“A report from Chinese publication Economic Daily News suggests that starting next year, Apple will discontinue the iPad mini line and replace it with the bigger 12.2-inch iPad Pro model,” Chris Smith reports for BGR.
“Foxconn is expected to produce the iPad Pro alongside the iPad Air in the future, although it’s not clear when the iPad Pro will launch,” Smith reports. “The bigger tablet should be launched at some point in the third quarter of the year, according to some reports.
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: If this comes to pass, iPhone 6 Plus owners already understand why Apple would be moving in this direction.
Related articles:
Living with an Apple iPhone 6 Plus – November 3, 2014
Open thread: Does iPhone 6 Plus kill iPad mini, iPad Air sales? – October 6, 2014
I thought the iPhone 6 Plus was too big. I was wrong. – October 30, 2014
ZDNet reviews Apple’s 64-bit iPhone 6 Plus: ‘Superb design and solid build quality’ – October 28, 2014
Forbes’ long-term iPhone 6 Plus review: ‘This beautiful freak is the iPhone’s future’ – October 22, 2014
Digital Photography Review: Apple’s iPhone 6 Plus offers a very good smartphone camera – October 21, 2014
Apple looks to have significantly underestimated the popularity of 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus – October 21, 2014
Related articles:
Apple shifts order ratio to hugely popular iPhone 6 Plus, away from iPhone 6 – October 7, 2014
Samsung is running scared of Apple’s hot-selling, 64-bit iPhone 6 Plus – September 29, 2014
Re/code reviews Apple’s 64-bit iPhone 6 Plus: ‘A statement phone,’ not a ‘plastic toy’ – September 17, 2014
The Telegraph reviews Apple’s 64-bit iPhone 6 Plus: ‘It’s peerless’ – September 17, 2014
For Apple, a bigger iPhone has never been more crucial – January 3, 2014
I don’t have an iPhone 6 Plus but I still understand why Apple would be moving in this direction. It’s the right move.
I totally disagree. The iPad mini sold like crazy for a very good reason, it was the right size for many people.
My friend uses the heck out of their iPad mini.
Don’t forget, Apple discontinued the iPod mini while it was their most popular product. Then again, consider the source of the article. Until I see something from a more reliable source I’m not going to put too much stock in this.
If this happens, this will be another nail in the coffin for Apple as a products company. The Apple iPad mini has lower margins then the larger iPads, and the target demographic is a lower income demographic. The reason the Apple iPad Mini sold open Lowes is because their price was perfect for ahuge number of consumers. I will be very sad if the iPad mini is discontinued. I would also be surprise. The iPad mini is a better iPad then the regular size version.
” If this happens, this will be another nail in the coffin for Apple as a products company.”
What are some of the other nails in the coffin? I can’t see the coffin much less any nails.
JD, you still HIGH?
Prior to the iPhone 6+ I would’ve totally agreed with you. The iPad mini was the best iOS device I ever had (and I have had every device), until the iPad mini Retina, which then became the best iOS device I ever had… until the iPhone 6+, and now I hardly ever touch my iPad mini.
The bottom line here is what is happening with sales, and only Apple really has the full information there. If others are like me and no longer buying/using the iPad mini because of the 6+, then it makes sense to move on and perhaps see if there’s room on the other side of the iPad Air.
I think Apple needs both. Not everyone wants to buy an iPhone and a data plan or forced into a data plan i should say just to have something smaller then the iPad air.
Its like so many people upset that apple didn’t make an iPod touch 6 and 6 plus. I agree i think we need both the mini and the touch. Maybe the touch only in the 4.7in size. But really not everyone wants an iPhone. Allot of people want a touch or an iPad mini because its cheaper and they are not saddled with a data plan for the next 2 years. Or in the case of t mobile paying over $500 for something that the touch can do just as well for allot less.
Apple should not do this. Makes bad sense. There is no reason not to have the touch, the mini, iPhone 6 6 plus and the air and a iPad pro. Although at the pro size seems it would be a bit heavy.
