Apple is expected to launch a sixth-generation iPad mini in the first half of 2021, possibly as early as March, based on long-standing rumors. However, a new rumor from Asia that has gained popularity 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 post on Korean blog Naver, whose rumored track record is unknown, the device has an 8.7-inch display housed in a chassis that has a wider width and smaller height compared to the existing iPad mini 5.
This so-called “iPad mini Pro” has reportedly passed Apple’s initial R&D and product planning stages of development, and is currently in the “P2” design phase, and Apple will soon begin design validation testing (DVT). In a typical product roadmap, Apple would then submit it for production validation testing before giving the device the green light for mass production.
In a possibly related rumor, the occasional Chinese leaker Kang claimed on Tuesday that a “full-screen, smaller iPad” is currently in the P2 design phase and is still awaiting technical validation testing. No further details were given. In any case, such a device would still have to overcome several hurdles before it can be launched.
The iPad mini last got a redesign in 2015 with its fourth iteration. While the device got a minor update in 2019 with the A12 Bionic chip, True Tone display, Bluetooth 5.0 and Apple Pencil support, the iPad mini is considered overdue for an 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, compared to the current 7.9-inch screen size, while a recent report from the Japanese site Mac Otakara, citing supply chain sources in China, said the next iPad mini will feature an 8.4-inch display. Similar 8 x-inch iPad mini sizes have been reported by other sources.
Unlike the iPad Pro and iPad Air, which in recent years have lost their large bezels and home buttons for a more modern design for all screens, the sixth-generation iPad mini will reportedly stick to its current design language. Mac OtakaraThe report explains that the iPad mini enlarges the screen by shrinking the edges, but it will look the same as the iPad Air 3, with a Touch ID Home button, large top and bottom and a Lightning port.
Mac Otakara believes this revamped “iPad mini” will launch in March, so it might debut at an event later this month, if Apple sticks to the recent tradition. This also fits Kuo’s claim that the next iPad mini will come in the first half of 2021.
Interestingly, Kuo has said in the past that Apple is working on an iPad mini with a mini LED screen, but it seems unlikely that the iPad mini 6 would get this significantly improved display, as it is not yet on any other Apple device. appeared. . That said, the current “iPad mini Pro” rumor doesn’t refer to mini LED at all.
Apple is accelerating the adoption of mini LED in its iPad and Mac notebook computers, and the iPad Pro is expected to be the first product to get a mini LED display. Kuo has previously said production of a mini LED version of the 12.9-inch iPad Pro will begin in the fourth quarter of 2020, with a launch expected in the first half of 2021.
DigiTimes also believes that a mini LED iPad Pro will be launched in early 2021, just like Korea ETNewsWhether or not a mini LED “iPad mini Pro” will follow, and how such a device would fit into Apple’s current iPad line-up remains to be seen.