The iPad mini 7

The iPad mini 6 is one of the oldest iPads that Apple still sells. It’s tied with the ninth-generation iPad that came out at the same time, which is only kicking around because Apple kept it on the market as a “budget model” after introducing the 10th-gen iPad in 2022.

That makes it somewhat surprising that we haven’t seen an iPad mini 7 yet, except that the smaller tablet hasn’t been a huge priority for Apple in recent years. After four rapid-fire iPad mini releases between 2012 and 2015, the diminutive tablet went into hibernation. That led many to believe it had been permanently discontinued until Apple surprised us four years later with a 2019 iPad mini 5 that joined the iPad Air in ushering in a new middle tier of Apple devices.

Since then, it’s received only one update, the 2021 iPad mini 6, which brought it into the fold by adopting the edge-to-edge design from its larger iPad Air sibling.

There’s still strong evidence that Apple is working on a new iPad mini, but none have put it on the slate for next week. We’ll probably see it later this year.