Mark Gurman tweeted that many Apple Stores are reportedly low on iPad mini stock, suggesting that a new model might be on the horizon.
Gurman has predicted a plethora of new Apple products this year, starting with the new iPhone 16 series, updated AirPods and new Apple Watches. After that, he expects a separate Mac event later in the fall to reveal a new Mac mini, iMac and MacBook Pros.
Many Apple stores are low on stock of the iPad mini in several configs, while the device is considered “constrained” internally within Apple, I’m told. That *could* be a sign a new one is coming. It hasn’t been updated since 2021. Wouldn’t be surprised to see it updated for AI.
— Mark Gurman (@markgurman) August 26, 2024
It’s unclear which of these events might include an iPad mini refresh, or perhaps Apple will simply drop a version with an updated chip and only promote it with a press release. While it’s rare, it seems like when Apple has a lot of products planned for a small window of time, some don’t get highlighted during a traditional keynote presentation. There is also a slim chance that Apple will remove the mini from its lineup completely or reformat it to be a smaller size of the Air or standard iPad. The company seemed quite keen on offering size choice with the bigger iPad Air earlier this year, so perhaps the mini fits better in that product line.
The last mini was released in September of 2021 to well-regarded reviews since it used a new design and featured the decent A15 Bionic processor. That said, the processor and screen have started to show their age in recent years, especially since the current iPad mini only has 4GB of RAM, making it feel much slower than other modern Apple products.
Previous rumours have suggested that the new mini will still use an A-series chip like the A17 Pro from the iPhone 15 Pro series. This would allow the mini to support both Apple Intelligence and the company’s higher-end gaming ambitions as long as it was paired with enough RAM. While other iPads have M-series chips, it might be wise to equip the mini with a phone-based chip since it should help the small tablet get the most battery life possible.
Source: Mark Gurman, MacRumors
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