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iPad mini Chances to see iPad mini 5 on Monday

royinla14

royinla14

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Oct 12, 2011
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Anyone thinks there's a reasonable chance to see a new mini next week? Since the original mini was introduced I was never able to go back to the larger form factor. With that said if the mini is dead that means I can only use the mini 4 for another couple years before it's completely obsolete and won't support new features, etc. It's hard for me to understand the argument of the mini screen size too close to that of the iPhone. For me personally there is a huge difference when on my iPhone 7 or the mini. Thoughts?
 
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There are threads that go on for pages and pages discussing the future/non-future of the Mini.

Suffice to say, there are two sides to the debate and neither has an absolute answer.

All I'll say is that WWDC is an unlikely place to unveil a new Mini and if they did November would be a better bet. Having said that, never bet against Apple doing something unpredictable.
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masotime said:
There's unlikely to be a fire if there's no smoke. Unlikely to be a mini 5 with no rumors.
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And that's how fires get out of control. ;)
 
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Always a chance, but I think it's unlikely.

However, I still think about the last mini update also came at the same time as the last 12.9" update.
 
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profets said:
But wasn't that thread started after the 9.7" iPad was announced?
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You're right, I wasn't clear about the exact dates. @iMacmatician has the stronger evidence, but regardless I think hoping for a new iPad mini is unfortunately rather unlikely. Remember Apple is also showcasing the new MacBook Pros and the supposed Siri Speaker. Apart from the speaker I suspect Apple's emphasis will remain on the "Pro" lineup for now.
 
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masotime said:
You're right, I wasn't clear about the exact dates. @iMacmatician has the stronger evidence, but regardless I think hoping for a new iPad mini is unfortunately rather unlikely. Remember Apple is also showcasing the new MacBook Pros and the supposed Siri Speaker. Apart from the speaker I suspect Apple's emphasis will remain on the "Pro" lineup for now.
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I agree, I think its very unlikely. At the most, maybe a silent update. But even that I don't think will happen. My guess is that it's on life support along with the iPod touch until they eventually drop both.
 
profets said:
I agree, I think its very unlikely. At the most, maybe a silent update. But even that I don't think will happen. My guess is that it's on life support along with the iPod touch until they eventually drop both.
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If this is how things turn out, it's really a shame. I can understand the demise of the iPod Touch because practically everyone has a smartphone that does everything an iPod does, but I just don't agree that even a large smartphone offers the same functionality as a small tablet. I think that the iPad Mini simply doesn't fit in the Apple dream world where everyone just has a phone and an iPad which replaces their laptop. In my world, at least, the iPad Mini fills a niche between my phone and laptop.
 
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The most reliable Apple analyst on the planet Ming-Chi Kuo predicted no iPad mini refresh this year.

Third-party data shows iPad mini sales rapidly declining. No major Android tablet manufacturer has released a refreshed mini tablet since 2015. Amazon has the e-reader market entrenched with the Kindle. Phablets are quickly displacing mini tablets as displays get larger. The iPad (2017) is priced at $329 but regularly discounted to $299.

The writing on the wall is about as clear as it gets.
 
Reno Raines said:
I think the iPad mini and iPod touch may well be on the way out.
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Agreed. I've been saying this for a while and Apple his clearly faltered without placing emphasis on iPod touch that's not been updated for quite some time and the iPad mini. Both of these devices are highly consumed by the iPhone.

The iPhone SE has ultimately trounced the iPod touch and the iPad mini has ultimately been superseded by the iPhone Plus since its launch with the iPhone 6.

Both are great devices, but with Apple's current roadmap, I don't forsee either one of those devices receiving a refesh, at best, maybe a specification update.
 
I'll say this though, if they do nothing else for the Mini line, they should at least lower the price of the Mini 4. I know that it has a larger capacity (128 GB vs 32GB) but having it cost more than 9.7" ipad that just came out can't be helping Mini sales. What's the logic in that?
 
But didn't even Ming Chi Kuo predict sometime last year that Apple was going to possibly release an iPad mini Pro alongside of the 10.5" & updated 12.9" iPad pros? I thought I recall that being said during the time when rumors about new iPad Pros were really ramping up last year. When all the rumors were saying iPad Pros would be updated in March/April. Which turned out of course not to be the case, as only the new low cost 9.7" iPad was released.

