iPad mini Advice on iPad mini vs iPad air for gift

[Lotharseven]

Hi all,

I’m looking for advice about which iPad to get for my wife’s bday. Her use case is mostly consumption and light photo editing/organization/reading. She’s not a power user or gamer. The iPad Air is probably overkill and I honestly think the form factor of the mini would be plus since she has been doing all of this on her iPhone 13 mini. She will switch to our M1 13” Air when she has to organize/delete a lot of photos. My main concerns are talk of the screen not bright enough and poor optimization of scaling icons/text/apps. I have an M1 13” iPad Pro myself and couldn’t see going smaller than 11” but most everyone raves about the portability of the mini. Also, we’re close to 60 years old if that factors into any thoughts.

Thanks

 

[vanilla_prison]

I would honestly go with the 11” Air. I just bought my wife one as a “retirement” gift (tomorrow is her last day of work, she’s going to be a SAHM) and she loves it. She does photo editing and junk journaling, reads books, plays simple little games, and other minor uses. The 11” is the perfect size where it’s not too big like the 13” models, but also no too small. It’s still incredibly portable, and gives you enough screen real estate to do what you want with it. I think she would be very happy with the Air.

 

[shakopeemn]

I have an M1 13” iPad Pro myself and couldn’t see going smaller than 11” but most everyone raves about the portability of the mini. Also, we’re close to 60 years old if that factors into any thoughts.

Similar circumstance in our home, my spouse uses a 10" iPad as her daily goto. I have a hard enough time adjusting to that model. At our age I would not go mini for either of us. I do think the 11" Air would be ideal in that it's much easier to handle than a 13" and a bit larger display than a basic iPad.

Best.

 

[Lotharseven]

Thanks for the replies. It seems like you get a lot more in the air for not that much more $. It feels like the mini should be $399.

 

[vanilla_prison]

Thanks for the replies. It seems like you get a lot more in the air for not that much more $. It feels like the mini should be $399.

The mini’s only claim to fame is that it’s ultra portable and the screen has the highest PPI of any iPad. Other than that, the Air is a better choice. Bigger screen, better processor (which means you can do things like extended monitor), and better accessories. It’ll last her for years

 

[wilberforce]

I have a mini and an 11”. There are very few usage cases where the mini is better; you almost need to have a special situation where the small size is essential and trumps everything else. I used it mounted on the dash for off-road navigation. In all other cases I find the mini is a nuisance to use. For some reason text often seems smaller and harder to read than on a phone.
One possible good use for a mini is as a book reader. But really, a Kindle is better for this.
I am trading in my mini for another 11”

 

[TechRunner]

As someone who owns a Mini 7, I say go for the Air. I purchased the Mini for a very specific use, as a high-powered Kindle that allows me to read books but also allows me to do minor tablet "stuff" when needed. I love the portability of it and use it as an ebook reader about 80% of the time. It is fine for the other 20% of things I do with it (watching parts of MLB games, scrolling through photos, etc.), but if I didn't have such a one-dimensional use for it, I would definitely have an 11" tablet as it seems like it would be the sweet spot for me.

 

[Lotharseven]

Thanks for all the help. Went with an iPad Air 11” M3 256gb.

I do have a question about charging this new iPad. Are the charging ports on these real sensitive? I have a charger and cable that I’ve been using for a long time with my M1 iPad Pro, M1 MacBook Air and iPhone 16, and they all charge fine. I plugged this new iPad in and it does the beeping and flashing the battery symbol. It’s an Apple charger with 3rd party cable. I looked it up and it talks about a charging port obstruction or bad cable/charger etc. I used the included cable and charger and it was fine. I also made sure the cable was fully seated with the existing cord. Weird.

 

[1rottenapple]

I have a regular size iPhone air, a mini 6th gen iPad, and 2018 iPad Pro. I use the 6th gen iPad mini when I’m at home. It’s the perfect size for my use, which is video, some note pad use, and browsing. My 2018 is my external monitor and dedicated note pad for journaling (it’d old and I find the display too large for safari browsing and unwieldy for video around the house).

I think she’d like the mini. I don’t understand what scaling issues your mentioning it’s fine for me. And indoors it’s bright. When outdoors it when the brightness seems lacking but then again iPad Air have the same display nits as the mini or not much better. You need to go with the pro for bright display and spent even more than the air or mini.

 

[Josieb1]

I have a Mini and love it but I bought it to use in bed as my main iPad is a Pro 11. I wouldn’t have a Mini as my only iPad.

 

[rui no onna]

I have all iPad sizes and my 69yo parents find the mini too small and the 12.9" Pro too big. They prefer 10-11" models.

My dad still uses his 9.7" iPad 5th gen as his go-to despite having a newer iPad. My mom recently replaced her iPad 7th gen with the 11" iPad (A16).

 

[StoneJack]

I have latest Mini and 11 inch Air M1.
They are different models for different usage.
Mini is good in the bedroom for reading and watching, sometimes as a travel device.
With Air, you can do more browsing, gaming and occasional work as well.

 

[UltimateSyn]

I would go for the Air over the mini if photo editing is in mind as a use case, for sure. Just gives you a more usable canvas.