The dust has barely settled on the iPhone 16 launch, but it looks like Apple is readying itself for yet another major product showcase in 2024.
According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, a redesigned Mac mini, M4-powered MacBooks, and a new iPad mini (aka the iPad mini 7) could launch “by the end of 2024,” with October looking the most likely month for a third major Apple Event of the year.
This isn’t new news, per se – Gurman has long hinted at the potentially imminent arrival of a new iPad – but a new Best Buy leak has added more fuel to the fire. Per a now-deleted product listing (via MacRumors), Best Buy is reportedly preparing a clearance sale for an unnamed “mini Wi-Fi” Apple product in the Tablets section of its website. The product in question will supposedly be available for a clearance price of $359.99, and since the iPad mini 6 usually starts at $499.99, it’s highly likely that this is the device on the chopping block.
In other words, Best Buy is liquidating the last of its iPad mini stock, which could, in turn, be interpreted as the retailer clearing a path for the arrival of the iPad mini 7.
Incidentally, the iPad mini 6 is now on sale for $399 at Best Buy – which wasn’t the case when the above leak was first reported – so it’s not clear whether Best Buy is preparing to cut the price further, or whether this mysterious clearance sale has already begun. In either case, though, the iPad mini 6 is no longer at full price.
Apple is known for not replenishing model stock when a replacement device is on the horizon, so we’re quietly confident that an iPad mini 7 will indeed debut before the end of 2024.
As for what upgrades this new tablet could bring, Gurman has already admitted (via X) that he “wouldn’t be surprised to see [the iPad mini] updated for AI” (read: Apple Intelligence). We know that Apple Intelligence only works with the iPhone 15 Pro’s A17 Pro chipset, the iPhone 16’s A18 chipset, the iPhone 16 Pro’s A18 Pro chipset, and Apple’s top-end M-series chipsets, so the iPad mini 7 will likely get one of these powerful brains, if not a new chipset entirely.
The current iPad mini 6 uses an outdated A15 Bionic chipset, so regardless of whether the iPad mini 7 has Apple Intelligence capabilities, the iPad mini line needs a power refresh.
Older rumors hinted at a larger 8.7-inch iPad mini with an OLED screen (the current model uses an 8.3-inch LCD display), but we’re not holding out hope for such a dramatic dimension change.
In any case, here’s what we want to see from the iPad mini 7 – and we’re keeping a close eye on our inbox for any imminent Apple Event invites.
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axel.metz@futurenet.com (Axel Metz)
