I was stumbling across the big tech sites on Friday and found that new Apple devices had been leaked. Reported on MacRumors, there are three devices which could be hitting retail stores as early as the end of October.
The main product to look out for is a new iPad mini 8, which will feature the new A20 Pro chip, a camera moved to the landscape edge, and a new speaker design system. There are also rumours that the new device will come with an OLED display. This one actually surprised me, as I wasn’t sure if Apple would keep going with the iPad mini lineup or drop it, given it’s now developing phones which effectively have a built-in mini iPad. It does look good though if you’re in the market for something smaller.
The second thing that was rumoured was a new generation of the HomePod mini, which admittedly looks the same as the last one, but there are new colours. The new-gen model features green, pink and blue alongside white and black. Even though these devices don’t look that different, it’s likely that they’ll be faster and have compatibility with the new Siri AI.
Finally, there’s a new Apple TV, and similarly to the above, it doesn’t look that different. However, the Apple TV device doesn’t really need to look different - it’s already a pretty device. Like the above, it’ll have under-the-hood improvements, and there might be some software and app enhancements. Apple’s operating systems are pretty hard to beat in my opinion.
The iPad mini, HomePod mini 2 and Apple TV devices could be available as soon as next month.
So what would I buy out of these rumoured devices? I’ll rule out the iPad mini right away, as I’ve already got an iPad which I don’t use as often as I should. I was, however, considering a HomePod mini upgrade, but I need to see what’s actually changed and whether it’s worth it. I won’t lie, I was hoping for a bit more of a visual HomePod mini upgrade, and I’m still holding out for a HomePod with a screen. On Apple TV, I’d actually buy one if it could replace my Sky subscription, but I’m still waiting on a device to arrive that can actually do that - come on Apple, deliver something cool with Apple TV!
So my view is that I don’t know, based on the rumours, whether any of these devices are worth updating to, but they do have potential. I’m really hoping there are some exciting features that haven’t been leaked yet.
What do you think of these devices? Is there anything you’re waiting for in the lineup?