My mom also needs a new one and I saw Best Buy has them on sale for $249. So it will be “last generation” in a month, still a good deal I tbink
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
No Design Changes Expected for Next-Generation $329 iPad, Touch ID and Headphone Jack to Remain
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
If the mini 5 gets gimped with only 2GB of RAM, I won’t buy it. That would pretty much guarantee no iOS support after 2021 and performance after iOS 13 could be sluggish compared to a A11/3GB of RAM configuration (iPhone X).
proven technology that still exists on top end laptop, desktops and gaming console controllers....the real "courage" would be to put your tail between your legs and bring it back then sell it as a feature
https://www.theverge.com/2019/2/20/18233099/samsung-galaxy-s10-plus-headphone-jack-phone
"Apple, Google, OnePlus, and many other companies have done away with their headphone jacks. If you’ve ever found yourself stuck with drained Bluetooth buds and without the dongle necessary for plugging in a backup pair of headphones, you’ll probably appreciate Samsung’s decision to keep the jack around. And it certainly makes life easier for people who want to charge their phone and listen to music at the same time."
This is true. I guess it looks like no usb-c or apple pencil 2. Besides, they’d have to give the new ipad mini flat edges to be able to charge the apple pencil 2. I wonder if they will do that eventually. Guess it depends on how well the new mini sells. Who knows, it could be another 3 yrs until they redesign it....if ever.
iOS 12 is running fine on devices with 1GB of RAM!
Here's my 2 cents on iPads and RAM:
People here worry too much about future proofing. Apple knows the future of iOS and the devices that run it better than we do, and aside from rare missteps, they don't typically put out devices that aren't still good after just a few years. It's not that Apple "gimps" devices, but they make them with the internals that they need, and they know how to get the most out of them for years.
Apple has sold a lot of 5th and 6th gen iPads to schools over the last couple of years. Trust me, I know. I also know that schools aren't going to be replacing those devices in just a couple of years. Apple wouldn't have made those devices with just 2 GB of RAM if they knew it wasn't enough to keep them functional for at least 5 years, and I believe that's still true now. Apple knows that people generally don't replace iPads every 2 years like phones (In fact, people aren't even replacing phones that frequently now).
Something else that people overlook is that Apple only exceeds 2 GB in iOS devices that have special features that require the extra RAM. Like how the 7 Plus and 8 Plus got 3 GB because they had to manage a dual camera system and extra pixels on the display. The regular 7 and 8 have 2 GB. In fact, they only really went all in with 2 GB to support iOS's new (at the time) split screen multitasking. Since the Mini 5 and 7th gen iPad probably won't feature ProMotion refresh rates, FaceID, or any other trademark features pf the Pro models that require beefier spec, I doubt they will receive more than 2 GB. The Mini 5 and 7th gen will just be their predecessors with updated processors, and that's all most people need.
I totally agree with the above. I can vouch that an iPad with 1 GB of ram runs iOS 12 very well because my original iPad Air is on iOS 12 and I have no complaints. I also bought a 6th Gen iPad during BF on Amazon for $229.
I wouldn’t get my hopes up on the 7th Gen getting more RAM only because I doubt Apple is going to add hardware that will cost them more money. These are basically budget iPad’s and I don’t see Apple being overly generous on the RAM if it will cuts into their profits. Now if iOS 13 is a game changer and needs 3GB to function properly that’s a different story.
This. I use my iPad Pro (2017 model) extensively for music applications, especially with score editing apps like Forscore. Ease of keeping the pencil functional is the only clunky thing about the 2017 iPad Pro, which requires plugging the pencil into the lightning port on the lower edge of the tablet. The iPad is a huge convenience for musicians. They can be used in place of sheet music in both rehearsal and performance, are less bulky, no issues with page turning, and no external lighting needed to see the music - and with the Pro models, one can make markings on the music as needed. But the charging on the pre-2018 pencils is a bit weird. Still, the older model has both the headphone jack and touch id. Very fine.
[doublepost=1552188057][/doublepost]
Indeed. The pisser with Apple dropping industry standards like the jack is that other companies follow suit. I don't mind if they copy Apple's innovations, but when they mimic bad moves it hurts everyone, giving customers less options. Thank the gods for LG, who continue to support quality sound with internal DAC's and the good old headphone jack.
Yeh! If iPad Mini 5 was coming out with the Pro design I would have been very happy and would have bought a couple. If it had in screen touch ID that would be a cool feature that would definitely make me want to get one.
