Demise of iPad Mini sadly becoming clearer now

[dmk1974]

My wife has a Mini 4 which I think is still great. Nice and small, sharp display, light and easy to hold. I did just order an Air 2 for the kids. From what I read, I think the Mini 4 and Air 2 are the same speed and everything (aside from physical screen size) correct?

I too hope they come out with a Mini 5 with an A10 chip!

 

[TrueBlou]

Yepper. I feel your wifes pain. I was devistated when they dropped the 17 inch mac book pro with antiglare screen.

Oh don’t remind me What I wouldn’t give for a 17” MacBook Pro. A boy (old man) can dream

 

[Vivian125]

The future of the Mini is not over...merely in limbo, currently.

Without question, some of ios11 features will be harder to use on the smaller screen.

But Apple hasn't killed the Mini by any means nor is its future...murky.

The current Mini is still a fairly useful tablet. Apple could update it any time they want. They just haven't yet.

Really? how about iPhone users? (which is 3 to 6 Times smaller than iPad Mini?) To make matters worst, iPhone 5S/SE is such an epic fail to run iOS 11 they lack one handed keyboard which i really really like.

Maybe if iOS 11 is hard to use on smaller screen 5s for example would definitely needs an spectacles

 

[Hustler1337]

Don't have the Mini and wanted to get one but Apple's increasing silence of a new iPad Mini and future OS features for the Mini is putting me off buying one.

I agree that the Mini has a purpose and shouldn't be dropped by Apple. It's the perfect size in terms of portability, especially for everyday tasks such as reading a book, browsing the web, watching a few tv shows in bed, travelling etc. I'm struggling to find some credible reasons why they would want to drop it.

 

[maflynn]

I agree that the Mini has a purpose

Does that purpose translate into a profit for Apple? I hate to sound so negative, but if its not making enough money for them, or they don't see a future in terms of sustained growth, then its possible that we'll see apple drop the mini.

I'm not saying that will be the case, but rather pointing out that apple needs justification to continue to sell a product.

 

[mollyc]

Does that purpose translate into a profit for Apple? I hate to sound so negative, but if its not making enough money for them, or they don't see a future in terms of sustained growth, then its possible that we'll see apple drop the mini.

I'm not saying that will be the case, but rather pointing out that apple needs justification to continue to sell a product.

They would sell more if they updated it, thereby making a profit. It's a rather circular logic.

 

[maflynn]

They would sell more if they updated it, thereby making a profit. It's a rather circular logic.

No its not.

True, more would be sold, but maybe not enough. I suspect that many people are using their iPhone/iPhone plus for the very tasks that were intended for the iPad Mini.

The same complaint occured with the 17" Macbook Pro. Many fans of the larger laptop could not understand why Apple dropped it from the line up. Other discussions, prior to that included, they'd sell more if they just updated it. The fact remained that apple was not making enough of a profit to justify that laptop's existance.

I cannot say if that's the same thing occuring with the iPad mini, and only time will tell if Apple will roll out an udpate. I suspect if we don't see anything by this fall, the writing is on the wall.

 

[BigMcGuire]

My wife has the mini 4 currently and she won't go to a larger size ever so I hope they do continue to offer one in the future; I think they will but in the end it's really anyone's guess right now.

My wife has a Mini 4 which I think is still great. Nice and small, sharp display, light and easy to hold. I did just order an Air 2 for the kids. From what I read, I think the Mini 4 and Air 2 are the same speed and everything (aside from physical screen size) correct?

I too hope they come out with a Mini 5 with an A10 chip!

Another one here! My wife loves her iPad Mini 4. She thought the Air 2 was too big and doesn't like how big the iPad 2017 is. Seeing how she uses it, I have to agree. iPad Mini 4 is near perfect for night time reading in bed. I can't use my iPad 2017 laying down like she can even when propped up by a few pillows - so I use my iPhone 8+ instead, my 2017 iPad relegated to reading during the day and movies during travel.

When I tried to get another iPad Mini 4 - it was sold out of most Best Buy stores (nearest Apple Store is 40+ mins away). I've personally witnessed several customers want the iPad Mini 4 only to see it is $399 while the iPad 2017 was $250 (discounted) and get that instead. I think that had a big sway too.

