Apple’s 2021 iPad mini gets a massive redesign

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The new iPad Mini is supposed to take its cues from the iPad Air (pictured above). Photo: Caitlin McGarry/Gizmodo

Between miniLED displays and some of the major changes coming in iPadOS 15, Apple is steadily revamping the iPad after stellar sales in 2020. Is it the latest rumor? This fall, the iPad Mini will get a renewed design that ditches the Home button in favor of slimmer bezels.

In a newsletter via 9to5 Mac, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman noted that the new Mini “should be ready” for this fall and that it will be the “largest redesign in the nine-year history” of the device. He also said that the new mini car will have a new processor. He tracks this while Apple has been busy revamping several product lines to go along with the switch to its own Apple Silicon. And in terms of what the new Mini might look like, a previous report by Gurman described a device reminiscent of the iPad Air — aka smaller bezels and probably no home button. Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo also noted last year that the iPad Mini could have a 7.9-inch miniLED display, like this year’s 12.9-inch iPad Pro, but he made no mention of an increase in size. (The miniLED is also claimed to be coming to the 11-inch iPad Pro next year as well.) A few months later, he said then that the iPad Mini’s screen should be somewhere between 8.5 and 9 inches, up from the current 7.9 inches.

These will be more significant updates from the fifth generation iPad Mini, which was launched in 2019. This added Apple Pencil support, as well as the A12 processor. In addition, new software upgrades to iPadOS 15 should help the tablet become a more viable work device — a goal that Apple has been pursuing for years but not yet managed.

Gurman also noted that another larger iMac powered by Apple’s Silicon might be on the way as well. We saw buzz around a giant iMac earlier this year, and were initially led to expect something in the context of Apple’s 32-inch Pro Display XDR. What we saw at Apple’s Spring Loaded event was a slightly larger 24-inch M1 iMac in a slew of new colors. In May, Bloomberg reported the reason we haven’t seen the Big Boy iMac is that Apple has paused development to better focus on its little brother. It’s not clear if the larger iMac will be ready in time for the fall, but Gurman claims the device is “on the way” and should be powered by a newer processor.

In any case, we likely won’t have to wait any longer to find out. The company generally holds an event in September to reveal its latest and greatest products, as well as the latest releases of iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and watchOS. Last year was a little strange, with three launch events due to the pandemic spoiling product launches left and right. This year we are still in the midst of a chip shortage, but fingers crossed that it will be one big event in 2021 and not many small ones.

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