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uptownnyc

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Mar 28, 2011
754
1,071
Curious whether we assume that the M1 (or whatever # they're on at the time) will eventually make its way down to the Mini. I realize we're still on the early-side of a refresh of the mini, so maybe a year from now would we expect the M1 to be the chip for iPads at all sizes?
 

rui no onna

Contributor
Oct 25, 2013
14,570
12,682
Curious whether we assume that the M1 (or whatever # they're on at the time) will eventually make its way down to the Mini. I realize we're still on the early-side of a refresh of the mini, so maybe a year from now would we expect the M1 to be the chip for iPads at all sizes?

Dunno if the mini has the thermal capacity and battery life for M1.

The iPad mini 4 only got the A8 when the iPad Air 2 was rocking the A8X.
 

ian87w

macrumors G3
Feb 22, 2020
8,704
12,636
Indonesia
I don't think it will. Seems like Apple set the mini to use the iPhone versions of the SoC. (A8, A12, A15).
 

jdb8167

macrumors 601
Nov 17, 2008
4,739
4,444
If there is a next Mini. Apple doesn't seem interested much in it.
I don’t know. It seems to be selling well. It is still mostly supply constrained after 6 months as far as I can tell. Most Apple stores near me have very little stock. I checked 64 and 256 GB Cellular and found only two stores showing stock out of 12 or so. With shipping times out to April 5 to 12.
 
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snipr125

macrumors 68000
Oct 17, 2015
1,811
2,857
UK
It might get an M chip, but Apple might put in the most currently A chip available like they did with the Mini 5 (A12) and 6 (A15). The A15 in the Mini 6 actually has better battery life than the larger iPad Air 4 with its less video efficient A14 chip.
 

Rafterman

Contributor
Apr 23, 2010
7,027
8,396
I don’t know. It seems to be selling well. It is still mostly supply constrained after 6 months as far as I can tell. Most Apple stores near me have very little stock. I checked 64 and 256 GB Cellular and found only two stores showing stock out of 12 or so. With shipping times out to April 5 to 12.

That's what I would assume. Buit it never seems to get the same update schedule as the Pros.
 

jdb8167

macrumors 601
Nov 17, 2008
4,739
4,444
That's what I would assume. Buit it never seems to get the same update schedule as the Pros.
I think part of that is the iPad mini is much more of a niche device than the other iPads. It has no ambitions to be your next computer so it really doesn’t fit all that well with Apple’s current iPad marketing.

Of course that’s why I started using one instead of my iPad Pro. I got fed up with the ridiculous limitations of iPadOS and decided to put my computer needs back on the Mac. The features that the iPad mini excels at are a good replacement for the few things that the Mac is missing. Pencil, extreme portability, cellular connection, and nearly instant access.
 

Rafterman

Contributor
Apr 23, 2010
7,027
8,396
I think part of that is the iPad mini is much more of a niche device than the other iPads. It has no ambitions to be your next computer so it really doesn’t fit all that well with Apple’s current iPad marketing.

Of course that’s why I started using one instead of my iPad Pro. I got fed up with the ridiculous limitations of iPadOS and decided to put my computer needs back on the Mac. The features that the iPad mini excels at are a good replacement for the few things that the Mac is missing. Pencil, extreme portability, cellular connection, and nearly instant access.

All I know is, I'd go apes**t over a Mini Pro, with a 120hz screen and 2TB of storage. But I don't know of there is room in there for alll that. Not yet anyway. Maybe in two years, with new advances in size reduction of components.

I am disappointed though that the 2021 Mini didn't offer at least 512GB though. 256GB is a bit limiting for my uses.
 
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geta

macrumors 68000
May 18, 2010
1,517
1,243
The Moon
Whatever CPU the next Mini will get (A or M chip) it will be more then fine, as long as they’ll upgrade the RAM to 8GB or more. And 128GB storage for the base model would be perfect.
 

sparksd

macrumors G3
Jun 7, 2015
9,167
29,109
Seattle WA
All I know is, I'd go apes**t over a Mini Pro, with a 120hz screen and 2TB of storage. But I don't know of there is room in there for alll that. Not yet anyway. Maybe in two years, with new advances in size redution of components.

I am disappointed though that the 2021 Mini didn't offer at least 512GB though. 256GB is a bit limiting for my uses.

Yeah, I would have gone for 512GB on mine if it was available. I went for a very small uSD card reader for additional storage as needed. As for other improvements, I wonder how much heat dissipation and battery capacity will be issues.
 

Pezimak

macrumors 68030
May 1, 2021
2,999
3,295
All I know is, I'd go apes**t over a Mini Pro, with a 120hz screen and 2TB of storage. But I don't know of there is room in there for alll that. Not yet anyway. Maybe in two years, with new advances in size reduction of components.

I am disappointed though that the 2021 Mini didn't offer at least 512GB though. 256GB is a bit limiting for my uses.

Funny isn't it that the iPhone Pro would have those specs bar an M1 and maybe not 2TB storage, but the iPad Mini won't. So we believe.
 

manwithashoe

macrumors member
Dec 21, 2018
50
46
Curious whether we assume that the M1 (or whatever # they're on at the time) will eventually make its way down to the Mini. I realize we're still on the early-side of a refresh of the mini, so maybe a year from now would we expect the M1 to be the chip for iPads at all sizes?
It could end up using binned m1s with some of the cores disabled. There was the rumor that only the iPhone pros would get the new SoC? Perhaps there’ll be a supply constraint on the new fab.

They did give the mini the a15 though.. the m1 would be a downgrade from a battery life perspective..
 

Oohara

macrumors 68040
Jun 28, 2012
3,050
2,423
All I know is, I'd go apes**t over a Mini Pro, with a 120hz screen and 2TB of storage. But I don't know of there is room in there for alll that. Not yet anyway. Maybe in two years, with new advances in size reduction of components.

I am disappointed though that the 2021 Mini didn't offer at least 512GB though. 256GB is a bit limiting for my uses.
Amen. I don’t need big storage, but with a Pro display (preferably even OLED) and sound, the Mini would be a KILLER content consumption device while remaining the best little productivity beast ever.

I’ve lately started to be over huge phones, so I’m looking to switch to a small/simple/low cost phone + a small tablet with cellular connection for all that stuff I used to think that a big phone was good for. Currently the existing Mini is really the only option in that size category and sadly I find it leaves quite a bit to be desired.

Give me an iPad Mini Pro and so God help me not even Bruce Lee would be fast enough to stop me from whipping out my credit card.
 

jacenskylo

macrumors member
Feb 8, 2017
45
15
With the features announced with iPadOS 16 I wonder if we’ll see an iPad mini with the M1 chip in the next few years
 

gsmornot

macrumors 68040
Sep 29, 2014
3,600
3,714
Mini's performance is not an issue. It's absolutely crap cheap screen is.
The screen overall could be better without jelly scroll and more brightness. It's not that bad though, I use mine daily and get by fine but if they come out with an OLED version I'm first in line.
 
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