Rumor: Apple to drop iPad mini line and replace it with the iPad Pro

A new report cites the Taiwanese supply chain for an interesting, but highly speculative story. The report says that Apple is going to discontinue producing its 7.9 inch Apple iPad mini series. Replacing the latter model would be the large-screened Apple iPad Pro, which supposedly will feature a 12.2 inch screen.

Apple last month introduced the third tablet in the iPad mini line, and it is possible that the new 5.5-inch Apple iPhone 6 Plus is expected to cannibalize sales of the the smaller slate. Additionally, sales of the iPad mini are said to be sliding, although Apple didn't break out sales of the line specifically, with its recent fiscal fourth quarter report. For that quarter, Apple's total iPad sales declined to 12.3 million from 14.1 million the prior year.

Obviously this is a speculative report that you should take with a grain of salt. But there are some things about it that do make sense. Apple could be looking for a large-screened slate to go up against the 12-inch Microsoft Surface Pro 3. And with the larger screens on the Apple iPhone 6 and Apple iPhone 6 Plus, it seems like the new focus at Apple is to go bigger.

Thanks for the tip!

source: UDN.com (translated) via GforGames