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iPad mini When do you think mini6 will come?

So

  • 1 year after mini5 release ...

    Votes: 9 7.6%

  • 1.5 years

    Votes: 12 10.1%

  • 2 years

    Votes: 50 42.0%

  • 3 years

    Votes: 16 13.4%

  • 3.5 years

    Votes: 13 10.9%

  • Never

    Votes: 19 16.0%
  • Total voters
    119
thadoggfather

thadoggfather

macrumors P6
Original poster
Oct 1, 2007
16,173
17,099
Poll time. Not asking because I’m dyin for it considering the a13 pros aren’t even here but just because of the massive gap in time between mini4 to 5, mini2 to 3 being identical minus Touch ID addition, and just a general wonky release schedule / uncertainty surrounding this product line

I love my mini5 and am not upgrading for a long time no matter what happens I should mention
 
Since it has the A12 and a good screen, my prediction is it’ll skip A13/14, minimum. But hey, I could be wrong.
 
I bet 3.5 years :) I hope I’m wrong but I think it exists as a legacy form factor primarily for service industries and will only be updated once the old ones can’t keep up with software development anymore.

But here’s hoping a bezel-less reimagining of the Mini has become a twinkle in some Apple employee’s eye.
 
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Funny you ask that. I have an iPad Mini 4 running iOS 10. I really like it for evening reading but really do not use it for much else. I don't think I need a mini 5 but I can see me going for a mini 6 in another year or two.
 
2-4 years. I doubt they will give it small spec bumps, if we don't see anything by March 2020. I think they're just gonna update it once it becomes close to EOL.
 
The only reason we’ve even got a Mini 5 (which was a surprise for everyone) is because they could still get away with just throwing in a new chip without having to change the chassis. But that’s the last time they could possibly pull that trick on that old design. There’s no way Apple is releasing Mini 6 in say 2022 in the same design as Mini 2-5. And I don’t think there is truly enough demand for small tablets for them to invest in the major redesign like the Pro style. I’d love for the Mini 6 to happen, but I don’t think it ever will. Mini 5 is the end of the line.
 
I would really like to be able to use one Apple Pencil across all of my iPads. There's one reason for an upgrade.
 
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I think they could get away with a Mini 6 with smaller bezels in the Air/Pro 10.5 style, rather than going for the 3rd Gen Pro. Perhaps that could wait until the Mini 7, though I’d prefer not as I like Touch ID rather than Face ID.
 
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Like some others in this site, I'm waiting for a full-screen, Apple Pencil 2 compatible, Mini. But knowing Apple, they are probably going to milk the first Pencil for as long as they can...
 
MacFather said:
That's what we need:

Size comparison:

Height: approx. 197 mm vs 203.2 mm (mini 5)
Width: approx. 148 mm vs 134.8 mm (mini 5)
Click to expand...

I really hope not. The whole idea of a mini iPad is to keep it mini, not "kinda small". Creep the size any larger and you start to compete with the basic 10" iPad and will just generate market confusion.

I'm eyeing a 5th-gen iPad mini (64g/wifi) simply because there's a handful of games I play on my phone that aren't great to fumble on a small screen, but a full-blown iPad is not a great solution either since now you have too much real estate to cover for a game. I think keeping it under 8" is ideal, and an edge-to-edge screen would be the compromise...although I am pretty fond of the Touch ID still being present on the current model.

To the point of the OP, having an A12 Bionic chip with a decent Metal score makes this the ultimate portable iOS gaming device in my personal opinion. Getting an A13 for the 6th-gen in March 2020 would alone keep this in that category. Updated 802.11ax/Bluetooth 5.x would be nice, too... Maybe USB-C? but that's about it for a dream list. I don't care about iPad cameras, I already feel rear tablet cameras are awkward, and forward facing cams are more than adequate for video chat across all models.
 
Last edited:
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thadoggfather said:
Poll time. Not asking because I’m dyin for it considering the a13 pros aren’t even here but just because of the massive gap in time between mini4 to 5, mini2 to 3 being identical minus Touch ID addition, and just a general wonky release schedule / uncertainty surrounding this product line

I love my mini5 and am not upgrading for a long time no matter what happens I should mention
Click to expand...

It’ll be sometime from tomorrow up to never.

only Apple knows and I imagine at this point even they don’t know yet.
 
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The A12 is a great processor for this smaller device. I kind of regret not getting the cellular model as I do really want GPS. When the Mini 6 does arrive, I will upgrade and give my old device to someone else in the family. I also wish that they had a 128 GB option. I generally don't run into space problems with 64 GB but that's because I shuffle things around with iTunes. There are times when I'd rather just have everything on the device. A faster processor would just be insane on this thing. That's why I don't think that they need to update it anytime soon.
 
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