iPad Mini Reboot Appears In iOS 7 Code With Key Details

The first remix of the iPad mini that'll be hitting the market later this year has appeared in the software developer kit sent to developers for the newest iteration of iOS 7. This device has appeared in three iterations; one with basic Wi-fi, the other two matching the carrier editions already out in the USA. This device is tipped to be carrying an updated processor tied to the same display it's already using today, 9 to 5 Mac spots among the code.

Codes for this new line of iPad mini models appear as iPad 2,8, iPad 2,9, and iPad 2,10. Each of these are connected in kind with device names J75, J76, and J77, while the current (original) iPad mini lineup still exists in code as iPad 2,5, 6, and 7.

Platform code s5l8950x appears alongside each of the new model iPad mini, this pointing toward a processor precisely like that in the iPhone 5. This is the A6 chip, one that should offer a significant boost for the smaller tablet in everything from web browsing to playing high-powered games.

While it would seem – by all means – that these devices appearing in code would refer to them being released by the end of the year by Apple in an iPad update event, there's always the possibility that Apple would wait until a Retina-display iPad mini could be prepared for mass shipping. Based on tips and analysis on the matter we've seen thus far, it would appear much more likely that such a model would appear in early 2014.

Though it's not out of the question that Apple would release another iPad mini by the end of the year with the same display it's working with today, Google's push of the second generation of the Nexus 7 may have given them incentive to hold off. Nothing like releasing a product as new when your biggest competitor just released a direct competitor device with a display resolution far, far sharper than your own.