The iPad mini has a 7.9-inch screen surrounded by bezels. Big ones. So a concept artist drew up some images that show how much smaller this tablet could be with an edge-to-edge display. The result is a device that’s nearly 20% smaller.
But Apple might be going in the opposite direction: making a mini with a larger screen.
iPad mini concept goes minier
The iPad mini concept images are from Parker Ortolani. They are of a device with the current screen size but without the Home button and without all the extra space around the display.
damn do I wish they'd make an iPad mini like this pic.twitter.com/y4qYdslDCf
— Parker Ortolani (@ParkerOrtolani) July 24, 2020
more of the teeny tiny iPad mini concept pic.twitter.com/cjPzIDLHo4
— Parker Ortolani (@ParkerOrtolani) July 24, 2020
While it’s entirely speculative, this isn’t a “pie in the sky” dream. All this artist did is put Apple’s smallest tablet through the same process the iPad Pro went through in 2018. That device shrank considerably when Apple dropped the Home button along with the hefty bezels that had been around the display.
We might actually see the opposite
Ortolani also did the reverse. He drew up an iPad mini concept showing the result if the display were expanded to fill the current screen bezels.
for all the folks asking… this is what the iPad mini would look like if they kept the same footprint and extended the display… I'm personally not a fan of the aspect ratio… but I know lots of people want a larger display pic.twitter.com/wmhzbHFgWD
— Parker Ortolani (@ParkerOrtolani) July 25, 2020
As he points out, the device would have a different aspect ratio from any previous iPad.
But something similar to this might actually be released. Respected Ming-Chi Kuo predicted in May that Apple an iPad mini with a screen between 8.5-inches and 9-inches will launch during the first half of 2021.
Source: @ParkerOrtolani
