After waiting years between iPad mini releases, another could be on its way with a tasty display upgrade

The iPad Mini is – rather ironically, given its slight frame – starting to feel like a bus. Lovers of the cutesy little sibling to heavier duty iPads finally got a new model last year, and now it looks like another one could come soon.

The news comes from Mark Gurman of Bloomberg, who is widely regarded as a leading voice when it comes to getting the inside track on Apple news. His report suggests that a trio of Apple devices are set to gain an OLED panel – the MacBook Air, iPad Mini and iPad Air.

What's more, it's suggested that the baby of the bunch – the iPad Mini – will get the treatment first, with that model possibly arriving as early as next spring. That fresh technology does come at a cost though, with the model expected to carry a US$100 (approx. £75 / €85 / AU$150) surcharge over the current iteration.

That's going to be a tough pill to swallow. That would take the iPad Mini to US$599, which is a pretty steep for what will most likely only ever be a casual device for consumption.

Still, there are some other bits of tech which are expected to arrive there as well. The model is expected to enjoy better water resistance, thanks to a new speaker system which makes use of vibration technology to remove speaker holes.

That's something we've heard rumours of for years, with the iPhone usually the model cited to take the portless design to market. It certainly seems that the iPad Mini could be a testbed for that ethos, and this would be a perfect first piece of tech for that format.

Another point of note from the report is that the base-level iPad isn't expected to get the technology at all. That's possibly quite obvious – it does feel a little pro-grade for an entry-level device – but worth noting regardless.