Apple’s smallest iPad was given a substantial facelift at the end of 2021, removing the Home button and increasing the display size for the first time since the model was first introduced all the way back in 2012. So, with the mini celebrating its ten-year anniversary in 2022, what will Apple do to make the occasion? Here’s all we know so far about the new iPad mini 7th generation (2022).
When will the iPad mini 7 be released?
There’s been no official announcements from Apple regarding the next version of the iPad mini, so at the moment it remains mere speculation when it might arrive. To give us some insight, here’s when the last few models made their debuts:
As you can see, September is the traditional month in which the new iPad mini appears, although the release pattern in terms of years is a bit scattershot. The four-year gap between the 4th and 5th generation is unusual for Apple, and led many to speculate that the mini had been quietly retired before the 5th generation was released.
iPads generally don’t receive yearly updates consistently, as consumers don’t upgrade them at the same rate as say an iPhone, so it looks likely that the iPad mini 7 might not launch until September 2023. We could be wrong, of course, but at the moment we haven’t seen anything to contradict that idea. September will reveal all.
How much will the new iPad mini 7 (2022) cost?
The arrival of the redesigned iPad mini 6th generation saw an increase in price over the previous model. No doubt, this is because of the more expensive construction and upgraded components. Here’s how they compared:
- iPad mini 6th generation: £479/$499
- iPad mini 5th generation: £379/$399
As Apple has already made the leap to the new styling and features in the 6th generation, we think it’s likely that the price stays the same for the 7th generation.
What new features will we see in the iPad mini 7?
It’s been surprisingly quiet on the rumours front so far, with hardly any reports online from the usual leakers and insider sources which have proven rich pickings in past years. Here’s what we’ve managed to uncover.
Display with 120Hz refresh rate
The only real thing of note we’ve seen came from a South Korean social media post that said Apple had ordered 8.3in displays from Samsung which support 120Hz maximum refresh rates. If this is true, and that’s a big if, then it could see the next mini offer the ProMotion feature that would provide ultra-smooth scrolling. This would address the minor issue of ‘jelly scrolling‘ that some users have complained about with the current iPad mini.
We remain somewhat sceptical of this though, as ‘jelly scrolling’ is pretty standard on LCD displays, were text appears to wobble as you scroll up and down pages, as it’s the nature of the way displays refresh images. Also, ProMotion has remained one of the differentiators between the standard and Pro iPad models.
Increased storage for base model
On the current iPad mini 6th generation, the base model starts off with a rather paltry 64GB of storage. For a device like an iPad, where you can store movies, TV shows, books, comics, magazines, games and a wide range of apps, that amount can often become a problem, especially if you want to take your iPad away on holiday or use it for your commute without needing to manage the storage.
Although Apple has something of a history for giving base-models low storage capacities, we think it would be a wise move to upgrade the entry-level iPad mini 7th generation to at least 128GB. File sizes are growing all the time, due to higher quality cameras and software, so doubling the existing 64GB would be a very consumer-friendly solution.
Along these lines, there’s also the possibility that the upper limit of the storage could be increased. At the time of writing, the most storage available on the iPad mini 6th generation is 256GB. Moving up to 512GB would be the logical step, especially if the baseline storage moves to 128GB.
New colours
One of the most obvious changes to the iPad mini 6th generation was the new palette of colours that Apple made available.
While you can currently select between Space Grey, Pink, Purple and Starlight, there are several interesting hues available on the iPad Air 4th generation which also received a new look recently. These include Silver, Rose Gold, Green and Sky Blue. It would therefore seem reasonable to assume that some of these make it to the mini format, giving an instant boost to the options for customers.
iPad Pro features
Aside from the features listed above, we could see some of the capabilities from the iPad Pro models trickling down to its more diminutive cousin. These could include the LiDAR Scanner, Face ID, M1 processors, additional cameras, Audio zoom and brighter displays. It’s more likely that Apple will retain these for the Pros, but even if one or two make it to the mini, that would make the new model a very tempting proposition.
We’ll update this article as more details become available, but until then, be sure to read our iPad buying guide to see which models we’d recommend if you want to buy one of Apple’s tablets today. And check our roundup of the best iPad deals for the latest bargains on the current range.
