Could an iPad mini 5 be coming soon, or will Apple focus on three larger tablets? Read the latest rumours on the 2017 iPad mini specs, price and UK launch date.
Plenty of people are waiting to see if Apple will launch an iPad mini 5 or “iPad Pro Mini” in March 2017 alongside the iPad Pro 2. Here’s what the rumours say about the 2017 iPad mini release date, price and specs. Also see: Best tablet 2017.
We were expecting Apple to hold its Spring Event (aka new iPad launch) in March or early April, but no invites have yet gone out. The Apple Store is down this morning (it should be back online around 12.30pm GMT), which is often a sign that new products are about to be announced without the fanfare of a big launch event. Should we see new Apple products today we will update this article with full details. Click here to read the latest version of this article.
However, there’s nothing to suggest that the iPad Mini 5 will be among the launches. If the rumours are true, Apple is planning to release an updated 9.7in iPad Pro along with a second-gen 12.9in iPad Pro and iPhone SE. No leaks or information from the supply chain point to a 7.9in tablet.
Rumours of the ‘iPhone 8’ s ay it will have an even larger screen (5.8in) than the 5.5in Plus models, so this could another reason why Apple isn’t pursuing the 7.9in screen size any more.
Some rumours say that a new eight-inch tablet will be called the iPad Pro mini. We’d argue that the 7.9in screen is too small for productivity (or an even smaller keyboard cover) and that Apple will keep the ‘Pro’ suffix for the 9.7in and 12.9in models. Plus, to bolster this train of thought, a new 10.5in iPad is predicted for 2017, and this is much more likely to be added to the Pro line-up rather than a dinky iPad mini.
On 9 September 2015 Apple unveiled its iPad mini 4. This was a month earlier than usual, and with no separate iPad launch event scheduled for October it appeared alongside the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus.
Apple has shaken things up a bit in 2016. It had one launch event in March, the WWDC developers conference in June, a second launch event in September, and a third in October. It didn’t announce an iPad mini Pro in any of these events, which means the next most likely release date is March 2017. See also : iPad Air 3 rumours and iPad Pro 2 rumours
Last year the event was on Monday 21 March. But as it’s already late March, it’s getting increasingly unlikely there will be a big event this month.
One explanation is that – as reported by DigiTimes – the 2017 iPads will be delayed to the second half of the year as the components are still at a planning stage. That sort of means there’s still room for an iPad mini 5 but the source doesn’t mention anything smaller than 9.7in which doesn’t bode well.
A conflicting report by Mac Otakara says Apple will go ahead with the rumoured schedule and announce four new iPad Pro models: 7.
