Apple iPad Mini 5 release date, news & update: A10 chipset to compensate reduction in battery size

The Apple iPad Mini 4 was launched in September 2015 but the iPad Mini 5 is nowhere to be seen. Fans had expected the device to be announced with the iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus and Apple Watch Series 2 but were thoroughly disappointed. Now, fresh reports claim that the device will not be seen till March 2017.

A possible reason for this delay could be the inclusion of the A10 processor instead of A9 chipset. Unconfirmed reports suggest that the Apple iPad Mini 5 is being developed with hardware specifications similar to the iPhone 7. A 2GB RAM is also expected to be incorporated with the device, writes The Bitbag.

If these reports are true, then Apple could also be bringing a 3D Touch pressure-sensitive screen to the iPad Mini 5 similar to iPhone 7. The traditional Home button may also be upgraded to a touch-sensitive button and in all probability the 3.5mm headphone jack will be dropped in favour of the AirPods.

As per Macworld, Apple is looking to retain the 8MP primary and 1.2MP Facetime camera configuration. The Cupertino-based tech giant could be using a less powerful battery component to reduce the size of the device. Currently, the iPad Mini 4 uses a 5,124 mAh battery.

However, reduction in battery size won’t result in lesser battery performance due to the inclusion of the A10 processor. The highly-efficient processor will improve battery backup.

A price hike is obvious due to the improved specs and also because Apple could be dropping the 16GB variant and make the 32GB variant the base model. The 16GB iPad Mini 4 variant was priced at US$399 (AU$520) but unconfirmed reports suggest that the Apple iPad Mini 5 could be introduced at US$450 (AU$590).

The Apple iPad Mini 5 specifications listed here are mere speculations at this point and it is hard to know what the tech giant is actually thinking of bringing to the table.