The sudden news this week that Apple is to launch its much-rumoured iPad Mini 7 update – which was previously thought to be dead and done – has set the T3 staff into a state of, for better or worse, meltdown. Clearly there's still a lot of love for the small iPad (reviewed here in its 6th Gen version) – some even calling it the best iPad of the bunch!
T3's News Editor has already pre-ordered one, while T3's Social Media Editor has finally been proven correct that Apple would, indeed, upgrade its smallest slate. I, on the other hand, am at the opposite end of the slate-scale-ometer and wondering, "hey, Apple, where's my iPad Ultra?".
I know, there's the 12.9-inch iPad Pro with M4 processor that probably does everything under the sun that I could possibly need. It's a great-looking slate, too, as you can see from T3's studio-shot gallery of images, below. Most will kit it out with a Pencil Pro and Magic Keyboard as a stand-in replacement for one of the best MacBooks, mind.
So why would I want a so-called iPad Ultra? For me it's not about the power factor. The M4 is already proven to be a beast – indeed, that generation hasn't even made it to the MacBook Pro as yet, but presumably will (in Pro/Max new forms) at Apple's next event, predicted to be a quiet online-only showing at the end of this month.
It's actually about the scale. Samsung has long been invested in its best tablet, most recently the Galaxy S10 Ultra, in offering the most significant scale of current slates. Sure, that's an Android tablet and there's no direct compare to Apple's iPad range in terms of software, but its 14.6-inch display along the diagonal measure, in 16:10 aspect ratio, is huge.
Apple doesn't seem so keen to invest in such a comparable idea in the iPad line-up. But that's exactly the kind of MacBook Air replacement I'd be considering in an iPad purchase, were it to be real.
Although, in the same breath, that highlights why Apple seemingly isn't looking to create such a large-scale iPad: it'd be too close to separate it from other products. Having done away with the 12-inch MacBook some five years ago, the smallest laptop in Apple's range is now the 13-inch MacBook Air (a 15-inch model is also available), with the MacBook Pro models coming in larger-scale 14-inch and 16-inch variants.
Perhaps it's just a pipe dream of mine, then, but I don't think I'm the only one who'd rather have an iPad Ultra than an iPad Mini. Even if the screen size came close to some MacBook models, the key addition of touchscreen control and Apple Pencil compatibility would be enough to set it apart in my view. I'm all for keeping this dream alive, though, so g'warn Apple, let's have an iPad Ultra on the cards already...