Could not agree more. Only problem since the first generation Apple has done little to improve except increase resolution which did not impress me enough to upgrade. Now with the 6 plus out and even less of an upgrade on the iPad mini 3, I have no interest in the product at this time. Why couldn’t Apple just put a phone in the mini in the first place?
No, do not understand a such a move, unless the mini becomes an iPhone. Expect this is an incorrect statement.
What are you talking about? Everyone needs both. iPad Air only fits in jacket pockets, while iPad Mini fits in all other pockets. Therefore, iPad Air is for Fall/Winter and iPad Mini is for Spring/Summer. What has everyone else been doing?!
It’s more likely that making iPad mini will be handled by another contract manufacturer.
I really hope your right (and they probably have no basis to conclude otherwise).
Personally, have the iPhone 6 Plus AND and a Retina Mini, I love both devices and would truly hate to see the Mini form factor disappear.
You’re.
“You’re.”
Yes we know.
I think they are very likely judging the sales of the mini in respect of the iPhone Plus, probably why it only had a minor upgrade. Equally the fact of the minor upgrade may have made some invest in such a conclusion based on little else.
I’m happy with my new iPhone 6 and was looking forward to a new iPad mini with touch and upgraded processor. I hope the rumor isn’t true.
Maybe the iPhone 7 or 8 Plus may fit the bill in the future and I won’t want two separate devices.
Or, made in the US.
But I wonder if there will be an iPod Plus?
I know iPod sales aren’t the driver but still function as a gateway drug and alternative to the Kindle Fire and their ilk.
7 years into the ” i ” products, we are no nearer to a fully developed model of human usability.
You can always get a WOW computer. 😉
I understand the move as well. But I will never use a iPhone 6 Plus and I love my new iPad Mini 2. I will probably keep it until it can not be upgraded to a new iOS version like I did with my iPad 1.
If so, Apple should give iPhone Plus users the option of having Safari on their phone tell websites it’s an iPad so the websites are displayed as they would on an computer or iPad.
I’d be happier if Apple were to bring out an up-to-date smaller 4S sized iPhone for those of us that don’t want a great big slab phone.
second that! although my wife says she wants the 6+.
She wants to do Everything with it.
I’m sure the black one could satisfy her needs.
Are you serious? The iPhone 5s is too big for you? You want to go all the way back down to the size of the 4s? That’s crazy talk. The iPhone 5s is tiny compared to the 6 and 6 Plus.
I own an iPhone 6 together with my old iPhone 4 and still use my old phone occasionally. I know it sounds crazy but the iPhone 4 although being small still packs a punch at being a great smart phone. Its Apples fault for making such great products that I have a hard time letting them go :-).
About a year ago I finally migrated from the gen1 iPhone to the 4S.
Within 6 months the screen and the back were cracked ( although it still works fine)
Frankly I preferred the original size, shape, material and weight of the first gen phone. It was a comfortingly solid slab and just the right curves to fit the hand perfectly.
If I had a choice I’d go back to the original with new, upgraded internals. Think of it, the battery would practically last a week!
I’m sure it would just be the original iPad mini, not the iPad mini (retina) that would get discontinued… Do you think they are going to leave a segment of the market just to the competition? does anyone have a current breakdown of what sells better? I think the mini more than holds it own
Maybe moving in this direction is a no-brainer, but discontinuing the iPad mini I don’t get. Then again, I don’t have access to the sales numbers.
The iPad mini will grow just a little, perhaps 8.5 inches. the iPad will become the iPad Pro.
If this indeed happens, I sure as heck hope Apple ups the storage on the iPod Touch to 128GB. I need a dedicated device just for my music library with as few other bells, whistles and smallest screen possible – with 128GB, period!
Oh hell yeah! The iPod Touch is being oddly ignored by Apple this year. Humph!
This is bunk!
Apple will keep making the iPad mini as long as people keep buying them. Or, for as long as the keep making the parts. 😉
Why buy an iPad Mini with the iPad Air now so light?
it’s smaller.
Because it’s a tablet and they use a MacBook Pro for work.
Just saying.
I’ve heard a couple of women say they wish they had a mini, instead of a the larger iPads they have, because it would be easier to carry in a purse for reading at work.
