Best Buy might offer an unspecified iPad mini model on clearance "soon," according to a product listing that was spotted on the retailer's website.
The placeholder listing is for an Apple product with a "MINI WIFI" model name, and it is in the "tablets" section on Best Buy's online store. Altogether, this strongly suggests that the listing will be for an iPad mini. The device will apparently be available for a clearance price of $359.99 in the U.S., down from a regular price of $599. However, the iPad mini currently starts at $499, so the listing appears to have a pricing error.
If the listing ends up being for the iPad mini 6, it could hint at the iPad mini 7 coming soon. Or, this could be a nothingburger. We'll see!
Last month, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said a new iPad mini was "on deck" for an Apple event this month, alongside the first Macs with M4 chips. However, he offered a more vague timeframe in his latest report this week, which stated that Apple was working on a new iPad mini that would "potentially" be released "by the end of 2024."
Rumored features for the next iPad mini over the previous model include a faster chip, upgraded front and rear cameras, a fix for "jelly scrolling" screen tearing in portrait orientation, Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 support, and new color options.
Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo previously said the next iPad mini would enter mass production in the second half of 2024.
Apple released the current iPad mini in September 2021, with new features at the time including a larger 8.3-inch display, a USB-C port, a Touch ID power button, the A15 Bionic chip, 5G support on cellular models, a 12-megapixel rear camera with Center Stage support, compatibility with the second-generation Apple Pencil, and more.