I do hope that an iPad mini Pro with Apple Pencil support is announced sometime this year. I currently have the iPad mini 2, and have been waiting since the 12.9" and then the 9.7" iPad Pros were first announced for the mini to get the Pro treatment. It's the perfect travel size iPad for me. So much more convenient than the larger ones, and so much better than the iPhone plus to work on. And let's face it, the iphone plus is never going to get Apple Pencil support. But using the Apple Pencil with an iPad mini Pro makes perfect sense. It's a great size to take notes on. To sketch on. I'm an artist who travels with a small sketchbook about the size of a mini. I would absolutely LOVE to trade it for being able to sketch on a mini Pro with Apple Pencil support.
 
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JPack said:
The most reliable Apple analyst on the planet Ming-Chi Kuo predicted no iPad mini refresh this year.
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Not really - he didn't give any prediction on the iPad mini, not the same as predicting no iPad refresh.
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masotime said:
Yup, the 2017 iPad had at least some credible rumors. The iPad mini 5 seems devoid of any, except for the unsettling one that it will be discontinued :(
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And the iPad Mini 4 came out of nowhere, so there's that.
Lack of rumors does not equal lack of product.
 
I get the iPod touch being dropped. An iPhone covers that needs primarily. But the mini still seems like a profitable opportunity. Obviously not. Apple makes decision based on $.
 
Spink10 said:
I get the iPod touch being dropped. An iPhone covers that needs primarily. But the mini still seems like a profitable opportunity. Obviously not. Apple makes decision based on $.
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Every company makes decisions based on $. Hell, even charities, to some extent. But I find it hard to believe that they can't turn a profit on the Mini. Just a year or two ago sales data showed that the combined sales of the Mini 2 and 4 beat out all other iPad models for the holiday season. As I said above, if they drop the Mini, I think it's largely because it doesn't fit their fantasy of iPads replacing laptops, which really isn't happening anyway no matter how much Apple wants force it. To be honest, I don't think that the 12" Pro is selling any better than the Mini. The (admittedly limited) data I've come across suggests that it sells worse, in fact, but I'm sure it does have a higher profit margin per unit.
 
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joeblow7777 said:
I'll say this though, if they do nothing else for the Mini line, they should at least lower the price of the Mini 4. I know that it has a larger capacity (128 GB vs 32GB) but having it cost more than 9.7" ipad that just came out can't be helping Mini sales. What's the logic in that?
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MacDarcy said:
But didn't even Ming Chi Kuo predict sometime last year that Apple was going to possibly release an iPad mini Pro alongside of the 10.5" & updated 12.9" iPad pros? I thought I recall that being said during the time when rumors about new iPad Pros were really ramping up last year. When all the rumors were saying iPad Pros would be updated in March/April. Which turned out of course not to be the case, as only the new low cost 9.7" iPad was released.

I do hope that an iPad mini Pro with Apple Pencil support is announced sometime this year. I currently have the iPad mini 2, and have been waiting since the 12.9" and then the 9.7" iPad Pros were first announced for the mini to get the Pro treatment. It's the perfect travel size iPad for me. So much more convenient than the larger ones, and so much better than the iPhone plus to work on. And let's face it, the iphone plus is never going to get Apple Pencil support. But using the Apple Pencil with an iPad mini Pro makes perfect sense. It's a great size to take notes on. To sketch on. I'm an artist who travels with a small sketchbook about the size of a mini. I would absolutely LOVE to trade it for being able to sketch on a mini Pro with Apple Pencil support.
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I do remember those rumours last year talking about a mini sized Pro as well. At one point I thought maybe that, along with the mini 4 pricing being placed above the entry level 9.7" was a bit of a sign to say that the mini could become a premium/pro in the line up as well. I'd love to see it happen, but I don't think it will.

I myself would love to have a mini for book reading and very casual use in addition to a 12.9" for day to day use. I still think they're also excellent in size for kids use. If they do slowly let them die off I'll likely pick up a refurb mini 4 at one point.
 
joeblow7777 said:
Every company makes decisions based on $. Hell, even charities, to some extent. But I find it hard to believe that they can't turn a profit on the Mini. Just a year or two ago sales data showed that the combined sales of the Mini 2 and 4 beat out all other iPad models for the holiday season. As I said above, if they drop the Mini, I think it's largely because it doesn't fit their fantasy of iPads replacing laptops, which really isn't happening anyway no matter how much Apple wants force it. To be honest, I don't think that the 12" Pro is selling any better than the Mini. The (admittedly limited) data I've come across suggests that it sells worse, in fact, but I'm sure it does have a higher profit margin per unit.
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You may be right. I should would like the iPad mini 5. Just from a logical perspective it sure seems worthy.
 
If you want to keep your hopes up... I don't believe there were any rumors for the iPad mini 3 before it launched? It's possible that Apple would do a very minor refresh on the iPad mini similar to the mini 3. It would be nice to have an updated processor and camera at the very least.
 
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