9.7″ has been the main constant for the iPad since it was first released. This is where the original iPad started and there has never been a time in the device’s nine plus year run when this size wasn’t available. However, if growing rumors are true, that might soon change.
Ever since the first iPad Pro was released, Apple’s tablet lineup have been kind of a jumbled up mess. You had models that were too close together in price and specs, like the iPad Air 2 and original iPad Pro. You had the iPad Air 2 on closeout while Apple was selling the new 9.7″ iPad Pro. The two tablets looked exactly the same and were only separated by Pencil support and a few other specs.
We all knew it was coming. There was reason to be skeptical last year, because we iPad fans have heard the Mini would be refreshed before, only to be left disappointed. There have even been convincing arguments made that the Mini was a death’s door and that Apple would kill it off after releasing larger screen iPhones. There was a time when I believed it was a dead device fading off into obscurity like the Classic iPod did.
However, when the rumors of a new version of the Mini continued and they actually started coming out of the supply chain, things started looking good. Today, long-suffering iPad Mini fans FINALLY got a device worth waiting for.
There are few surprises in the tech world today, but we got a small one today. Apple’s online store went down in the early AM, and low and behold, we have new iPads ahead of Apple’s event one week from today! Apple threw us another change-up by going back to the name it seemingly left behind a few years ago, releasing a new iPad Air.
Everyone thinks Apple is getting ready to release two new iPads, new AirPods and possibly a new iPod Touch and their long-delayed AirPower charging pad. Now we have a report backing that up. According to Digitimes, Apple suppliers are gearing up for mass production as we speak.
Apple usually gives us some hints as to what’s coming on their event invites, pointing the way to what’s right around the corner. Sometimes they are very subtle hints that spark interesting theories and discussion. This time around, not so much.
We’ve gotten several rumors and reports about a new iPad Mini that should be coming soon. These reports have often been accompanied by a single detail regarding the 7th Gen iPad- that the screen would grow from 9.7 to 10 inches. However, a new report from supply chain watchers Macotakara (Google Translation) muddies the water just a bit.
According to MySmartPrice, two new iPads with the model numbers A2124 and A2133 have been certified by the Bureau of Indian Standards. This is the same site that revealed that new iPads had shown up in the Eurasian Economic Commission back in January, so kudos to them for the keen eye on the supply chain and regulatory channels.
Yesterday, I posted about reports of an Apple event set for March 25th. It was already looking like a jam-packed show, with the iPad Mini, iPad, Air Power, the new AirPods and Apple’s new premium News service all supposedly on-tap. Today, Bloomberg shook things up, claiming that Apple’s new Video service will also be revealed on the 25th.
With its changes to the lineup and to iOS over the last two years, Apple has been able to stop the bleeding and reverse the fast downward sales trend that the iPad had been stuck on previously. However, the end result has been stabilizing iPad sales rather than growing them in a significant way. The way Apple did this was by introducing a less expensive, but still capable, standard iPad and making the iPad Pros more compelling as high-end devices. While sales of the less-expensive iPad propped up unit sales numbers, they also caused the average sale price of the iPad category to fall.
I thought Apple was going to make an inexpensive iPad Mini this time around. Now we have a fresh report from the oh-so-generous Steve Troughton-Smith on the iOS 12.2 Beta that may be saying otherwise.