How iPad mini could predict iPad Air's first redesign since 2020? Full details inside

Design language trickles down from Mini

What makes this redesign more predictable than usual is a pattern Apple has followed before: the iPad mini has often acted as a testing ground for design language that later appears in the Air. The iPad mini adopted the iPad Air's flat-edge design in 2021 and has carried it through to the current iPad mini 7. Now, the roles may be about to reverse. The iPad mini 8, expected as soon as October this year, is rumoured to introduce a redesigned chassis, an OLED display, a vibration-based speaker system that does away with traditional speaker holes, and water resistance all firsts for Apple's tablet lineup. If that device ships with those changes intact, it would offer a fairly reliable preview of what the Air could inherit roughly six months later.