Apple iPad Mini 6: Everything you need to know

If you’re looking for a powerful and reliable tablet, Apple’s iPad range is the best around. Apple has cornered both the high- and low-end of the market with the iPad Pro and iPad, respectively, but there’s another strong iPad if you’re looking for a tablet that takes up a little less room. The iPad Mini is an excellent little workhorse that matches the basic iPad’s power but comes in a much smaller footprint.

In 2019, we saw the reintroduction of Apple’s smallest iPad after four years away, and it seems Apple is wasting little time in prepping another tiny tablet. Rumors say the iPad Mini 6 is in development, and it’s likely to come with a number of changes. Here’s everything we know about the iPad Mini 6.

iPad Mini 6 design

The iPad Mini 6 is said to be coming with an iPad Air-style redesign, as reported by noted Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo and Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. Renders from Jon Prosser over at FrontPage Tech have illustrated what that design could look like, with Apple reportedly offering a color selection of gold, black, and silver.

The biggest change here is to be the screen size. Apple is said to be expanding the iPad Mini’s screen from 7.9-inches to around 8.3 inches as per display analyst Ross Young. It’ll be keeping the same overall footprint though, with buyers instead benefiting from the newer bezel-light form factor to get the larger size.

The absence of the small bezels means the absence of Touch ID in the home button, with reports claiming that Apple will instead shift the Touch ID to the power button, much like the iPad Air to which this should bear a striking resemblance.

iPad Mini 6 specs

The specs of the iPad Mini are relatively light on the rumor mill, but what we have heard should make for an impressive device. The iPad Mini is rumored to get a boost in power, carrying it all the way to the A15 Bionic processor that is reported to feature in the iPhone 13 as well. That would be a multi-generational leap over the iPad Mini released in 2019 and make this Apple’s most powerful iPad Mini to date. An earlier report pinned the current A14 Bionic as a candidate.

Apple is also said to be making some additional changes to the ports, replacing the lightning port with a USB-C port, just like the iPad Air. A Smart Connector as on the iPad Air and Pro will bring in support for additional peripherals, and a newer, smaller Apple Pencil could make this one of the most creative iPad Minis Apple’s released.

Price and availability

While the iPad Mini was expected to launch at Apple’s Spring On event, that event came and went with the Mini failing to materialize. A later report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman asserted that the iPad Mini “was a go” for the fall. It is possible that Apple could release it in September alongside the iPhone 13. A more likely story is that Apple would launch the new Mini at an iPad-focused event following its iPhone event, as it has done a few times over the years. Other than new iPhones, Apple is expected to debut a new 10-inch iPad, as well as a new MacBook Pro.

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