Apple is expected to launch a sixth-generation iPad mini in the first half of 2021, possibly in March this year, based on long-standing rumors. However, a new rumor coming from Asia that has gained momentum in the past 24 hours suggests that an “iPad mini Pro” will arrive in the second half of this year.
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According to a Korean blog post Naver, whose rumor is unknown, the device has an 8.7-inch screen, which is housed in a chassis that has an increased width and reduced height compared to the existing iPad mini 5.
This so-called “iPad mini Pro” reportedly passed Apple’s early R&D and product planning stages and is currently in the “P2” design stage, with Apple ready to begin design validation (DVT) testing soon. In a typical product roadmap, Apple would send it for production validation tests before giving the device the green light for mass production.
In a potentially related rumor, the occasional Chinese leaker Kang said on Tuesday that a “full-screen, smaller-sized iPad” was currently in the P2 design stage and still awaiting engineering validation tests. No further details were given. In any case, such a device would still need to overcome several obstacles before any launch.
The iPad mini most recently had an updated design in 2015 with its fourth iteration. Although the device received a minor update in 2019 with the A12 Bionic chip, a True Tone display, Bluetooth 5.0 and Apple Pencil support, the iPad mini is considered a delayed update.
Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said in May 2020 that the next generation iPad mini will have a screen that measures 8.5 to 9 inches, above the current size of the 7.9 inch screen, while a recent report Japanese website Mac Otakara, citing sources in the supply chain in China, said the next iPad mini will have an 8.4-inch screen. 8x in iPad mini sizes Similar ones have been reported by other sources.
However, unlike the iPad Pro and iPad Air, which in recent years have switched their large bezels and initial buttons to a more modern design on all screens, the sixth generation iPad mini will retain its current design language. Mac OtakaraThe report explains that the iPad mini will enlarge your screen by reducing its bezels, but will be similar to the iPad Air 3, with a Touch ID Home Button, large top and bottom bezels and a Lightning door.
Mac Otakara believes that this updated iPad mini will launch in March, so perhaps it could debut at an event later this month, if Apple maintains the recent tradition. This also fits Kuo’s claim that the next iPad mini will be launched in the first half of 2021.
Interestingly, Kuo said in the past that Apple is working on a iPad mini with a mini-LED screen, but it seems unlikely that the iPad mini 6 will gain this significantly updated screen, considering that it has not yet reached any other Apple devices. That said, today’s rumor about the “iPad mini Pro” makes no reference to any mini-LED.
Apple is accelerating the adoption of mini-LEDs in its iPad and Mac notebook lines, and the iPad Pro is expected to be the first product to have a mini-LED screen. Kuo said earlier that production of a 12.9-inch mini-LED version of the iPad Pro began in the fourth quarter of 2020, with a launch scheduled for the first half of 2021.
DigiTimes also believes that an iPad Pro mini LED will be launched in early 2021, just like Korea’s ETNews. Whether a “iPad mini Pro” mini-LED will come or not, and how such a device would fit into Apple’s current line of iPads, remains to be seen.