People haven’t stopped speculating about the Apple iPad Mini 5, despite the fact that we’ve heard nothing official about the device yet, and that Apple missed the supposed announcement date. When nothing was said about the tablet during the September 7 presentation, some of the company’s fans gave up hope.
Others are still waiting patiently though, and currently the major prediction is that the tablet is going to be launched in about half a year, in March 2017. If this is true, the announcement should be either towards the end of this year, or in the beginning of the next one.
It would probably be more reasonable to expect Apple to make the official revelation after the holiday season though, as otherwise they could harm their sales during that particularly important time of the year. If people are sure that a new iPad Mini is coming in a few months, they would be more reluctant to spend money on other devices.
As for specifications, the iPad Mini 5 is rumored to have more or less the same hardware as the recently released iPhone 7, but with a larger screen of course. It’s still not clear if this includes Apple’s decision to remove the headphone jack or not, but it most likely does.
Apple are known for being a bit stubborn when it comes to setting new trends and experimenting with new ideas, and even though there was a lot of backlash over the removal of the headphone jack in the iPhone 7, we expect that they will continue trying to push the idea.
Releasing a new device right now which also removes the jack would be a smart move if they wanted to solidify their stance. And the sales of the iPhone 7 are probably telling Apple that they don’t have much to worry about with regards to losing potential customers. Plenty of people are still willing to buy the iPhone 7 even though it lacks such a “major” feature (as described by some).
Keep in mind that all of this is still unconfirmed, and of course needless to say, Apple themselves haven’t made any comments on the situation. This is completely normal for the company however, as they tend to control the announcements of their devices very precisely, and only speak out when they are absolutely certain that they are ready to.
With that in mind, if the iPad Mini 5 really is being planned for a March 2017 release, we would expect an official statement from the company in the timeframe we described above. While Apple are traditionally quite secretive about their work, they also wouldn’t want to miss out on the opportunity to get their fans excited.
The only thing that’s highly debated in those speculations right now is how much the tablet is going to cost. Rumors vary in this regard, and there are some claims that Apple might be trying to secure some portions of the lower budget market in the coming months, leading to a cheaper release for this device.
This wouldn’t really make much sense though, knowing Apple’s history on the market and their general goals. The company has worked long and hard to build an image of a luxury brand for themselves, and they wouldn’t just throw that away so easily by actively moving towards the budget market. We never know what they might be planning for the next year though.