Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

iPad mini So what's the next move for the iPad Mini?

T

TheRealAlex

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Sep 2, 2015
3,023
2,305
After dozens of threads about the Pro line it feels like the most versatile tablet is getting over looked what gives ? What can Apple really do to Spruce it up ?

My guess is thinner design maybe dual speakers and improved color display and camera same CPU as the 6s and 2GB DDR 4 RAM.

It just feels like it's not getting any attention.
 
  • Like
Reactions: boston04and07
I think the Mini may not get an update this year, or only a superficial one. Apple is juggling 3 iPad lines now, so I don't think that they will each necessarily get an update each year. the Mini 4 was a pretty decent upgrade over the Mini 2/3. I wouldn't be surprised if all they did this year is cut its price.
 
The air is probably gonna get cut since the iPad Pro 9.7 is the exact same size. The mini will most likely stay because a lot of people like the way it's super portable and small to hold onto.
 
The iPad mini seems to fill the spot of Apple's cheapest iPad (and consequently, it's worst'specced).

I don't see Apple giving it much attention beyond the bare minimum necessary to run the latest software features. I am not sure an iPad mini pro even makes sense (the smart keyboard would be way too small). We will probably see a 2-year update cycle for the iPad mini?
 
Abazigal said:
I don't see Apple giving it much attention beyond the bare minimum necessary to run the latest software features. I am not sure an iPad mini pro even makes sense (the smart keyboard would be way too small). We will probably see a 2-year update cycle for the iPad mini?
Click to expand...

The keyboard maybe not, but the pen could be quite useful.

Though even now there are keyboards for the mini...
 
  • Like
Reactions: bensisko
I dunno if the iPad mini will get a "pro" version. But support for the Apple Pencil would be nice.
 
Quite frankly, it wouldn't surprise me either way if the Mini gets a stylus or not. I would LOVE to get an Apple Pencil compatible iPad Mini.

The Mini 4 update was pretty awesome, but I think the only thing that would really entice me is the addition of the Pencil.

Did I mention the Pencil?
 
  • Like
Reactions: melman101, boston04and07 and M. Gustave
TheRealAlex said:
After dozens of threads about the Pro line it feels like the most versatile tablet is getting over looked what gives ? What can Apple really do to Spruce it up ?

My guess is thinner design maybe dual speakers and improved color display and camera same CPU as the 6s and 2GB DDR 4 RAM.

It just feels like it's not getting any attention.
Click to expand...

I see the iPad mini all over town in the new marijuana stores, here in Portland. They are used as a payment device.
 
Abazigal said:
And they are all horrendously cramped. Even the Smart Keyboard for the 9.7" iPad Pro feels a bit too small.
Click to expand...

I would not speak for the iPad mini keyboards, as I never used one.
But I used an external keyboard for my iPad 9.7", and it did the job, at least for the typing part. Certainly it is a quite bit tighter than a Macbook keyboard, but still it was usable enough to prepare about 50 slides with LaTeX / Beamer / Tikz over a 10 hours overnight flight. ;)
 
TheRealAlex said:
After dozens of threads about the Pro line it feels like the most versatile tablet is getting over looked what gives ? What can Apple really do to Spruce it up ?

My guess is thinner design maybe dual speakers and improved color display and camera same CPU as the 6s and 2GB DDR 4 RAM.

It just feels like it's not getting any attention.
Click to expand...

This device dosent need much. It will get a stylus and the inproved speakers and fingerprint reader probably in spring 2017.
 
bensisko said:
My apologies - I read the "improved" as part of the speakers.

What improvements would need to be made to the TouchID?
Click to expand...
Its not their latest or fastest.

Similarly, they have made good improvement to the speaker quality and layout on the Ipad Pro 9.7.

So logically, you'd expect to see the next iteration of the Mini bring those improvements to the smaller form factor.
 
bensisko said:
My apologies - I read the "improved" as part of the speakers.

What improvements would need to be made to the TouchID?
Click to expand...
It doesn't have the latest version of TouchID found in the iPhone 6s which is almost instant. I'm actually grateful for that, because the second gen TouchID is almost too quick.
 
bensisko said:
My apologies - I read the "improved" as part of the speakers.

What improvements would need to be made to the TouchID?
Click to expand...

It still uses first generation TouchID. Personally, I don't care, because it's the difference between it taking a half second to unlock vs 3/4 of a second, but yeah, they may as well use the faster one in the next version.
 
joeblow7777 said:
It still uses first generation TouchID. Personally, I don't care, because it's the difference between it taking a half second to unlock vs 3/4 of a second, but yeah, they may as well use the faster one in the next version.
Click to expand...
I care, because the extra time is the difference between unlocking the device when you want to and constantly unlocking it on accident. :p
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back