But if it's just a spec bump with the old design then I don't think I'd really want it.
I mean a big part of the experience of buying a new product is seeing/having something that looks different and has new tech/features/functions.
I don't want something that looks the same as the previous release otherwise you feel like your buying the same product over again.
My iPad Mini 4 is running just fine. It's still as fast as ever. It has touch ID which works well.
I just kind of get the feeling that Apple really isn't doing what it needs to try and get us excited about the Mini.
Sigh...
The CPUs are manufactured by a third party and still cost money. An A11 is cheaper than an A12.
Only so many CPUs can be manufactured at a time. They may need all the A12/A12X's for newer, higher revenue devices.
Likewise, they are still manufacturing the A11 and A10. There may be extras of these (say because the iPhone8 isn't selling as well as the 7 or XR/XS).
There may be differences in the required components (such as RAM and flash memory), which may also have cost/availability effects.
Those are all for sticking it into a new low-cost iPad. There are other issues trying to wedge it into the current iPad motherboard.
[doublepost=1552203304][/doublepost]
Likely not going to happen
- Minimization of tech is a different goal than maximizing performance and component quality. It is likely the iPad mini hasn't been revved because it has required too much engineering and net new components to come out with a meaningful update. Because of this, the iPad mini is as much a "special edition" release as the iPhone SE.
- Apple has decided on Face ID, and Qualcomm has a lot of the patents on in-screen fingerprinting support.
But if it's just a spec bump with the old design then I don't think I'd really want it.
I mean a big part of the experience of buying a new product is seeing/having something that looks different and has new tech/features/functions.
I don't want something that looks the same as the previous release otherwise you feel like your buying the same product over again.
My iPad Mini 4 is running just fine. It's still as fast as ever. It has touch ID which works well.
I just kind of get the feeling that Apple really isn't doing what it needs to try and get us excited about the Mini.
Sigh...
It is a difficult product - there is quite a bit of competition on the low-end of the tablet market (with Kindle Fire), so they need to both offer perceived premium products with justifiable pricing.
At some point a smaller tablet with reduced specs offered for cheaper is just a bridge to comparisons against the Kindle Fire.
Agreed. The iPad is still the best tablet ever created. Don't change it (yet).
Yikes, another critical thinking fail. You’re trying to take a pricing strategy for one product line and over-generalize it to product lines that don’t employ that strategy.
As I mentioned in my last post, I was addressing OP’s complaint about the price of the mini 4 staying constant for four years. Indeed, as I mentioned it encourages earlier buying: "There’s no point in waiting; there won’t be any discount to be had just by holding off until next month or next year."
You can’t apply a pricing strategy for the mini 4–a same-model four year lifecycle, with no previous model sold alongside it—to a product line that has yearly replacements, with previous models still being available for sale as alternatives to the new models. Everybody knows if you wait for next year’s iPhone to come out, you can get a discount on the older models. That’s the ways it’s worked for years.
But that has zero to do with iPad mini 4; it doesn’t get yearly refreshes and the price doesn’t undergo stale-model discounts (due to newer models being released at the same price point). Mini 4 has been sold in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019. Not mini 4, 5, 6, and 7. So no yearly price drops on mini 4. If you wanted it in 2016 but waited until this year to buy it, you saved no money and screwed yourself out of three years worth of usage.
btw the standard iPad employs yet a third strategy: yearly refreshes at the same price point, with the previous model being discontinued. $329 iPad March 2017; $329 iPad March 2018; (likely) $329 iPad March 2019. If you wait a year, you’ll get a newer/updated model, but no discount; you’ll pay the same price.
MacBook Pro Touch Bar utilizes the same strategy—2016 13”/15” at $1,799/2,399; 2017 at $1,799/2,399; 2018 at $1,799/2,399; 2019: take a wild guess. If you wait a year, you’ll get a newer/updated model, but no discount. Buy if you need it now, wait if you don’t.
Last edited:
I did not misread it , I read the way it was wrote.
[doublepost=1552217974][/doublepost]
I never said it mechanical , you just do not know how to read.
