To those analysts who keep saying a 5.5" iPhone can substitute for an 8" Mini? Please just shut up, you don't know what you're talking about. A hatchback isn't a substitute for a pickup.
I also question their prediction that if Apple offer a 10.5" iPad they will EOL the 7.9" Mini, which would leave a gaping hole in their mobile device lineup from 5.5" to 10.5" while introducing a clusterfck from 9.7" to 12.9".
The more sensible and likely course is for Apple to EOL the 9.7" iPad Pro. But that's the most popular one, you say? Indeed, but it must go to make way for progress! Consider the current lineup (area and ppi calculated with this
groovy website):
First, appreciate the vast increase in display area of the iPad Mini over the iPhones; at over twice the display area of a 6+ the iPad Mini's web browsing and photo/video experience is in another class.
Next, consider the next logical upgrade to the 9.7" Pro: pixel density. All of Apple's devices below it exceed 300 ppi, so it's the next economically feasible tablet to boost to a glorious 325 ppi. Fanboys argue that if you hold the 9.7" Pro at arm's length like some old geezer in need of new reading glasses then a higher pixel density doesn't matter. They're full of bullpuckey. When viewing an image or graph it's natural to lean in to scrutinize detail so according to experts there are benefits up to around 500 ppi. Compare the detail on the 5.5" iPhone to the 4.7" iPhone and ppi difference is rather obvious under close but not abnormally close viewing.
So why not just bump the 9.7" Pro to ~326 ppi and call it good enough? Because Apple like to keep it simple for developers. The Apple way is to borrow a pre-existing screen resolution for the pixel density upgrade as they did when the Mini was jacked to the same resolution as the iPad Air. Thus the prediction
writes itself: the upcoming iPad will feature the Pro's 2048 x 2732 resolution with ~326 ppi, which results in a display size of 10.5", exactly the size reported by those analysts with supply chain sources. The new lineup is thus:
A nice separation of iDevice sizes with consistently high pixel density on all but the top end. All with a bigger iPad but no new resolution to which developers must adapt their apps. The only remaining question is whether Apple also jack the price of this 9.7" Pro replacement. No, wait, the question is how much do Apple jack the price of this Air 2 replacement? If the 9.7" Pro takes the current place of the Air 2 then figure the 10.5" Pro will start at $700 or even $750 for the first year or two, then drop to $700 for a sneaky permanent increase of $100 on the midrange iPad. If Apple sell a 10.5" 325 ppi iPad for $600 I'd question who kidnapped Tim Cook and replaced him with a clone.
About that iPad Mini - do Apple continue to use it as a dumping ground for obsolete SOC inventory and give it the runt of their litter of iPad displays? Or do they finally take it seriously by dropping in a current SOC and the same display tech as the larger iPads, all at a more serious price?