No More iPad mini Updates Planned
Jonathan S. Geller (via Zac Hall, Joe Rossignol, Hacker News):
First introduced in 2012, Apple’s iPad mini was a welcome alternative to the much larger, thicker, and heavier 9.7-inch iPad. There was no 5.5-inch iPhone Plus, so the iPad mini made a great choice for light reading and effortless web browsing, email, and gaming. The market doesn’t stand still, however, and we’re now looking at a redesigned iPad Pro to be launched this summer that should offer everything the current 9.7-inch iPad features, but in a smaller footprint with a larger 10.5-inch display.
On the other side, there’s the 5.5-inch iPhone 7 Plus, which is large enough to negate the need for a tablet for many users. The device you take everywhere, that’s always with you, that has the best camera, and that has everything else you need. The device that you already own. Therein lies the problem, and that’s why we have heard from a source close to Apple that the iPad mini is being phased out.
That’s a shame. Maybe the iPad mini hasn’t been selling well because it’s been neglected. The full-size iPad is too big and heavy for my liking. I’ve actually been hoping for a smaller and lighter iPad mini, more like a Kindle. As a fan of the iPhone SE, the fact that Apple sells a 5.5-inch phone does nothing to help my tablet needs. I don’t want a big phone, or a second phone. If they had a 5.5–6.5-inch iPod touch, that could be interesting, though it wouldn’t be able to run true iPad apps.
8 Comments RSS · Twitter
It’s been killed as the margins are too narrow (cf Mac Mini). Great shame. V good form factor and we don’t all want massive phones.
"Maybe the iPad mini hasn’t been selling well because it’s been neglected."
It seems that statement would apply to a lot of Apple products these days. Who needs Mac Pros or true pro MacBooks when we have all these cool new emojis? Wheeeee!
[…] I learnt — via this post on Michael Tsai’s blog — that the iPad mini has basically reached the end of the […]
First they neglect it and then they say people don't buy it.
Well if Apple would update it all the time, make it better, add improvements that people want and need then sales would go up.
But now it looks that it's the same story as with iPhone 5S
I still don't understand the sizing issues with Apple. Why is there an IphoneSE? Shouldn't we be able to just buy a 2017 iPhone in 3 sizes? We should have a standard iPad (no pen support, no superior audio or screen) in 7.9, 9.7 and 12.9. Then we should have the iPad Pro in those same three sizes. Is this not something that can happen?
I have multiple clients that use the mini out on the field 24 hours a day. Inspectors, techs, repair people, construction workers, etc. Most of them are in an Otterbox, often with a handgrip.
The mini is far superior to the large iPhones because it doesn't require paying for useless phone service (or even cell data if it's not needed) and it's cheap enough that buying and replacing them makes the whole concept even feasible.
No hyperbole: we'll literally need to move them to small, highly inferior Android tablets. Damn.
