iPad mini 7 2024 launch date, worth, specs, rumors

It’s been a very long time since Apple up to date the iPad mini. Apple’s smallest iPad was given a considerable facelift on the finish of 2021. The Sixth-generation iPad mini sports activities an entire redesign with a much bigger show, Contact ID on the ability button, USB C as an alternative of Lightning, and an upgraded entrance digital camera. This represented the primary main change to the design because the iPad mini was first launched again in 2012.

Almost three years after the final iPad mini replace our consideration has turned to what’s coming subsequent. With no new iPad mini in 2022 (regardless of it being its Tenth anniversary) and no new iPad mini in 2023, absolutely 2024 will carry some large updates for the littlest iPad.

With the iPad Air M2 and iPad Professional M4 launching in two sizes: 11-inch and 14-inch earlier in 2024, might we we see the iPad mini take up the position of the smaller iPad with equivalent specs to that system? And with the appearance of AI and Apple Intelligence, which requires an acceptable chip, are we about to see a giant leap to a brand new processor?

Learn on to search out out what could possibly be coming to the iPad mini in 2024.

iPad mini 7 launch date: Is a brand new iPad mini popping out in 2024?

• Attainable launch: October 2024

It’s been nearly three years because the Sixth technology iPad mini launched in September 2021, making it the oldest iPad within the lineup presently and lengthy overdue for an replace. The excellent news is that this replace might arrive quickly, with inventory dwindling throughout Apple’s shops. It’s potential that Apple will replace the iPad mini in October, though it’s not but identified if there will probably be an October Apple occasion in 2024.

Nonetheless, it’s not unprecedented for the iPad mini to have an extended interval of neglect. After the launch of the iPad mini 4 September 2015, there was a delay of round 42 months (nearly three and a half years) till it was up to date once more in March 2019. On the time of writing, it’s solely been 35 months because the iPad mini Sixth-gen went on sale.

Right here’s how lengthy the present iPads have been on sale:

• iPad mini (Sixth gen) on sale since September 24, 2021
• iPad (Tenth gen) on sale since October 26, 2022
• iPad Air M2 out there Could 2024
• iPad Professional M4 out there Could 2024

If we’ve got to attend 42 months, as with the 4th technology, then we’d not see the iPad mini refreshed till February 2025.

Hopefully, it gained’t be that lengthy. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman mentioned in a September report that the iPad mini is “on deck” for an October launch. This confirms what Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo prompt again in November 2023. He anticipated the Seventh-gen iPad mini to reach in the second half of 2024.

iPad mini 7 worth: How a lot will the brand new iPad mini value?

It’s unlikely that the value of the brand new iPad mini will change in comparison with the Sixth technology.

The Sixth-gen iPad mini has had a number of worth modifications exterior the U.S. since its launch in 2021. When it launched the U.Okay. worth was £479, then there was an increase to £569 a number of months after launch. However the excellent news is that the value dropped again to £499 in Could 2024. There was no adjustment for the iPad mini worth within the U.S.

When the Seventh-generation mannequin launches we count on that the value will stay at $499/£499.

• iPad mini Sixth technology: $499/£499 (as of Could 2024)
• iPad mini fifth technology: $399/£379

iPad mini design: What is going to the brand new iPad mini appear like?

We count on that the iPad mini 7 design will probably be largely the identical because the Sixth-gen mannequin.

One of the apparent modifications to the iPad mini Sixth technology was the brand new palette of colours that Apple made out there, together with house grey, pink, purple, and starlight. The colours could get a refresh with the brand new technology, maybe following within the footsteps of the iPhone 16 and Tenth-gen iPad with a bolder and darker coloration scheme.

In reality, the brand new iPad mini for 2024 might look much more like the usual iPad if Apple chooses to unify each fashions as a giant and small model because it has with the 11-inch and 14-inch iPad Air and iPad Professional fashions.

We aren’t anticipating the scale of the iPad mini to vary this time spherical: In 2021 the display screen dimension jumped from 7.9-inches to eight.3-inches.

iPad mini 7 specs: What new options will the iPad mini have?

There’s an expectation the brand new iPad mini will characteristic a extra spectacular processor than it does presently. Certainly, the iPad mini will want an acceptable processor whether it is to have the ability to make the most of Apple’s new Apple Intelligence AI-powered options. Certainly, it might be unusual if Apple launched a brand new product unable to make the most of these new options.

With that in thoughts, right here’s what we count on:

A17 processor

The iPad mini 6 presents the A15 Bionic chip as discovered within the iPhone 13, mini, Professional and Max, nevertheless, this chip is down-clocked in comparison with the one contained in the iPhone 13 sequence. Right here’s how that chip compares to the remainder of the vary and what’s anticipated for the subsequent technology.

• iPad Professional: M4.
• iPad Air: M2.
• iPad mini (Sixth gen): A15, as present in iPhone 13 sequence. The subsequent technology is anticipated to get A16, as discovered within the iPhone 14 Professional and iPhone 15.
• iPad (Tenth gen): A14, as present in iPhone 12 sequence. The subsequent technology is anticipated to get A16, as discovered within the iPhone 14 Professional and iPhone 15.

