Don't know if Apple will discontinue it or not but with Folding smartphone getting better and better . I dont see this size of tablets will be much in demand anymore.
I have my eyes on Ipad mini too.
The "Everyday" show-off thread !
- Thread starter Blade_Runner
- Start date
I have my eyes on Ipad mini too.
Stronk
Adept
Absolutely agreed. I think the iPad Mini is the perfect "third device" as a complement to a phone and laptop. For someone who wants a device that is a better "jack of all trades", the iPad 10th gen's bigger size and support for the official keyboard accessory is definitely better, but there's nothing that comes close to the Mini for a dedicated tablet which can be easily used one handed. It also excels as an e-reader (excellent for magazines and comics!) and a media consumption device when you don't feel like lugging your laptop around, especially when you are just at home and have your laptop docked to the desk.
I have never owned, and will never own, a dedicated "home assistant" device (Alexa or other "smart" speaker), but I do find Siri's always listening feature super useful for simple tasks such as setting reminders or quickly changing the music that's playing when the iPad is not close enough for me to reach out (yes, Siri recognition works even when the iPad is playing something on the built in speakers!).
I used to own an iPad Air 2 back in the day and I used it as my PDF reader and annotator for the first 2 years of college, before it became too slow to open larger PDFs sometime in 2021 and started lagging. Even then, I had also been using it for about 4 years before that and getting about 6 years of pretty heavy use (gaming, video editing, photo editing, portable second screen via SpaceDesk and media consumption) and more than 7 years of support via updates was great to see. I can't see myself ever being an Apple ecosystem person, but they do know how to make a great tablet! Even today, the Air 2 is great to use as a second display and the screen and speakers are still a treat.
I don't fully agree that the demand for such tablets will decrease more than it already has, but I can see totally see why that may end up being the case in the future with foldables. Even then, the cost of foldables will mean that there will still be a demand for a cheaper device with a screen bigger than a phone but smaller than a "full" tablet. The iPad Mini is the only tablet left in the mainstream market which is actually usable with just one hand and doesn't feel awkward to use as just a tablet itself. Most other "tablets", including the Air and Pro series of iPads are trying too hard to be something they are not (and looking at the way Apple continues to cripple iPadOS compared to MacOS), will probably never be (a mainstream laptop replacement). All that power of M2 and M4 chips feels quite wasted imo.
I hope that Apple updates the Mini for at least one more generation with the A17 Pro or the A18 chip (don't think the Mini has enough thermal mass, or frankly even needs, an M series chip), and this is probably wishful thinking but an OLED screen with at least 90Hz refresh rate would be the cherry on top (if not the next Mini then hopefully the one after that, i.e., the Mini 8 should come with an OLED panel). I am pretty sure that Apple will bring the upcoming Minis up to speed with and for Apple Intelligence - and having 8GB RAM would be a great bonus too. The current 4GB is more than plenty enough for my needs (keeping the Pocketbook Reader app, about 2-3 tabs in Orion and a simple 2D game always open without anything being closed when I jump around), but I'm pretty sure that 4GB of RAM may not be enough for those who use the Mini as a creative tool rather than a third device; or simply like to have lot of things open in the background (which I often do with my phone - 12GB of RAM means that I can have 40 tabs in the browser and about 20 background apps always ready to launch, rather than an app being force closed in the background).
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I meant atleast about atleast 2 generations of folding smartphones before they start replacing tablets.
Ipad Mini with Oled will be just amazing. M series chip should not be an issue also but tbh it is not needed on such small device.
Stronk
Adept
I agree that folding phones will probably replace tablets one day, but definitely not as soon as 2 gens. Primary reason being the cost - for less than the price of a OnePlus Open or a Galaxy Fold, you can get a high end iPhone or Samsung and a more than decent mid range tablet.
So unless folding phones come down drastically in price, I don't see them replacing tablets, especially for mass market, anytime soon
blackwidowsea
Recruit
Got RK 84 V2 with Gateron Yellow switches:
I am also looking at 12100, how good is it for quick sync transcoding
now save up and spend more than the cost of keyboard on keycaps and switches : D
blackwidowsea
Recruit
Hehe, yeah
