Although Apple has neither confirmed nor denied rumors hinting that the company is currently working on a follow-up for their 7.9-inch iPad Mini 4, rumor mills have not ceased swirling speculations around the purported iPad Mini 5. If rumors doing rounds online are anything to go by, a petite version in the 2017 Apple tablet lineup, the new Mini, will be a pint-sized variant of the iPad Pro.

The iPad Mini 5 is slated to hit the store shelves early next year, along with the new iPad Pro 2 lineup. The device is likely to serve as an entry-level as well as small version in the iPad Pro 2 series.

If speculations came to fruition, the impending Pro lineup will be up for grabs in three variants or more. In addition to the 12.9-inch version and the predicted 9.7-inch variant, Apple is expected to add a brand new 10.5-inch iPad Pro 2, according to PC Advisor.

That being said, all the aforementioned variants of the iPad Pro 2 will possibility boast similar specs and features being the top-tier lineup. Moreover, considering that Apple would like to add an entry-level variant for the series, multiple reports suggest that the company will release the iPad Air 3 in addition to the next iPad Mini.

In terms of features, the next Mini is likely to be a smaller variant of the present-day iPad Pro. This implies that the iPad Mini 5 will just be a single level down from the iPad Pro 2.

Furthermore, the iPad Mini 5 is said to be powered by an A9 chipset and pack at least 3 GB of RAM. The base version of the iPad Mini 5 is likely to include 32GB of storage, dumping the 16-GB version popularized by the iPad Mini 4. The current slate boasts a 128-GB storage version, which implies the iPad Mini 5 will be up for grabs in 64 and 128GB storage options.

The upcoming tablet is likely to sport a thinner design as compared to its precursor with 7000-series aluminum identical to the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, MacWorld reported.

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