Kuo reported in December that the iPad mini’s “important promoting level” could be the brand new processor. He didn’t specify which processor, however on the time it was thought that it might be A16 chip discovered within the iPhone 14 Professional and Max and the iPhone 15 and 15 Plus. Nonetheless, we now know that the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus usually are not capable of make the most of Apple Intelligence, so it appears extra possible that Apple would leap to the A17 Professional that was featured within the iPhone 15 Professional and Max after they launched in 2023.

Chances are you’ll be trying on the iPad Air and questioning if the iPad mini would possibly get an M1 chip like that beforehand discovered within the iPad Air. Maybe it’s one thing Apple would possibly contemplate down the road, however the rumors across the launch of the iPad Air indicated that Apple’s cause for utilizing the M1 was the decreased of availability of the A16 on the time, as per this tweet from Mark Gurman.

Extra RAM

It’s additionally potential that Apple will double the RAM within the iPad mini from 4GB to 8GB so it may help Apple Intelligence when it arrives in iOS 18.1.

Elevated storage

On the present iPad mini Sixth technology, the bottom mannequin begins off with a moderately paltry 64GB of storage. For a tool like an iPad, the place you’ll be able to retailer films, TV reveals, books, comics, magazines, video games, and a variety of apps, that quantity can usually turn out to be an issue, particularly if you wish to take your iPad away on vacation or use it in your commute with no need to handle the storage.

Though Apple has one thing of a historical past of giving base fashions low storage capacities, we expect it might be a sensible transfer to improve the entry-level iPad mini Seventh technology to at the least 128GB. File sizes are rising on a regular basis, on account of higher-quality cameras and software program, so doubling the prevailing 64GB could be a really consumer-friendly answer.

Alongside these strains, there’s additionally the likelihood that the higher restrict of the storage could possibly be elevated. On the time of writing, probably the most storage out there on the iPad mini Sixth technology is 256GB. Transferring as much as 512GB could be the logical step, particularly if the baseline storage strikes to 128GB.

iPad mini 7 show: Will the iPad mini get a brand new display screen?

IDG

IDG

IDG

It’s unlikely that the design will change, however the brand new iPad mini is anticipated to incorporate a brand new show controller designed to mitigate an issue described as a “jelly scrolling subject” that reportedly makes content material look laggy.

There have been stories for some time that Apple will transfer the show know-how to OLED however this seems to be prefer it gained’t occur till at the least subsequent yr. Apple is claimed to be speaking to LG, Samsung, and different firms concerning lively matrix OLEDs (AMOLEDs). However, in line with market analysis firm Omdia: “Apple is repeatedly discussing the potential of broadly adopting OLED know-how for the iPad mini and iPad Air lineup as the subsequent section of its technique from 2026 onward.”

Display dimension

The iPad mini display screen was 7.9-inches up till the present iPad mini Sixth technology launched in 2021. The iPad mini Sixth technology display screen is 8.3-inch because of the removing of the House button.

A report from ET Information in November 2023 prompt that an iPad mini with a bigger 8.7-inch OLED show is within the works. Nonetheless, this transformation won’t occur with the Seventh technology because the iPad mini with OLED display screen isn’t anticipated till 2026.

ProMotion display screen

The display screen within the Seventh gen mannequin isn’t anticipated to develop from the present 8.3-inch, however there could also be new display screen know-how. A publish on a South Korean discussion board again in November 2021 indicated Apple had ordered 8.3-inch shows from Samsung that help 120Hz most refresh charges. If true, the publish on Clien (translated right here) might imply the subsequent mini presents the ProMotion ultra-smooth scrolling characteristic presently seen on the iPad Professional, iPhone 13 Professional fashions, and 14- & 16-inch MacBook Professional. This might deal with the minor subject of “jelly scrolling” that some customers have complained about with the present iPad mini.

Nonetheless, it’s not trying like this explicit rumor is correct. Analyst Ross Younger, CEO of Show Provide Chain Consultants, doesn’t consider that Apple will probably be giving the iPad mini a ProMotion show but. He signifies that doing so would require important {hardware} modifications. This may require a “entire new stage of engineering,” in line with Younger.

We stay skeptical of a ProMotion improve because it’s one of many important differentiators between the usual and Professional gadgets Apple sells.

Folding show

Apple is claimed to have been engaged on an iPad with a folding show, but it surely’s unlikely to come back to this mannequin. In December 2022, Ming-Chi Kuo mentioned that stories of a folding iPad mini in growth had been flawed “as a result of a foldable iPad could have a markedly greater worth than an iPad mini, so such a alternative just isn’t cheap.”

We’ll replace this text as extra particulars turn out to be out there, however till then, remember to learn our iPad shopping for information to see which fashions we’d advocate if you wish to purchase one in all Apple’s tablets in the present day. And verify our roundup of the greatest iPad mini offers for the most recent bargains on the present vary.