Apple iPad Mini 5 Release Date: Updated Features Include Pencil, Smart Keyboard Support?

New Apple iPad Mini 5 features were recently leaked after the latest iOS beta was datamined. Apparently, the upcoming iPad Mini 5 is going to have Apple Pencil and smart keyboard support in the next update. Here’s what we know about this.

As reported by Macrumors, iPhone software programmer Steve Troughton-Smith has been datamining the latest iOS beta installed on new iPads. However, the programmer isn’t fully sure of the details so this information could be subject to change in the future.

So far, the iPad models Troughton-Smith has tinkered with are the J210, J211, J217 and J218. Since Apple has yet to identify these new iPads, speculations circulated that these models could be the new iPad Mini 5 and the next generation 10-inch display iPad.

As for its features, the new iPads seem to have the Touch ID feature, which is common for most Apple devices. Currently, the iPad Pro operating system was found to support Face ID which coincides with the newer iPhones in the market. Potentially, the Touch ID feature for these iPads means that the next releases would focus more on affordability rather than pushing the limits of performance.

Moreover, all of the unnamed iPad models are confirmed to have Apple Pencil and smart keyboard support. So far, Apple has failed to include Apple Pencil support in their affordable devices. As of now, we have to wait for more details as Apple can still change the features in the upcoming iPads.

Apple has also yet to announce any concrete feature details about their 2019 releases, and the next generation iPhone 11 and iPads are still under wraps. Moreover, Apple may also potentially release a new iteration of the iPhone SE which has not had any new releases since 2016.

Aside from its software, the upcoming iPads are also speculated to have new additions to its hardware. For one, unknown Apple devices have surfaced on Twitter which could be the next iPad. This unconfirmed Apple device seemed to have an antenna line for connecting to networks.