained very involved in work during his leaves, it's hard to believe he was managing exactly the same famous level of hands-on interaction. (The phrasing of the Eddy Cue email quoted in your linked article—thanks, that was interesting!—gives me the same feeling.)

He had cancer, and he knew it would kill him. As someone who has/had cancel (thankfully in remission for quite a few years, but you never know), it tends to change your perspective on life and your piorities. It must be only the most fanatic and leasing self-aware fanboys who think the next IPod device was really what he should have been concentrating on in the last years and months of his life.

Apple did and does make lovely gadgets, but that’s all they are. I would very much hope Jobs was spending time thinking about other things.

 

[mxsweb]

ProMotion please. 120

 

[jsavvy]

Been doing both those things with my Mini for years without issue

Yes, but what if I told you that you could continue doing this and you will only have to pay $100 more?

 

[audiophilosophy]

About time. Apple makes the least meaningful improvements to the iPad year over year. Most people don’t care about more ram and a faster processor with an iPad. They care about durability (including water resistance), good screen, good speakers, and battery life. Apple has only been improving the screen with the OLED.

 

[rp2011]

Does it not sell well? It’s about to hit its 8th generation. If we use iPhone mini as a comparison, Apple isn’t afraid to kill off devices that supposedly don’t sell well, so I suspect the mini sells just fine.

I have an iPad Mini 6 and I absolutely love it. I’ve had a bunch of iPad’s and the big ones are just too cumbersome to use, especially one handed. I really think the mini is the perfect size.

Stick a moft stand on the back and it’s the ideal consumption device!

I have always tried and dreamed of using them at work as a small notepad like device. In the morning at work I needed to check on different departments in a busy work atmosphere, and for me it was just cumbersome. An iPhone worked far better and I could just put it back in my pocket. Even when I see them in restaurants with wait staff using them I feel bad for them as they fumble with them. I think the iPhone is great for what it does, the iPads are great for what it does, but that the mini needs to be re-thought. I think they can do a lot to refine the mini into something specific for that size instead of just a smaller iPad.

 

[SFjohn]

If they are going to charge $100 more, hopefully the base storage will get bumped up… 👍🏻

 

[Hajj.david]

iPad minis are the most commonly used iPads in industrial and work environments. Pilots, restaurant staff, POS for outdoor markets, oil workers in the field, etc etc. If there is one iPad that should be built for slightly heavier duty, id say it should be the mini.

 

[Corpuscle]

I have bought the iPad mini a few times, always feeling perhaps I am missing something for not enjoying the experience. But fundamentally I think the size and aspect ratio is not right. The UI does not scale right in my opinion.

With the 11" feeling like the sweet spot for most everything, specially with a Magic Keyboard. I think It's time to completely rethink the mini. I always tend to give up on it and just go back to using the iPhone Pro Max for anything I thought I would use the mini for.

I do not think it's ergonomic, and the UI doesn't work for that size and aspect ratio. Perhaps slightly taller and narrower as the phones have proved the correct ratio for handheld devices. I would rather see a modified iPhone UI than an iPad UI for the mini. I can definitely see why it doesn't sell well. The use case for such a device is fantastic, but the execution of It is fundamentally flawed.

I completely disagree with *everything* you said. The size and picture ratio are fine. I do occasionally watch a movie on it, and the mini is fine. Promotion? Don't care. If Apple fundamentally changes the mini's overall design, it will bomb.

 

[segfaultdotorg]

Only one question to be answered:

 

[thelead]

A water-resistant iPad mini, a cold drink, on a warm/quiet afternoon in a pool float sounds like peak weekend to me

 

[Traverse]

They should make it 4:3 again, and yes, some adjustments to the UI.

The 3:2 aspect ratio of the 6th and 7th generation mini is actually pretty ideal for digital manga and classic handheld console emulation (GBC, GBA, NDS, etc.). The problem is something just fundamentally broke when they went to this size and they never fixed it.

The original 4:3 iPads were functionally the same as the larger models, but smaller. Everything scaled and rendered the proportionally, just smaller. When they moved to 3:2 things got weird or scaling was both smaller and less efficient. There are huge borders around the edges of the home screen, and if you look at something like a small widget, it's laughable. Small widgets, while physically larger than they are on the iPhone, scale so that you can't even fit a shortcut name on it. It is no longer simply taking the iPad UI and making it smaller nor is it taking the phone UI and scaling it up. I assumed Apple would fix this within the next major release after the sixth generation iPad mini, but they never touched it again.

One compromise might be to go to the aspect ratio of the 11 inch iPad Pro. That way they can revert to the old practice of showing the standard iPad user interface just proportionally scaled down.

 

[MaxLeopold]

Just add a Speaker to the upper Front of the Slimmer Width Side + a Micro the the Bottom Front & call it iPhone Ultra.

Easy to hold for taller People + others can attach a HandStrap 🤣

 

[oldtime]

Man just give me a better display. Wtf cares if it's waterproof.

 

[Love-hate 🍏 relationship]

About damn time

Id really like my MacBook Air to be water resistant too, at least when coffee etc gets spilled . But this would be much harder

 

[macduke]

Funny, I was just saying the other day that idk what else they could do to upgrade the next iPad Pro and threw out there that they could make it water proof. Wish the Pro got this, not because I’d really use it much around water, but so I wouldn’t have to worry about it. I read on my iPhone in the tub sometimes to de-stress, so being able to occasionally do the same with the iPad would be kinda neat.

 

[Spindrift_21]

Would be great on mounted on a boat for navigation, fish finder app, and entertainment.

 

[Pcar17]

Hmmm……I don’t have a use-case to go swimming with my iPad. 😂
Seriously Apple, you can do a lot better!

 

[svish]

This is much needed. Would be great if there is no price increase but think it is unlikely. Hopefully the iPad Pros and Air too get an IP rating in the near future.