iPad Mini 5 release date, specs rumors 2016: Next iPad Mini to arrive March 2017; to sport thinner frame, smaller battery?

Latest rumors suggest that the iPad Mini 5 will make a special appearance in another Apple Event early next year.

During the Sept. 7 Apple Event, many iPad followers tuned it to hear about the latest developments in the current iPad models. Particularly, the iPad Mini was last updated in September 2015, which means that it is high time for Apple to refresh the label once again for this year.

Unfortunately, the said event was focused on the new iPad 7 smartphones and the full version of the iOS 10. There were no sightings of an iPad Mini 5 or any other new iPad devices. Still, there is still hope that the Cupertino-based tech giant will reveal the next iteration of the iPad Mini sooner than later.

According to MacWorld UK, Apple may have skipped the unveiling of the iPad Mini 5 last September to focus on the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, but the company actually has plans to reveal the new iPads very soon. It is possible that Apple will hold a hardware event in March next year, similar to what they did earlier this 2016 with the release of the iPad Pro on March 31. Likewise, the iPhone SE was also launched in the said timeframe.

However, it was recently confirmed that Apple will be having another hardware event before the year ends, which will happen only a few weeks after the September Apple Event. The event on October 27 will take place at the company's main Cupertino headquarters, and as expected, some tech enthusiasts think that this might be the venue to unveil the new iPad devices.

People are advised not to expect too much from the October Apple Event, as there is a chance that Apple will skip on the big iPad Mini 5 reveal again. This is due to the reports that the upcoming Apple Event will instead showcase the newly revamped MacBook laptops.

iTech Post reported that the iPad Mini will be sporting a smaller and thinner frame compared to its predecessors, giving it a sleeker and more classic look. The incredibly thin iPad Mini 4 is 6.1mm thick, but the iPad Mini 5 is rumored to go even thinner at 5mm. However, as the body of the iPad becomes more constricted, there will be a need to use a smaller battery as well. Thus, the iPad Mini 5 may have lower battery capacity than the iPad Mini 4.

As for the specs, the public can expect the iPad Mini 5 to be powered by A9 chipset as an upgrade from the iPad Mini 4's A8 processor. The next iPad Mini model is also expected to have a standard 32 GB storage capacity.