Would anyone else be interested in full phone support for iPad mini? iPhones have increased in size thankfully, but not quite as phablet as I'd personally prefer... I'd scoop up an iPad mini at more than the current price for this capability, 120Hz would be very welcome.
I
already use iPad mini with buds to fully cover phone + texting needs too. See VOIP apps like Talkatone, Google Voice or Comcast Voice if you happen to use that service at home. I've been doing this since iPad Mini 2 and find it ideal for me. Nobody on the other end can tell I'm not using a typical cell phone. Texting works just fine too.
Test it yourself by downloading a voip app for free. Many will give you at least a temporary number for free. Text to that temp number and vice versa to experience texting. If you go this way and text with Apple people, just use Messages as you do now. Call a friend with it and have a friend call you back at the temp number. That voip app will work the same when run on an iPad (or Mac too)... just with bonus screen RE.
I carry around
one device instead of two and a bigger screen generally makes every other app experience better IMO.
Bonus: iPad Mini 5G best "plan" is prepaid $10 for 5 months or 5GB. Since I mostly use free wifi, I don't need cellular that much. But when I do need it, that "plan" costs only $25 for a
YEARs worth of 5G service. So I ride Mini through 4-6 generations of iPhone upgrades and pay much less for 5G service too.
Bonus #2: if you go Google Voice, look up a device called Obihai... which can basically make the home phones work with the same GV VOIP number. In other words, your cell phone and home phones can share the same number if you like. Faxing and alarm system work with that too. So anyone with landline service (still typical for alarm systems) can cut that bill to ZERO and use those phones for calls at home.
Anyone with any doubts (and/or influenced by closet salespeople wanting to help Apple maximize iPhone unit sales who put down this concept), just try it for free with whatever you have now. Download free voip app, use a free voip app number for testing, and simulate it yourself. You'll quickly discover that telephony is just an app... much like making an iDevice stand in for a flash light or tape measure, etc.
Your computer can stand in as a mobile phone too, also by using the right voip app and buds. Telephony is just an app. Sometimes, rather than using my Mini or home phones, I make or take calls and/or text and receive texts on my Macs.