In his report today outlining his expectations for Apple’s upcoming iPhone 16 event, which takes place on Monday, Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman briefly mentioned that a new iPad mini is “on deck” for another Apple event in October.
Gurman expects the new iPad mini to be announced at the October event alongside the first Macs with the M4 series of chips, including the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro, Mac mini, and iMac. The M4 chip debuted in the iPad Pro earlier this year.
Apple has yet to confirm an October event this year. In 2023, it held a virtual event on October 30 to unveil MacBook Pro and iMac models with the M3 series of chips.
Gurman did not reveal any new features planned for the seventh-generation iPad mini, but previous rumors have indicated that upgrades will include a faster chip, upgraded front and rear cameras, a fix for “jelly scrolling” screen tearing in portrait orientation, Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 support, and new color options.
Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo previously said the next iPad mini would enter mass production in the second half of 2024, so there is agreement from multiple credible sources about the device being updated later this year.
Apple released the current iPad mini in September 2021, with new features at the time including a larger 8.3-inch display, a USB-C port, a Touch ID power button, the A15 Bionic chip, 5G support on cellular models, a 12-megapixel rear camera with Center Stage support, compatibility with the second-generation Apple Pencil, and more.
Gurman said “new iPads” plural would be unveiled at the October event, so the entry-level iPad may be updated then too.
