After previously reporting details on the forthcoming iPad Pro and 9th generation iPad updates we expect this year, Macotakara is out with a new supply chain report today focused on the iPad mini. The report says that the 6th generation iPad mini will feature an 8.4-inch display with smaller bezels.
New iPad mini features
Unfortunately, the iPad mini won’t feature a design overhaul similar to the iPad Air 4 and iPad Pro. Instead, it will retain bezels on the top and bottom with a home button and Touch ID, plus Lightning connectivity on the bottom. The report says (translated):
Macotakara says the updated iPad mini will be released sometime in March. This lines up with an expected iPad Pro update we also expect sometime during Q1 this year.
It’s a narrow frame like iPad Air (3rd generation), and the design goes with iPad (9th Generation), which continues to use Touch ID and Lightning port.
Last May, reliable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reported that Apple would release an iPad mini that’s between 8.5 inches and 9 inches during the first half of 2021. At the time, Kuo didn’t offer any details on the refreshed iPad mini’s design, instead saying that the selling points would be “the affordable price tag and the adoption of fast chips.”
Other details on the iPad mini update are unknown, but the screen size is interesting. Apple currently sells the iPad mini with a 7.9-inch display. It’s seems that Apple will slightly reduce the iPad mini’s bezel sizes in order to fit the larger 8.4-inch display while also retaining the home button at the bottom.
Apple last updated the iPad mini in 2019, bringing a faster A12 Bionic processor as well as other improvements.
Read more:
- Kuo: New 10.8-inch iPad and 9-inch iPad mini on the way, Apple Glasses in 2022 ‘at the earliest’
- Rumor: Entry-level iPad to adopt iPad Air 3 design, no design changes for 2021 iPad Pro
- Rumor: New iPad Pro coming in March, thicker 12.9-inch model with mini-LED display
