Apple hasn’t updated their iPad mini in about 2 years, and even before that the improvements they made to the tablet were incremental at best. However according to a report from China Times (via BGR), it seems that Apple is expected to finally introduce an iPad mini refresh in 2019.
This is actually not the first time we’ve heard about the potential of an iPad mini refresh. A couple of months ago, notable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo suggested that a new iPad mini was in development. However based on Kuo’s report, it seems that the iPad mini might not be as big of a refresh as we think as it claims that it will get an upgraded processor along with a lower-cost display panel.
The new report from China Times doesn’t dive into the details either so Kuo’s report from October is all we have to go on at the moment. This makes it sound like if you were hoping for features like an edge-to-edge display and Face ID, think again. There have been some rumors claiming that Apple might want to ditch the iPad mini lineup entirely, but if these reports are true, it seems that the tablet won’t be going away anytime soon, and could potentially be positioned as a low-cost and smaller alternatives to the iPad Pros.