After unveiling the new iPad Air and iPad Pro lines, cutting the 9th-gen iPad, and dropping the price of the 10th-gen iPad, inquiring minds want to know when Apple is going to give the iPad mini its overdue refresh. Unfortunately, it might be a while.
According to Mark Bloomberg’s latest Power On newsletter, the iPad mini won’t be updated “until the end of this year at the earliest.”
The iPad mini has had something of a sporadic update schedule since its 2012 debut. After an annual update schedule for the first 4 years, Apple has released just two updates in the past nine years, including a three-and-a-half-year gap between the 4th and 5th generations:
- iPad mini (1st-gen): October 2012
- iPad mini 2: October 2013
- iPad mini 3: October 2014
- iPad mini 4: September 2015
- iPad mini (5th-gen): March 2019
- iPad mini (6th-gen): September 2021
A fall release would make it three years since Apple last updated the iPad mini and a spring 2025 release would rival the 5th-gen model for the longest time between updates. However, previous reports have claimed that Apple is planning to update the entire iPad line this year, so the new mini may very well make an appearance alongside the iPhone 16 in September.
The 7th-gen iPad mini is expected to be a similar refresh to the iPad Air, with a faster chip, new colors, and a landscape front camera. Stay up to date with the latest rumors with our iPad mini 7 superguide.
Author: Michael Simon, Executive Editor, Macworld
Michael Simon has been covering Apple for more than 20 years. He started covering rumors with Spymac when the iPod was the iWalk, and has owned nearly every iPhone Apple has ever made. He lives in Connecticut with his wife, son, and far too many gadgets.