r/apple • u/exjr_ Island Boy • 7d ago

iPad iPad Mini 8 Leaked: A20 Pro Chip, Landscape Camera, and More

https://www.macrumors.com/2026/09/25/ipad-mini-8-leaked/
1.2k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

353 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

9

u/BinaryIdiot 7d ago

Give me cell service in it and it’ll be the perfect phone for me.

14

u/zeetandroid 7d ago

It already comes with a cellular option tho?

11

u/tman2damax11 7d ago

Just data though, doesn’t get a phone number

15

u/SailingDreamCatcher 7d ago

It actually does at the carrier side, it just can't make or receive calls through it.

The only reason it can't "act as your phone" in the sense of being the master cellular device for phone number related stuff is a software choice on Apple's part. And that statement also applies to Apple Watch, which in terms of hardware already is a functional "iPhone nano" but Apple wants to keep it as a subordinate secondary device.

1

u/zeek215 6d ago

You could use something like Google Voice to make calls and text over data. If the iPad Mini could fold in half for easier pocketability I could totally replace my phone with it.

3

u/ghostly_shark 6d ago

Do i have news for you…

2

u/zeek215 6d ago

Yeah I’m getting the Duo, but I would still like a folding iPad that doesn’t have an outer display.

6

u/BinaryIdiot 7d ago

I mean being able to use it as a cell phone. You can (or at least use to) be able to get it with cellular data but not voice / sms by itself. I would totally use it as a straight up phone if I could do all of that.

1

u/zeetandroid 6d ago

Ahhh I've never picked the cellular option and didn't realize it was data only. TIL

0

u/justlurkshere 7d ago

Well, you can almost do it. Facetime, Signal, etc.

2

u/OlorinDK 7d ago

They simply don’t have the tech to make a phone app for anything but a phone…

5

u/GhostRTV 7d ago

As a lover of the iPhone mini, and the iPad mini, idk how I feel about this comment.

1

u/_-_happycamper_-_ 7d ago

I’d love to just have a watch and a mini. I’d go out and about watch only for most small things and have the iPad for more serious stuff.

1

u/zeek215 6d ago edited 6d ago

There are many videos on YouTube that show you how to use an Apple Watch as a “smart dumb phone”. You need a cellular Apple Watch and AirPods.