 

[Hustler1337]

Does that purpose translate into a profit for Apple? I hate to sound so negative, but if its not making enough money for them, or they don't see a future in terms of sustained growth, then its possible that we'll see apple drop the mini.

I'm not saying that will be the case, but rather pointing out that apple needs justification to continue to sell a product.

I don't have access to Apple's accounts so couldn't say, but yes I get your point in that it'll most likely come down to whether a particular line is profitable. But profitability is only one factor amongst many. The Mini might not even fit in with Apple's future plans for their product lineup or vision.

Whatever it is, I'm saying that from a consumer standpoint, there's plenty of utility and purpose for the Mini to continue to exist and no doubt that there'll be consumers who will continue to want an iPad with that form-factor.

 

[Vivian125]

I don't have access to Apple's accounts so couldn't say, but yes I get your point in that it'll most likely come down to whether a particular line is profitable. But profitability is only one factor amongst many. The Mini might not even fit in with Apple's future plans for their product lineup or vision.

Whatever it is, I'm saying that from a consumer standpoint, there's plenty of utility and purpose for the Mini to continue to exist and no doubt that there'll be consumers who will continue to want an iPad with that form-factor.

In my opinion, Maybe Apple will continue to sell iPad Mini 4 as an alternative to E-Book since it's bigger than e book by the way. Otherwise, it would be so fantastic to release an iPad Mini X (an iPhone X like design without the Notch) who knows.

 

[aneftp]

Fairly obvious with iPad 2017 (A9) “budget” iPad. That was already the nail in the coffin for the mini.

The mini still runs on 2014 A8 processor with 2gb ram (mini released in 2015).

Mini is dying slow death like iPod Touch. Originally iPod Touch had same processor as iPhone and it changed over time where it was not being updated.

 

[bensisko]

Does that purpose translate into a profit for Apple? I hate to sound so negative, but if its not making enough money for them, or they don't see a future in terms of sustained growth, then its possible that we'll see apple drop the mini.

I'm not saying that will be the case, but rather pointing out that apple needs justification to continue to sell a product.

Would it translate to profit? Absolutely! The Mini (along with everything else Apple makes) sells at a high enough price point that they would absolutely make more money than they spend.

The problem is Apple (maybe rightfully so) isn’t interested in products that “just make a profit”. The product has to be a part of the overall vision of the ecosystem AND be big enough to be a hit (at least in a target market).

 

[wbeasley]

Would it translate to profit? Absolutely! The Mini (along with everything else Apple makes) sells at a high enough price point that they would absolutely make more money than they spend.

The problem is Apple (maybe rightfully so) isn’t interested in products that “just make a profit”. The product has to be a part of the overall vision of the ecosystem AND be big enough to be a hit (at least in a target market).

Not sure how much effort Apple put in some days... that vast new Campus, all those people, so little output

They let products languish for years, directionless, upsetting customers. The Pro Users made so much noise about being forgotten they "got some love" with at least acknowledgement more was coming "soon". Well soon-ish.

The Mac mini is so overdue for some attention but remains "important" to Tim. Huh?

Do they not get that huge updates every time aren't needed? Just yearly advances to keep current. Every other company can do it. Some overdo the updates: two months later your recent purchase is no longer available. That's unsustainable. Even the retailers can't keep up. Signage is often wrong and staff give up. "This is what we have now".

Apple can make hard and bold decisions: headphone sockets, DVD drives, iPod nano etc. They even ditched the Mac Air 11" overnight. So if they don't want iPods or Mac minis or iPad minis, they could just chop them out of the catalogue. Leaving them gives people hope - which isn't always warranted. Then people get upset and rant.

I held off for a long time to buy a Watch. Love the 3rd version. Works way better than I expected. Battery life not the issue I thought it would be. And so many people at retail shops comment how cool waving your watch to pay is. That's because ANZ is the one big Aussie bank that got behind it and let you link your Savings and Credit cards. Other banks didn't want to play with Apple. I've yet to see anyone use an Android watch to pay anywhere.

So Apple does some things right.

Sadly iTunes is a mess: tries to do too much in one app. Pull it apart. Make separate front ends for the components even if they share the same backend folder.

iOS has too many inconsistencies and now we've lost the Home button, relearn your interactions. Hmmm. Still not convinced about that. Yeah it might work but is it easier in every case? Adding extra steps? Not the "simplify approach" Apple used to use. I'm sure there are shortcut ways I don't use.