I got the new Mini 5 unboxed and set it up to load my backup yesterday before bed so it would be ready to roll today. When I got up this morning, it was fully restored and my first gen Apple Pencil was charged and ready.

I got the new Mini 5 unboxed and set it up to load my backup yesterday before bed so it would be ready to roll today. When I got up this morning, it was fully restored and my first gen Apple Pencil was charged and ready.
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.
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.
When the rumors of a new iPad Mini started popping up at the end of last year, I said that if they were real, then they would continue and would start to include details and leaks about the hardware as we get closer to release. It certainly seems like the Mini rumors are true this time, as we have had a steadily increasing stream of reports. Today brings a new one from Japanese site Macotakara that may disappoint some, but will make perfect sense to others.
As I predicted last week, if the rumors of a new iPad Mini 5 coming in early 2019 are true, then we will start to see supply chain leaks pop up. Well, right on cue, Chinese site IT Leaks has pictures of what it claims is a case for the coming iPad Mini.