Apple working on an iPad mini with a new processor (but it won’t be foldable)

Apple is working on a new version of the iPad mini equipped with a new processor as the main selling point, and the mass shipment is expected to start by the end of 2023 or in the first half of 2024, according to analysts Ming-Chi Kuo. However, apparently you’ll be disappointed if you want a foldable tablet.

In a tweet he adds: I think it’s unlikely Apple will replace the iPad mini with a foldable iPad in 2025, which may be contrary to what some media previously predicted. It’s because a foldable iPad will have a markedly higher price than an iPad mini, so such a replacement is not reasonable.

Apple will likely launch an iPad with a folding screen in 2024, analyst firm CCS Insight said, CNBC said in an Oct. 22 report. The Sellers Research Group (that’s me) is skeptical. I don’t think we’ll see a foldable iPad or a foldable iPhone.

That said, Apple has filed for, or been issued, several patents for foldable smartphones and tablets. For example, one patent granted in 2019 was for a “foldable cover and display for an electronic device” configured to be moved between a folded configuration and an unfolded configuration by bending the cover layer along the foldable region.