The upcoming iPad mini 4 will be the smallest the line-up has seen, equivalent to a miniaturized version of the iPad Air 2, according to a new design render video shared by uSwitch and Nowhereelse.fr's OnLeaks channel. The render gives the iPad mini 4 a thickness of 6.1mm, the same as the iPad Air 2, and less than the current 7.5mm thickness of the iPad mini 3.
The design render video backs up a part of a previous rumor that claimed the next iPad mini would adopt the slimmer form factor of the current line-up of iPad Air models, alongside the Air's 8-megapixel rear-facing iSight camera and a fully laminated display with anti-reflective coating. Today's report gives no news on the iPad mini 4's internal upgrades, nor its camera or display changes, but Apple will undoubtedly aim to make the new generation of mini a bit more substantial than the simple addition of Touch ID that was introduced with last year's model.
Apple is expected to reveal the new line-up of iPads at the next major company keynote, rumored as of now to be taking place on September 9. Alongside the iPad mini and iPad Air, the company is likely to showcase the so-called "iPhone 6s" and "iPhone 6s Plus" at the event, and possibly even finally reveal the next-generation Apple TV set-top box.
Top Rated Comments
However, the evolution of the Mini has never fitted with expectation - the Mini2 was a huge jump from the first Mini release, and carried with it all the same spec as the Ipad Air released at the same time.. A7 chip, etc (although for nitpickers the screen carried a higher density/ppi than the Air, to fit in the same number of pixels in a smaller size screen, but a fractionally lower colour gamut.)
So perhaps they gave the Mini2 too much? And the Mini3 just sort of balanced it out.. holding back some features until this year.. et voila, the Mini4.
Therefore, iPhone 6s/6s+ is not an equivalent analogy. Nor is the current iPad mini 3/iPad Air 2 lineup an equivalent analogy. That is why this story is newsworthy.