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My Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 8.0 is extremely long in the tooth, but nobody's making an 8" OLED tablet these days. Apple doing it would be enough to make me switch to iOS for at least a generation (and would hopefully get that size of panel into production so other manufacturers can start offering them again, too).
 
Been playing with a Fold6 for the lsat week or so, and a Mini with OLED and ProMotion would be the perfect device.
 
Why give it a 17 pro chip can’t they just give it a A18 like the iPhone 16 lineup?
First, because they can. Second, I imagine their margins on iPhones are higher and iPhones would be more supply constrained if they have to use some of the processors on a lower volume device like the iPad Mini. As TSMC continues stamping out the 17 Pro the costs continue to go down over the long run and that improves the margins on the iPad Mini. Finally as the iPhone 16 line up debuts, the R&D that went into the A17 Pro is still utilized somewhere, that capacity to make this chip is used somewhere. There are a lot of reasons why it makes sense to use the A17 Pro. They use the Pro because there is usually more thermal headroom and the iPad is expected to handle intense graphics.

Both kids are on the iPad Mini 5 and one uses it a lot for things like Minecraft but the load times now feel (to me) like its getting long in the tooth. Convincing my wife that we should upgrade his to an iPad Mini 7 will be an uphill battle but one I aim to wage.
 
The iPad mini 7 is either a Sept or October drop. It was announced September 24, 2021, so with Apple's AI it's a mandatory M2 at least, unless they use a A18. Then there is the display jelly motion issue for some buyers in portrait orientation, which we are wondering what Apple will do to make that better then 6th gen?
I think it's been confirmed that Apple AI features are going to be iPhone 15 Pro compatible (specifically Pro line) which is why it makes sense that the iPad Mini 7 uses the A17 Pro because that chip production can still be put to good use and will allow the iPad Mini 7 to have those Apple Intelligence features.
 
I actually prefer the Mini to the Kindle for reading e-books. The screen is far more adjustable, and it is faster, especially on searches and looking up dictionary entries. Of course the battery life is shorter, but at least for me, it's not a concern.
Got the wife a Kindle about a year ago... She reads a ton of books... after about 5 days "Send it back, I'll go back to the mini"

Coachingguy
 
One reason a lot of us may upgrade is more RAM - the current one is only 4GB and it sometimes gets a bit tight. I'm assuming a new model would support the Pencil Pro as well.

For what exactly? Again if not doing 4k video or some huge images, most apps work flawless as it seems on my ipad which has a14 bionic
 
1) Fix jelly scroll give it ProMotion,
2) make it an 8” screen,
3) fix the aspect ratio for reading,
4) relocate the camera,
5) include Smart Connector,
6) …
 
I would love to see a 7th generation mini, sadly I think the 8th will be the one with OLED and fancy stuff

this is prolly just a processor spec bump and jelly oriented horizontally instead of vertically.. but we'll see :D
 
Would’ve preferred starting at $499. Also the A17 Pro is unlikely. A18 on new N3E node process is more likely.

Eight unreleased Apple devices with the A14 Bionic, A17 Pro, and M2 chips were among the list of chip identifiers (CPIDs). There are two upcoming A14 Bionic and A17 Pro devices, and four upcoming ‌M2‌ devices. MacRumors believes they relate to the following products:
  • A14 Bionic: iPad (11th-generation) in Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi + Cellular configurations. The model number does not correlate to what the ‌iPad‌ (11th-generation) is expected to have, so it may be a modified ‌iPad‌ (10th-generation) in Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi + Cellular configurations instead, or potentially a HomePod with a display.
  • A17: iPad mini (seventh-generation) in Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi + Cellular configurations. This may be the A17 Pro chip or an A17 variant.
  • M2: iPad Air (sixth-generation) in 10.9- and 12.9-inch display sizes and in Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi + Cellular configurations.
 
1) Fix jelly scroll give it ProMotion,
2) make it an 8” screen,
3) fix the aspect ratio for reading,
4) relocate the camera,
5) include Smart Connector,
6) …
I don’t get wanting the camera relocated. The mini is primarily a portrait device just like an iPhone IMO. It’s like asking for the camera to be relocated on an iPhone Pro Max.
 
I would love to have this iPad! I use my iPad primarily as a note taking device. The mini is the perfect size. I hope it gets some meaningful updates with Apple Intelligence for sure.
 
I still have the first iPad mini … gathering dust. Trying to figure out what I can still use it for effectively. Sluggish so my kids won’t game on it versus their Gen 9s IP.

I’m open to suggestions!
 
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