Forget your rubber duck, this year’s iPad Mini could be your new favorite bath toy
There are a lot of things you can do with your iPad Mini. It’s perfect for a bit of streaming on the sofa, social media scrolling on your commute, or as a gaming travel companion for long-haul flights. However, for the longest time, the iPad and any body of water have been a potentially expensive combination, with Apple’s tablets lacking any meaningful waterproofing technology. That could all be about to change, though.
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, one of the most reputable Apple tipsters, has once again suggested that the next iPad Mini will be the first to offer a water-resistant design. Gurman suggests this is possible due to Apple designing new vibration-based audio technology, which would make the speaker holes redundant. It’s a pretty substantial development in the design of the famous series of tablets, and it could mean that you’re playing the best iPad games in the bath or by the pool before too long.
Gurman’s report doesn’t detail what we can expect in terms of the next iPad Mini’s IP rating, the industry-standard benchmarking scale for dust and waterproofing. We know that Apple is capable of offering the gold-standard IP68 rating with its phones, though, so it feels like it was a matter of time before it decided to improve the durability of its tablets. We’re not expecting a tablet you can fully submerge, but it would be nice to have an iPad that you don’t have to worry about getting in the way of accidental splashes or spills.
As for when this waterproofed iPad Mini might arrive, all signs point to an October launch. As well as enhanced durability, the latest industry whispers suggest it could be the first iPad outside the Pro series to feature an OLED display. There’s also reason to believe that it’ll pack either the A19 Pro or A20 chip, which, combined with the souped-up display, could make it a potential future pick for our list of the best gaming tablets. However, these upgrades are expected at a cost. Some sources suggest it could launch at $699, which would be $100 more than the current iPad Mini after recent price hikes or $200 more than the 2024 tablet’s $499 launch price.
It’s worth noting that Apple isn’t exactly lagging behind the competition in this area. As I recently pointed out in my REDMAGIC Astra 2 review, a lot of tablets don’t have an IP rating at all, even though it’s now becoming the norm in even the best foldable phones and flip phones. As ever, though, if Apple moves to make waterproofing its tablets a priority, we could see the same from its Android rivals. For now, though, we’ll have to wait and see what October brings.