Did we really? You’re just dropping SKU numbers like it means something.
iPhone: The XS is an exact replica of the X, and the XS Max its jumbo sized version. The XR, to me at least, was a cheap-ish mistake akin to the 5c.
iPad: The new iPad Pros were a refreshing redesign which soon turned out to be structurally flawed, hampered by typical iOS limitations and equipped with mutually incompatible peripherals with the previous Pro’s. So whether the end result was net positive for the user, the jury is still out on that. The 9.7 was just a hygiene/maintenance update on an unchanging shell that’s not even worth mentioning
Mac: what’s new about the 13/15 TB MBPs? Again, maintenance/hygiene updates. Mac Mini was a welcome maintenance update, and the MBP air.. what was the point of that even?! Do they even remember why it was first introduced as the “Air”? The 12” MacBook is technically Air-ier than the Air, no updates on that, no new iMacs and god forbid no Mac Pros
Series 4 watch: YES. That was a good one and probably the only solid, well rounded product update in the annual lineup that felt refreshing and new
What about iOS/MacOS? Both maintenance updates with nothing new to show. In fact, when it comes to the iPad and iOS 12, it’s frustrating that the ONLY change in a whole year was changing the gestures and control center for no other reason than parity with the iPhone X. No effort to make Siri suck less, other than poaching Workflow app and presenting it as “Shortcuts”.
HomePod.. oh dear. That lil’ thing went nowhere very fast.
So, when you take a closer look at it: really, where did all of this R&D investment go, other than to design bespoke pizza boxes for the spaceship campus? These are all hygiene updates on existing products, some with more pizzazz than others (e.g. the watch 4) but what was NEW to justify the lots of R&D expenditure?
PS. AirPower. Wah-wah-wahh
Last edited:
Wrong. We got all of that: new iPhones, iPads and Macs.
Just last year, we got 3 new iPhones (XR, XS, XS Max), 3 new iPads (9.7 and 11.0/12.9 Pros) and 4 new Macs (13/15 TB MBP, Mac mini, MacBook Air). Also Series 4 Watches. And HomePod.
Of course there was also development of products that won’t be released until this year or many years into the future.
None of that happens without R&D money—and lots of it.
To be fair, at this stage retaining Touch ID and the headphone jack is actually a feature! I and many other people would actually pay a premium for having those.
All the amazing new products are stuck in Tim's magical pipeline, of course. Nothing ever seems to come out of it because Apple needs more time to 'perfect' them. That and the check's in the mail. Trust me.
For those of you wanting an iPad at a cheap price, The current sixth gen is still $249 at Best Buy. I am surprised as I thought it would go back to regular price today.
Fair enough. If that is your requirement, then you have an option... the iPad Pro 11". For those of us who don't want that, the base iPad (and for a short time, the 10.5 Pro) is the only option. If that option goes away, that leaves us with no Apple product to buy.
Now if you want an iPad Pro 11 at the cost of a base iPad, well... that's something different.
I'm in a small minority of Apple customers who they're losing... one product at a time. When I needed to upgrade my iPhone SE, Apple did not have an option that suited my needs, so I had to go to a non-Apple smartphone. When I needed to replace my 2014 Macbook Air, they didn't offer an option that suited my needs, so I went with a non-Apple notebook. It was only because Amazon recently was selling brand new 2017 i7 Macbook Airs on sale that I went back to an MBA. (that buys some time as this system should easily last 5 years)
I have a 1st gen 12.9 iPad Pro, Mini 4, and 2018 iPad. When they need to be replaced, there is currently no options for the Pro and Mini that suit my needs so I'll be looking at non-Apple alternatives.
Problem is that such "work" differentiator does not exist. Both, regular iPad and iPad Pro can run any software in the App store and are compatible with either Pencil 1 or 2, and can both handle basically the same work load.
Only difference is the screen and some gimmicks like Face ID. And no, there is no application that needs the iPad Pro screen to operate.
If you need to do actual work and you wanna spend a thousand pounds on pen tablet hardware, it probably means you are doing concept art, and many artists would rather spend that amount of money on a Wacom solution rather than an iPad Pro. Quick sketching, you say? Regular iPad, Pencil 1 and Procreate are enough. Again, why iPad Pro? Where is Maya, FCP X, Logic, Mainstage, ZBrush? Those alone could probably be more than enough to justify the Pro over the regular iPad... but we have nothing like that available thanks to Apple. They are not coming out with their pro apps for iPad Pro, so why would Autodesk, Pixologic and the likes do it if Apple themselves do not consider iPad Pro "pro" enough for their high end software.
Last edited:
This doesn’t bother me at all and I use it many times every day. I do however wish they would adopt the solid state Touch ID button from iPhone 7/8. The physical button feels flimsy by comparison.