Apple is expected to launch a sixth-generation iPad mini in the first half of 2021, possibly as early as this March, based on long-standing rumors. However, a new rumor outside of Asia that has gained strength in the last 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 the Korean blog Naver, of which the background of the rumors is unknown, the device has an 8.7-inch screen, which is in a chassis that has a reduced width and height compared to the existing iPad mini 5.
This alleged “iPad mini Pro” allegedly passed the initial stages of Apple’s R&D product development and planning, and is currently in the “P2” design phase, with Apple expected to begin validation testing soon. of design (TVP). In a typical product roadmap, Apple would present it for production validation testing before lighting the device for mass production.
In a potentially related rumor, occasionally, Chinese leaker Kang claimed that a “full-screen, smaller-sized iPad” was currently in the P2 design phase and was still awaiting engineering validation testing. No further details were given. In any case, this device should overcome several obstacles before any launch.
The iPad mini has recently received 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 compatibility, the iPad iPad is considered delayed for an update.
Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said in May 2020 that the next-generation “iPad mini” will have an 8.5- to 9-inch screen, compared to the current screen size of 7.9 inches, while a recent report from the Japanese site Mac Otakara, citing supply chain sources in China, said the next iPad mini will have an 8.4-inch screen. Other sources have reported similar sizes of “iPad mini” 8 x inches.
However, unlike the iPad Pro and iPad Air, which in recent years have launched their large bezels and home buttons for a more modern screen design, the sixth-generation “mini iPad” will remain with its current design language. Mac OtakaraThe report explains that the iPad mini will enlarge the screen by reducing the bezels, but will look similar to the iPad Air 3, with a Touch ID home button, large top and bottom bezels and a Lightning port.
Mac Otakara believes that this updated iPad mini will have a launch in March, so maybe it could debut at an event later this month, if Apple follows the recent tradition. This is also in line with Kuo’s claim that the next iPad mini will arrive in the first half of 2021.
Interestingly, Kuo has said in the past that Apple is working on an iPad mini mini with a mini-LED display, but it seems unlikely that the iPad mini 6 will win this upgraded display significantly given that it has not yet reached any other Apple device. . That said, today’s “iPad mini Pro” rumor makes no reference at all to the mini-LED.
Apple is accelerating the adoption of the mini-LED in its range of laptops for iPad and Mac, and the iPad Pro is expected to be the first product to get a mini-LED display. Kuo has previously said 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 he also believes a mini iPad LED Pro will be launched in early 2021, just like the one in Korea ETNews. It remains to be seen whether or not it will follow a mini-LED “iPad mini Pro” and how this device would fit into Apple’s current iPad line.