Following the start of orders for the Retina iPad mini a few hours ago, Apple has issued a press release officially announcing the launch. The release notes that the Retina iPad mini will not only be available for online orders, but also through the in-store Personal Pickup mechanism by which customers can check stocks at their local Apple retail stores and purchase online before heading to their stores to pick up their orders. Walk-in sales will apparently not be offered until supplies improve.
Stocks of the Retina iPad mini have apparently yet to make their way to Apple's U.S. retail stores, as all stores are currently showing no availability for pickup, but limited supplies should be arriving shortly. Some of Apple's international stores do, however, already have stock available for in-store pickup, as noted by MacStories' Federico Viticci, who has placed an order for pickup and confirmed with his local store in Italy that supplies are indeed available.
Availability through Apple's online store appears to be holding up for the time being, with the company's U.S. stores showing the same shipping estimates seen at the time orders went live: 1-3 business days for 16 and 32 GB Wi-Fi models and 5-10 business days for all other models.
Update: Some U.S. retail stores on the East Coast are beginning to show availability of Wi-Fi models for Personal Pickup. Many stores have all 8 color/capacity Wi-Fi configurations available at the moment.
Update 2: Apple has now opened up Personal Pickup availability for a number of its stores across the United States. Many stores are, however, still listing no in-store stock, and those that do have stock are seeing quick sellouts of many models.
Thursday February 5, 2026 12:54 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple turns 50 this year, and its CEO Tim Cook has promised to celebrate the milestone. The big day falls on April 1, 2026.
"I've been unusually reflective lately about Apple because we have been working on what do we do to mark this moment," Cook told employees today, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. "When you really stop and pause and think about the last 50 years, it makes your heart ...
Thursday February 5, 2026 12:22 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple plans to announce the iPhone 17e on Thursday, February 19, according to Macwelt, the German equivalent of Macworld.
The report, citing industry sources, is available in English on Macworld.
Apple announced the iPhone 16e on Wednesday, February 19 last year, so the iPhone 17e would be unveiled exactly one year later if this rumor is accurate. It is quite uncommon for Apple to unveil...
Friday February 6, 2026 3:06 pm PST by Juli Clover
In the iOS 26.4 update that's coming this spring, Apple will introduce a new version of Siri that's going to overhaul how we interact with the personal assistant and what it's able to do.
The iOS 26.4 version of Siri won't work like ChatGPT or Claude, but it will rely on large language models (LLMs) and has been updated from the ground up.
Upgraded Architecture
The next-generation...
Tuesday February 3, 2026 7:47 am PST by Joe Rossignol
While the iOS 26.3 Release Candidate is now available ahead of a public release, the first iOS 26.4 beta is likely still at least a week away. Following beta testing, iOS 26.4 will likely be released to the general public in March or April.
Below, we have recapped known or rumored iOS 26.3 and iOS 26.4 features so far.
iOS 26.3
iPhone to Android Transfer Tool
iOS 26.3 makes it easier...
The iPhone 18 Pro Max will feature a bigger battery for continued best-in-class battery life, according to a known Weibo leaker.
Citing supply chain information, the Weibo user known as "Digital Chat Station" said that the iPhone 18 Pro Max will have a battery capacity of 5,100 to 5,200 mAh. Combined with the efficiency improvements of the A20 Pro chip, made with TSMC's 2nm process, the...
bigger screen / bigger battery / higher clock speed on the A7 chip is kind of a big deal :)
It's a very small deal I think. No one will ever notice the higher clock speed. Screen size is subjective, doesn't make any difference in performance unless you're using it to create work then I could see the bigger screen being beneficial. For 90% of people, it's all e-mail, web browsing, Facebook, Twitter, banking, games.
Just to confirm, has anyone seen a Wifi+Cell available anywhere? I have been checking throughout the day for NYC availability and have not seen anything.
We've added the new iPad mini to our iDevice availability page and notification service. Receive an e-mail when your local Apple Store has the model you want available for in-store pick-up.
