What you need to know
- A new report from Mac Otakara brings new claims for the next-generation iPad Air and iPad mini.
- The report says the 5th generation iPad Air could adopt an iPad Pro design.
- It also says that the 6th generation iPad mini may not feature a redesign at all.
It looks like there may be a lot in store for the 5th generation iPad Air. The 6th generation iPad mini? Not so much.
A new report from Mac Otakara says that the 5th generation iPad Air could bring a lot of iPad Pro features to the more economical iPad. The report specifically calls out the 3rd generation of the 11-inch iPad Pro and says that the next iPad Air could get upgraded with a dual-lens camera system, a LiDAR scanner, and a 4-speaker audio system.
The 10.9-inch Liquid Retina display and Touch ID on the side will be retained, and the rear camera will be a dual-lens camera system with a wide-angle camera and an ultra-wide angle camera. There is also the possibility of a LiDAR scanner, but we don't know for sure. Other features include 4-speaker audio and 5G NR mmWave support. The chip is expected to be an A15 Bionic chip.
While these features would be a welcome addition to the iPad Air, things get less exciting when the report shifts its eyes to the base model iPad and iPad mini. While earlier reports talked about a complete redesign coming to the iPad mini this fall, Mac Otakara says that no such redesign is planned for the sixth generation iPad mini.
Chinese suppliers have been telling us in January this year that the iPad mini (6th Generation) will have an 8.4-inch display and the iPad (9th Generation) could be based on the iPad Air (3rd Generation), but the latest information suggests that the iPad (9 The latest information says that the iPad (9th Generation) and iPad mini (6th Generation) do not seem to be any different from the iPad (8th Generation) and iPad mini (5th Generation).There is a possibility that it will just be a change from the current A12 Bionic chip to the A14 Bionic chip, and the chassis design may not be changed until 2022 or later.
As far as the iPad mini goes, a lot of notable leakers have said the next iPad mini will in fact get a redesign. Mark Gurman, Ross Young, Jon Prosser, and Ming-Chi Kuo have all said a redesign is coming. So, if there isn't a redesign coming to the next generation iPad mini, the redesigned model would have to be coming shortly after.
The upgrade to the iPad Air isn't expected to come about until 2022. When it comes to the next generation, the latest rumors point to a release as soon as this fall.
