Should Apple BOTHER to update iPad mini in 2021?



Do we still need an iPad mini?

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When iPad mini was first introduced in 2012, not only did it have the thinner side bezels that would come to the rest of the iPad range with the original Air, it also brought the lightning connector to what was basically a miniaturised iPad 2.

But in 2020 (or more likely 2021), do we need an iPad mini any more?

When iPad mini first arrived, it was introduced at $329. The lowest priced iPad at the time, and was by all accounts the iPad 2 in a smaller form factor. Filling out the range when it launched were iPad 2 at $399 and iPad with Retina display at $499.

Its surprisingly close to the line up that we have today, although I really wish Apple would decide what order their products go.

Air has meant entry level, like it is right now with Apple’s notebooks, As well as mid tier with iPads, the thinnest as it was with Laptops until the MacBook came along being even thinner, but also cheaper and less powerful… do you see the problem here?

By the same token, the iPad mini started out with its lowest price point, then was pushed up because it started at 64gb to $399 and the iPad replaced it at $329 to focus on the education market.

Screen sizes in context

When iPad mini was introduced, Apple was also in the middle of transitioning to its first iPhone beyond the original screen size of 3.5” to the gigantic 4” display of the iPhone 5, 5S and original iPhone SE, which is why the iPad mini felt nice and roomy. It felt like an iPad.

But as iPhones have got bigger, Apple’s smallest tablet has become smaller and smaller comparatively, and the way we use iPads has changed too.

When the iPad was first introduced at 9.7” Steve Jobs made a point of showing that the on screen keyboard was almost 1:1 scale with a normal Mac’s keys, making it a great typing experience. Of course, with iPad mini that wasn’t the case, and its even more evident today where more iPads are being used as 2 in 1 laptops, with even Apple relenting and offering their Magic Keyboard and Trackpad cases today.

With an iPad mini, a Magic Keyboard case that fit would feel cramped, and though it could be useful to get that software keyboard off the already pretty small 7.9” display.

What does the future hold for iPad mini?

Right now the iPad mini makes even less sense than ever before. For a while, it was actually an iPad Air mini, with the same A12 chip, design, laminated display. Now, it has the same processor as Apple’s entry point iPad, but is smaller and more expensive, and is only differentiated by that laminated display and a higher starting storage. Doesn’t make any sense to buy right now.

There are rumours that it will get the MiniLED display and iPad Pro or Air 4 design language early in 2021, which would presumably also come with an upgrade to A14, which again, makes it basically a stepping point between Big iPhone and iPad, so I don’t know.

When the first iPad was introduced, Steve Jobs said to put something out there, it had to do things better than a phone or a laptop, though now that would be a full sized iPad, and I’m struggling to thing what that thing would be. .

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