The ‘iPad mini 7’ and 11th-Gen iPad
The 2024 iPad lineup will be rounded out by a seventh-generation iPad mini and a refreshed 11th-generation standard iPad. However, these updates are expected to be considerably more modest.
It appears the ‘iPad mini 7’ will be little more than a spec bump, replacing the current model’s A15 chip with either an A16 or an M1 or M2. Where that ends up is anybody’s guess at this point. Still, it’s important to remember that the iPad mini is priced in the same middle tier as the iPad Air, and when it made its comeback in 2019, it had specs identical to the iPad Air in every way but size.
If anything, the entry-level iPad was the most unusual omission last year. Although Apple’s standard iPad models took a 3-5 year hiatus while it focused on the iPad Pro (depending on whether you count the first two iPad Air generations as part of the same family), it’s been consistently releasing new models of its most affordable tablet annually since 2017.
That culminated with the 10th-generation iPad in 2022, a significantly redesigned version that moved the camera to the side (for use in landscape orientation) and slid into an awkward new higher price point that put it somewhere between the older 9th-gen iPad and the iPad Air.
As a result, Apple kept selling that older 2021 model, and today, it remains the last Lightning-equipped iPad on the market. That’s likely to change this year when the 11th-Gen iPad comes out, although it’s unclear whether Apple will drop the price of the current 2022 model or find a way to sell the new one at a lower price. Don’t expect significant changes, though, as the entry-level iPad has never been a trailblazer.