Sure, they've added memory, a bit faster processor, etc. But the display still has the same massive bezels as the very first iPad Mini 8 years ago. I would very much like an iPad Mini with the same display technology as current iPhones -- almost edge-to-edge display. Why can't they take the iPhone 11 Pro Max and make it just a little bit bigger?
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iPad mini Why hasn't Apple updated the iPad Mini?
- Thread starter MarcNBarrett
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It took how long for Apple to update the mini 4 to the mini 5? Maybe just be happy that Apple actually did refresh the mini. 😉
Imo the mini is paired with the iPad Air. So they will go with the same cadence in terms of hardware refreshes. I have a feeling we won't see newer iPad minis/Airs until next year, using the same A14 as the iPhone 12. Now if the A14 is shown to be more efficient (Apple putting smaller batteries on the 12 vs the 11 series), then maybe we will see a redesign. OTOH, personally I don't see anything wrong with the current design. Bezels on tablets are still useful in terms of usability. Sure, it might look dated, but realistically, Apple has almost no competition in this space.
Imo the mini is paired with the iPad Air. So they will go with the same cadence in terms of hardware refreshes. I have a feeling we won't see newer iPad minis/Airs until next year, using the same A14 as the iPhone 12. Now if the A14 is shown to be more efficient (Apple putting smaller batteries on the 12 vs the 11 series), then maybe we will see a redesign. OTOH, personally I don't see anything wrong with the current design. Bezels on tablets are still useful in terms of usability. Sure, it might look dated, but realistically, Apple has almost no competition in this space.
multiple reports point to a mini refresh later this year with slimmed down bezels.
Yeah both the air and the mini are rumored to be updated with smaller bezels. The mini should get a 8.5in screen and go 3:2 aspect ratio. However it will probably not get USB C...
As far I am concerned I am perfectly fine with my mini 5, it's not half a inch that is going to get me to upgrade... When I bought the mini 2, I cheaped out and got 16GB, which was not enough, so with the mini 4 I went with 64, but then I regretted not getting LTE. Now I have LTE and pencil support and it's as fast as the ipad pro last gen in daily use...
There is no competition for the iPad Mini - so they don't have to update it. The last update put in a strong CPU (actually a surprise for this device), but sometimes I think that they put it in so that they don't have to update it for a while. The Mac Mini suffers from the same issue. I'd go for a Mac Mini with 10th Generation Intel but I don't see Apple updating it - I see it going straight to ARM - and I'm happy with that. My overall issue with the Mac Mini is thermals - if they solve that with ARM and we get better graphics, it's a no-brainer. I will have to manage any software issues but I think that I can manage that.
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I can't see them doing it this year given the move to Apple Silicon and that there are other Macs and iPads that sell higher volumes that could use updates.
sracer
macrumors G4
"massive" bezels? iPad Mini would be "just a little bigger" than the iPhone 11 Pro Max? That's hyperbole at its finest. 🙄
Why haven't they made a bezel-less tablet? Because it is impractical. The target market for the Mini is NOT the typical consumer but vertical markets... warehouse workers, healthcare workers, restaurants, pilots, etc. These people don't need or want a blown up version of the iPhone 11 Pro Max. They need bezels, home button, and a headphone jack.
ericwn
macrumors G5
Not sure Apple shares sales data for iPads but I wouldn’t be surprised if the mini is very popular.
The request for a modernised iPad mini design shows up every few weeks on this forum in some way. If you want a bigger iPhone Pro Max thing - how much more than the Pro Max are you willing to pay for it?
As the audience for such a device may be rather small, I’d expect a price point just a tiny bit lower than a 11” iPad Pro.
Apple doesn't break down sales by model. Last time I saw a note on this was 2013 where half the sales were iPad Mini - but that was probably due to a launch. I have never seen another person with a Mini. I only see the bigger iPads in real life even though I have two of them.
No they don't. They need a small practical tablet. Those 3 things have nothing to do with that.
If you work in a restaurant, then you may have food ingredient, oils, etc. on your fingers and bezels may be helpful so that you can see the screen despite stuff on the bezels. I don't have any devices with small bezels and they work okay. I would like to try them but I assume that there are some downsides as well as upsides. I think that they may be better for consumer uses.
Thank you for this explanation, it makes much more sense than "Apple won't update it because they don't have to." I do not like the latter explanation because it casts Apple in the place of any number of companies that have held back innovation because they didn't have to innovate, so they didn't.
Anyway, there is certainly a use for thin bezels, as Apple has shown with their MacBook Air models. Years ago, I got a Surface Pro, and liked it, despite the massive bezels, until I got a cheap Dell Latitude 7370. The 7370 is only a little bigger than the Surface Pro, but feels a lot bigger, because of the thin bezels.
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We generally need competition to see innovation and there isn't any competition to the iPad Mini. So we owners just wait, and wait, and wait.
thadoggfather
macrumors P6
Tim will birth a new tablet of miniature proportions when Tim is ready and not a moment sooner
im still loving my mini 5. Glad I was a day 1 adopter. Feels like it hasn't aged
im still loving my mini 5. Glad I was a day 1 adopter. Feels like it hasn't aged
Is it worth buying an Ipad mini 5 right now? Would you think they'd upgrade anything else than possibly the bezels for a new version 2021 or so?
I am waiting for the iPad mini to be refreshed before moving on from my iPad mini 4. The 4 is getting quite slow, and the 2gigs of ram does mean that tabs and apps refresh annoyingly.
I WANT AN IPAD MINI PRO with pencil 2, pro design, and 4 or more gigs of RAM. Once that product is released, I will buy right away. LTE with 128 or 256 Gigs for storage.
I WANT AN IPAD MINI PRO with pencil 2, pro design, and 4 or more gigs of RAM. Once that product is released, I will buy right away. LTE with 128 or 256 Gigs for storage.
I think that I'd buy something with an A13 right now. I don't think that they will upgrade the Mini. They have a tremendous stuff of hardware in the pipeline right now.