And thats fantastic news.

Apple has a weird relationship with the iPad mini.

Updates are rare, and really, its hardly changed since the original in 2012.

A white iPad sitting on the side of a swimming pool.

Maarten van den Heuvel / Unsplash

And yet users love it.

I bought that 2012 original after seeing a colleague using one at CES.

That is, it will have flat edges, slim screen bezels, and no home button.

Someone drawing on an iPad with an Apple Pencil.

Balázs Kétyi / Unsplash

Imagine all that power, in a package that can fit into your pocket.

Yes, a second iPad.

Thanks to iCloud syncing, its really like having two different-sized views of the same data.

Back in 2012, the then-current iPhone 5 sported a 4-inch display.

Compared to that, the iPad minis 7.9-inch screen was quite a step up.

Today, the iPhone 12 Pro Max has a 6.7-inch display, which isnt far behind the mini.

So, why would 2021s iPad mini be any different?

First, those smaller pro-style screen bezels could mean a bigger screen in the same-sized shell.

This means that you always have an electronic notebook at hand.

Or a tiny, pocketable sketchbook with infinite blank pages.

Touch ID or Face ID?

Apple seems to have settled on Face ID only being available in the iPhone and the top-end iPads.

Or maybe it really is just too expensive to put in the cheaper computers.

A Pro-shaped iPad mini, then, could be huge.

Well, not exactly huge, but you know what we mean.

I know Id find it hard to resist the temptation of such a cute little equipment.