Maxi pad air is to bulky can’t imagine a bigger one. Get a laptop
It is not about the weight! It is about the size. AS stated several times above, the Mini is the right size for many, including many industry needs. Do you know how hard it is to hand hold a full size slate for doctors, inventory specialists and a plethora of other people who need a screen on a second’s notice? The mini fits into a lab coat pocket, doctor’s pocket, or other coat pockets so that you don’t have to hold on to them 8 to 10 hours a day while working.
And no, they don’t need the function of a phone to get that screen usage.
Probably discontinue iPad mini but continue mini with retina display.
Say a new mini for $189 yesterday. Cheaper than an iPod touch. GM is close to zero at that PX.
I have both, noticed more dust accumulating on the iPad Mini Retina since I received the iP6+.
It’s a perfect device.
Hope thats not true…..we have dozens of Mini’s every 3 months for nursing students. May have to move to Android if they do that! yuck!
Nearly had a heart attack. I thought it said “Mac mini” (as I watch the progress bar show the installation of Yosemite on my new 2012 Mac mini that I just put a 1.5TB drive and 16GB of RAM into).
iPad Minis of any flavor are for smaller kids and hands or in situations where the size will make a difference. I cannot see it going away.
Noooooooooooooo! I absolutely love my Mini and I have an iPhone 6+
The Mini is the perfect travel device for long haul productivity.
Seems odd. The mini is a great form factor for travel and for kids – reasons they’ve sold by the boatloads. Not everyone would replace a mini with a 6 plus, nor would everyone feel comfortable putting the 6 plus in the hands of children (but you can’t run all of the iPad-version kids games on an iPhone or iPod touch).
And a lot of people like a small phone (5-sized) for calling and a mini-sized iPad when they want to travel leanly. So this seems like a strange subtraction from the line-up, especially this early after introduction of the 6 plus. I would expect them to let the new product fervor and the holidays come and go and allow the market to settle out before they decide what lines to cancel.
Again, Applle should offer a DOUBLE SCREEN MACBOOK PRO.
TOP SCREEN works like a regular screen, BUT the BOTTOM SCREEN could work like a keyboard, But COULD ALSO be used as a FCP X controller, color corrector, equalizer, etc.
This would be GREAT for developers.
They could use the BOTTOM SCREEN for whatever they can think of.
The HELL WITH a iPad “PRO”. Do you thik I’m stupid?
Would the iPAD “PRO” work as fast, or FASTER THAN A QUAD CORE i7 ? Huh? Well?
So come out with a REAL PRO Apple. A DOUBLE SCREEN i7 MACBOOK PRO !!!
My eyes hurt.
“I’ve got blisters on my fingers!”
I love my iPad mini I bought the iPhone 6 as the plus is to big as a phone for me (and to small as a tablet). So having the iPad Mini and iPhone 6 makes a perfect combination.
BTW, someone said Apple HAS a patent for a DOUBLE SCEEN Mac.
a. HOW can I Find THAT? AND
b. SO WHAT? They are NOT selling one NOW are they?
Apple patents alot of things…. 3D editing software, for example.
i AM interested in what Apple patents , BUT if I can’t BUY IT, well, ya know, I’M MORE interested in BUYING
Ouch! Stop it!
Apple also has a patent on an Apple laptop with a removable table screen too since 2008 & has not produced it… Hmmm.
I sincerely hope that this doesn’t happen. I have an iPad mini and an iPhone 6 plus. I use them both extensively. The iPhone is not really large enough to replace the iPad mini for reading which is what I use my mini for. I love the size for that. I would hate to have to go back to a full sized iPad.
I hope this isn’t true. I really love the iPad mini. I don’t care for phablets, and I like how much easier it is hold an iPad mini in one hand while I read. It’s also easier to type on the smaller screen. It’s really annoying that a story like this would come out just after I bought an iPad mini 3 this past weekend!
Never..!
Why do that.. It is a perfectly legit size ….Not even close to iphone 6+..
Why leave it out and let the competition fill the spot !
Full lineup never hurts!
Phone 4, 4.7, 5.5, tablet … 7.9, 9.7, 12x