iPad Mini 4: Thinner 7.9-Inch Tablet Could Take On iPad Air 2 Specs

Apple iPad fans might see an iPad mini 4 and a new iPad Air model launching this year if Apple sticks to its plans of releasing new devices.

Much has been said about how Apple’s previous releases, the iPad mini 3 and iPad Air 2, performed poorly as far as sales figures are concerned. For this reason, some have speculated that Apple may revamp the prices of its next batch of devices in an attempt to lure back customers.

Full-featured multitasking comes to the iPad Mini 4

We’ll dive into the iPad mini 4’s specs in a minute, but the biggest change by far is the 4th-gen tablet’s ability to support all of iOS 9’s multitasking features: Slide Over, Picture in Picture, and Split View, a tool that was exclusive to the iPad Air 2 prior to Wednesday’s launch event. (The iPad Pro was the device Apple designed those multitasking features for, so of course it will support Split View).

Split View is arguably the most significant of iOS 9’s multitasking features, and will allow mini 4 users to run two apps simultaneously side by side.

The reason the iPad mini 4 can support Split View is its upgraded A8 chip, a powerful version of the iPad Air 2’s A8X processor. The mini 3, like the mini 2 before it, was still using the older, slower A7 chip. Apple boasts that the mini 4’s A8 chip powers 60 percent faster graphics performance than the A7 for better gaming, video editing, and of course multitasking.

Apple also put its M8 motion coprocessor in the iPad mini 4, which is also useful for gaming and maps.

According to a related reports, the rumored iPad Mini 4 will have a 7.9-inch display screen and similar design with iPad Air 2, which includes a revamped speaker grill. An alleged leaked video, meanwhile, revealed that the mute or rotation lock of the device has been removed.

Under the hood, the iPad Mini 4 will reportedly be powered by A8X processor that will include 2 GB of random access memory. However, there are also reports that suggest that there’s a big chance that the tablet will use the A9 processor and will come with a storage capacity of 32 GB.

Users of Apple iPad would reportedly want the upcoming iPad Mini 4 to feature the “zero-gap” aluminium construction, which was used in the iPad Air 2 models. Users claim that the construction process removes the gap between the display layers, which in turn provides crisp and vibrant colors with a high contrast. With such feature, the iPad Mini 4 will have better image quality compared to its rivals in the market.

Thinner, lighter, huge camera upgrade

At 6.1mm, the iPad mini 4 is 18 percent thinner than its predecessor, the 7.5mm mini 3 (and mini 2, for that matter, which Apple still sells). It’s also more than 30 grams lighter.

Think of the iPad mini 4 as a smaller iPad Air 2. The two tablets both feature completely laminated displays with anti-reflective coating, 8-megapixel rear-facing cameras (compared to the mini 3’s 5-megapixel iSight camera), and 120 frames-per-second slo-mo video-shooting abilities.

I’m firmly against shooting photos with an iPad in public, but better to do it with an iPad mini than an iPad Air. The mini is also $100 less than an Air 2 for the entry-level 16GB Wi-Fi version, which is $399. (The Air 2 starts at $499.)

The iPad mini 3 is now gone, but Apple is still selling the iPad mini 2 for $269 for the 16GB Wi-Fi model, and $399 for the Wi-Fi and cellular version