The new generation of the iPad mini will, according to a new report, feature a larger screen and a design inspired by the iPad Air 2019.
Japanese website Mac Otakara reports that the 6th generation iPad mini will launch in March 2021, citing sources within Apple’s supply chain in China.
The new iPad mini has a larger 8.4-inch screen instead of the 7.9-inch screen in previous models. Touch ID and a Lightning port are expected to be retained in the traditional locations, but from 2019 it could include a narrower framework such as the iPad Air 3.
This reflects another recent report by Mac Otakara that the 9th generation iPad model would be inspired by the iPad Air of 2019, but would otherwise have few major design changes.
So this is not the first time that there has been a change in the screen size for the iPad mini. Well-connected analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicted in 2020 that Apple would release an iPad mini model with a screen between 8.5 and 9 inches in the first half of 2021.
The current iPad mini 5 model was released in March 2019 with few changes in the past as the A12 Bionic processor and Apple Pencil support. Although there were few changes, the iPad mini 5 was Apple’s first refresh of the device since 2015.