The iPad Mini has a cult following.
People love its 7.9-inch
display, which is smaller than
the standard iPad's 9.7-inch
display. It's popular with businesses
too, from Southwest Airlines to
Chili's restaurants.
But, importantly, it hasn't
been updated in 3.5 years.
Until now.
The new one isn't just some
minor upgrade with low cost parts.
It's even more powerful
than last year's 10.5-inch
iPad Pro with a new A12 processor.
The same one that's in Apple's
iPhone Xs and Xs Max.
It's a beast in a form factor
that's about the size of a book.
I own the more expensive 11-inch iPad Pro
but the iPad Mini is my new
favorite. It starts at $399 and has
everything you need out of a tablet.
It's perfect for gaming, reading the
news, watching movies and now with
Apple Pencil support,
even taking notes.
I already have a big screen on my
iPhone Xs Max but the Apple Pencil
support on the iPad Mini allowed me to
take notes while I was hanging out
on the couch or to doodle
while I was watching TV.
Apple didn't sacrifice here.
At this price you get a fully
laminated display, which means there's no
gap between the screen and the glass.
And you also get the headphone jack,
which the iPad Pro doesn't have.
It's compact and it multitasks like
more expensive iPads, allowing you to
run two apps side by side and a
movie and picture in picture mode all at
once. And that's something
an iPhone can't do.
And speaking of power, it also supports
all of the augmented reality apps.
My wife and I had a lot of fun
using an app called JigSpace, that shows an
interactive 3D image on top
of the real world.
Given its tiny form factor, it was
much easier to carry around with me
than my iPad Pro and my laptop.
But it offers much of the same
functionality I use the iPad Pro for.
And finally battery life
was pretty good.
Apple promises up to 10 hours.
I got about 6 hours of screen time
but I was also downloading all sorts of
stuff when I was setting up the iPad.
Under the hood is great, but
damn this thing looks old.
Apple didn't update the
design at all.
It's still has the home
button instead of Face I.D.
and it looks exactly like the
iPad Mini that launched 3.5
years ago.
Also, it doesn't have full stereo speakers
on the top and the bottom like
Apple's iPad Pro does.
And the cameras are OK but not great.
I took a picture of my dog
Mabel and it looked a little blurry.
You don't get fancy features like portrait
mode, which is only in the new iPad Pros.
Also, it's a little confusing that
this uses the older Apple Pencil
instead of the new one.
That means it's still charges awkwardly in
the lightning port instead of on
the side of the iPads, like
on the new iPad Pros.
And speaking of charging, I wish Apple
updated this to USB-C as well.
But I don't have
many other complaints.
I really like what you
get for the price.
The iPad Mini is for people who want
a smaller iPad and there are lots of
them, since Apple continued to sell
the older one for 3.5 years without updating it.
If you just want an iPad, you
should consider saving money and buying the
regular 9.7-inch
model. It's a year old and not
as powerful but costs only $329.
If you want better performance and a
bigger screen consider the new iPad
Air, which is only $100
more than the iPad Mini.
I think everybody should at
least consider the iPad Mini.
I think you're going
to like its size.
It offers a lot of
features for the price.
Ultimately, it's a near perfect update to
the old iPad Mini, which is
really slow and stale compared
to the current crop.
I love it and I think you will too.
