New iPad mini case mold shows thinner bezels, no Home button, and more

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

What you need to know

A new case mold appears to depict the upcoming iPad mini refresh.
Molds like this are often used by case makers to make sure their wares fit.
The mold shows smaller bezels and more.

As rumors surrounding an impending iPad mini refresh swirl, a supposed mold has now appeared online. This mold, if legitimate, is likely one that case makers would use to make sure that their new products will fit the upcoming tablet.

Initially shared by Techordo and spotted by 9to5Mac, the mold appears in multiple photos as well as a short YouTube video.

From the photos and video, we can see much of what has already been heavily rumored. That includes a new symmetric shape that does away with chunky bezels. That also means the removal of the Home button, with Touch ID making the move to the power button instead.

Ipad Mini 6 Case Mold (Image credit: Techordo)

There are inconsistencies here, though. As the original report notes, the power and volume buttons are on the top of the device here, suggesting something is amiss. However, it's possible that is simply a defect in the manufacturing of this mold rather than a design decision by Apple.

The 2021 edition of the iPad Mini 6 has a squarish design, similar to the iPad Pro model. That includes a flat screen and back cover, and thin symmetrical bezels. The front camera of the device is on the top bezel, while the back seems to have a bigger than before single lens camera on the left corner. Both the power and volume buttons are on the top of the device but David's source can't confirm if that's not a manufacturing defect of aluminium jig so don't take that too serious.

All being well we expect Apple to announce the new iPad mini within the next few months and almost certainly before the end of 2021. It'll be the best iPad for a ton of people thanks to its small size and could well be the perfect note-taking machine for students thanks to its Apple Pencil support.

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.