The majority of iPhone 14 rumors so far have indicated that Apple won’t produce the iPhone 14 mini, and will instead release the iPhone 14 Max as a fourth flagship model for 2022 – but a new leak goes against that tide.
According to 91mobile (Opens in a new tab) and Evan Blass – two well-known sources of leaks with solid track records – one of Apple’s Asian partners is planning to stock seven new devices next month. Obviously, these devices include the iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 14 Pro Max, and … iPhone 14 mini.
If that wasn’t enough to raise eyebrows, the list has been rounded off with a 10.2-inch iPad, and two new iPad Pros (an 11-inch model and a 12.9-inch model).
Most other guides are predicting we won’t see new iPads until October, but this leak made it to show at the iPhone 14 unveiling.
The truth is there
Add all that up and it looks as though this partner information might be wrong – but it’s worth simply reporting it for the sake of a track record of the relevant sources. Blass has accurately leaked information in advance about the Google Pixel Watch, among many other devices, for example.
That these details appeared at all is evidence of how difficult it is to produce devices in secret. While companies like Apple, Samsung and Google may be able to keep tabs on their employees, a whole host of third parties — from international retailers to phone case makers — need to be told what’s coming up ahead of time.
With that in mind, we bring this rumor for your consideration: it would be a huge surprise, but perhaps there will be a successor to the iPhone 13 mini after all. And Apple may want to save time by revealing the new iPhones and iPads in one go – although that’s still highly unlikely at this point.
Analysis: Deconstructing rumors
As we said, it is difficult to launch new smartphones or tablets without any kind of leaks or rumors beforehand. As with the UK and European football transfer window, these days most announcements are being talked about long before they actually happen.
Not only are companies having a hard time keeping their plans alive, but they also know that there is a huge amount of interest in these upcoming devices.
This in turn prompts posts and social media users to push as much speculative information as possible – again similar when it comes to players switching soccer teams.
We wouldn’t say that’s the case with this particular rumor: the sources in question here are usually reliable, and don’t just publish click predictions. As mentioned in the 91mobile article, the details about the iPhone 14 mini and iPads come from one of Apple’s largest distributors in the Asian region.
However, it’s important to take any leak or rumor in context, and given that we’ve seen several sources pointing to two standard-sized iPhones and two larger iPhones making up the iPhone 14 range, we’ll take this new information with a pinch of salt and perhaps wonder if this “Emergency preparatory work” in place of the installed launch elements.
However, you never know…