The iPad mini might be on its deathbed.
The 7.9-inch tablet, a recent report says, is cannibalized by the 5.5-inch iPhone 7 Plus, which is big enough for those late-night reading binges, and more powerful in some regards.
On the other hand, it appears that Apple is positioning the tablet as a larger device, one that competes with your laptop. According to rumors, the next tablet Apple launches will be bigger, not smaller than the iPad, and the iPad mini will likely go into oblivion.
But ask many iPad mini aficionados, and they will tell you that the mini is the best iPad. I'm one of them, and I'd rather stock up on iPad mini 4s right now than get a bigger, newer variant, regardless of the price.
SEE ALSO:iPad 2017 review: $329 gets you a new iPad. We done?My reasoning is simple: The iPad mini is the only iPad that's nearly as portable as your phone.
All the other iPads -- the 9.7-inch models and, definitely, the 12.9-inch iPad Pro -- basically need to be carried in a laptop bag. They're great for lugging around the house for a quick read or a YouTube session, but if you want to go outside, they're as about as practical as your laptop.
Not so with the iPad mini. It fits in cargo pants pockets. It fits in larger purses (and murses), and (if you're brave enough to carry one) even an occasional fanny pack. It can be stuffed in pockets of many jackets and coats. It's small enough for you to casually carry it around in your hands, like you do your phone, as you wait in line at an airport or on your daily commute.
The iPad mini is the only iPad that's nearly as portable as your phone.
This may seem like a minor difference, but it's a crucial one. A few years back, I bought an iPad Air, but I soon realized that I need some sort of backpack for it. And if I'm going to carry a backpack, I might as well take my MacBook Air. So I sold the iPad Air, got an iPad mini, and never looked back. The iPad mini found a place in my life as a device that offers me a better experience than my phone, but it doesn't compete with my laptop. I carry it around on weekends, to coffee breaks and when I travel -- I carry it when I don't intend to do serious work and when I really, really don't want to lug around a backpack and a laptop.
And let's not forget the fact that the iPad mini is a lot lighter than the iPad -- 0.65 pounds vs. 1.05 pounds. It's the only tablet in Apple's lineup that you can comfortably hold with one hand when you're lying down.
It's true: The iPad experience is better on a larger device. And the way Apple is currently pricing the iPad mini -- it's more expensive than a "regular" iPad -- it's no wonder the mini is not selling. Apple is probably looking at numbers, and if the numbers don't work, the iPad mini is going to get cut regardless of my rant.
If the mini gets discontinued, I and (based on a short survey of my mini-loving colleagues) a lot of other users will not buy a bigger one. Once you've settled into the mini lifestyle, there's no going back. If it doesn't fit into a waist bag, the tablet is just not practical enough for me to use. Yes, the iPad sales have been in decline for a while now, but killing the mini will likely alienate a number of customers who simply won't want to switch to a bigger iPad.
As for the larger iPhone, well, it's not the same thing. Just try playing Hearthstone on the iPhone and the iPad mini and tell me which experience was better. Or try reading a book on both devices. Yes, in some cases, the iPhone is good enough, but the tablet is just so much more comfortable to use.
There's one great solution to this conundrum. Rumors claim that Apple is working on a 10.5-inch iPad variant that'll basically be all screen, with significantly smaller bezels than current models. If this is true, and that same bezel-less design later trickles down to the 9.7-inch iPad, that model will effectively become the new iPad mini, as its physical dimensions would be in that same ballpark.
This would be an all-around win, but is it going to happen? I'm an optimist. Tiny bezels are a huge trend right now, and it's one direction that the iPad could certainly go to. Some manufacturers have tablets that are basically all screen -- check out Hisense's Vidaa Mirror, for example, and tell me that that's not sexy.
If this scenario plays out, I won't cry over the iPad mini's inevitable demise. I don't need Apple to actually call it "mini". I just need it to really be, you know, mini.
TopicsAppleiPad
(责任编辑：探索)
Old lady swatting at a cat ends up in Photoshop battle
Cyclone Idai creates giant inland sea in MozambiqueAmazon pulls antiJeff Bezos' affair leak may have been Saudi retaliationAirbnb activates disaster response site for Louisiana floodingIvanka Trump's unpaid interns share cringeworthy financial advice
Ivanka Trump's interns have some questionable advice for students worried they can't afford an unpai
...[详细]Facebook is down and Instagram is struggling
Trying to load Facebook?You might have to wait for awhile. The social network is down for many peopl
...[详细]Cyclone Idai creates giant inland sea in Mozambique
Cyclone Idai left death, destruction, and a sprawling inland sea in its wake. The powerful tropical
...[详细]This Twitter thread explores the ridiculous things people do in ads for bathtub trays
Almost every advert in the world is, to some extent, a little bit unbelievable.It could be that the
...[详细]There's a big piece of fake chicken stuck to this phone case
If the perfect smartphone case signals a bit about who its owner is, then this silicon fried chicken
...[详细]'One Punch Man' perfectly blends comedy and action
One Punch Manis one of the most entertaining TV series out there right now. Combining absurd action
...[详细]Website secretly livestreamed 1,600 unwitting hotel guests for paying members
No, you're not being paranoid. Four individuals have been arrested for a scheme allegedly involving
...[详细]The Carolina Panthers used video games to announce their 2019 schedule
The NFL's Carolina Panthers hit a sweet spot for fans on Wednesday night as they rolled out their 20
...[详细]Florida hurricane forecast remains uncertain, but trends in state's favor
For days, a war has been raging between two of the premiere computer models used to help predict the
...[详细]Twitter wants to gather more info about reported tweets with personal information
Twitter would now like its users to get specific when reporting tweets containing personal informati
...[详细]Uber's $100M settlement over drivers as contractors may not be enough
The flat stomach meme will probably just make you hungry