Impending iPad mini refresh again said to be bringing a 'complete redesign'

Ipad Mini 6 Power Button Render (Image credit: Jon Prosser / FrontPageTech)

What you need to know

Apple is widely expected to give an updated iPad mini a fresh new look with USB-C and smaller bezels.
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has again said we should expect a "complete redesign" this year.

Apple is widely expected to announce a new iPad mini before the end of the year and Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has again reiterated the expectation that we will see a "complete redesign" this time around.

According to Gurman, writing in his weekly Power On newsletter, this year's iPad mini refresh is set to be a biggie.

Rumors already have the new iPad mini 6 sporting an array of improvements — not least rumors from January that have thinner bezels and the removal of the Home button bing the biggest changes. That will allow the display to grow or the overall size of the device to shrink. The smart money appears to be on the display growing to around the 8.5-inch mark.

Other rumors also have Apple going full USB-C on this bad boy, ditching Lightning completely.

It isn't entirely clear when the new iPad mini will launch, but we do expect it to happen before 2021 draws to a close. Gurman has previously pointed to "this fall" as the expected window.

This huge redesign is sure to give the new iPad mini a much-needed new lease of life, making it one of the best iPads you can pick up. We also expect new iPhones, Apple Watches, and even AirPods to arrive imminently while new MacBook Pro notebooks are also touted for a launch this year.

Apple has a busy few months on its hands — and that sounds like a great thing for us!

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.