iPad mini AnandTech's iPad mini w/ Retina review is out!

[syd430]

Here's the review:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7519/apple-ipad-mini-with-retina-display-reviewed

And the page that we've all been waiting for (Page 3 - Display):

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7519/apple-ipad-mini-with-retina-display-reviewed/3


Key tidbits regarding the display:

In the conclusion of my iPad Air review I wrote about the new mini as finally being a no-compromises smaller iPad. Much like my assertions last year of a Retina mini not being in the cards, it turns out that I was wrong on this point as well. Although display resolution is no longer a concern on the mini, color gamut hasn’t changed between the old and new minis.

The iPad mini with Retina Display has the same color gamut as the standard iPad mini, which is narrower than the iPad Air and less than the sRGB coverage we normally look for. The biggest issue here is that there are other smaller tablets in this price range that do offer sRGB coverage (e.g. Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HDX 8.9).

The difference is small but apparent, particularly if you’re used to panels with full sRGB coverage like the iPad Air or any of the rMBPs/iMacs. The biggest deviations are in reds/blues and magenta in between as you can tell from the CIE chart above.

Within its gamut coverage, the mini’s panel is fairly accurate. A look at our GMB checker test shows performance competitive with the Nexus 7 and not far off the 4th generation iPad. Grayscale reproduction is also quite good. The display looks really good otherwise, but you don’t get the same visual punch you do on the iPad Air.

Black levels are competitive and contrast ratio stays fixed at around 800:1 regardless of whether we’re talking about max brightness or the 200 nits we run all of our battery life tests at. Max brightness is down a bit compared to the iPad Air.

 

[fanchee]

I've been looking forward to reading this, thanks!

I think it's a great review. He concedes the colors aren't as great as the Air. But portability may still win out for many, many people. I'm thrilled with my retina mini.

 

[ZBoater]

Oh no. More gamut bashing ahead. Hang on!

I would encourage a thorough read. Conclusion - ain't no big deal.

 

[master-ceo]

My iPad 4 is still in beast mode

 

[Oppressed]

Didn't really tell us anything we didn't already know/found out ourselves. It does but some hard numbers on it though.

 

[richardbb85]

My iPad 4 is still in beast mode

agreee

 

[FrankB1191]

Oh no. More gamut bashing ahead. Hang on!

I would encourage a thorough read. Conclusion - ain't no big deal.

Anand's conclusion:

"As much as I prefer the iPad Air’s display and as much as I love having more performance, I’d probably lean towards the mini personally. The lower weight and smaller form factor are just tough to give up. Apple could’ve made the decision a lot easier by giving the mini true display parity with the Air though."

 

[Puonti]

Although display resolution is no longer a concern on the mini, color gamut hasn’t changed between the old and new minis.

I was glad to see confirmation for this. For a while there all the Mini Retina vs Air display comparisons were making me wonder if the Retina Mini had become worse than the Mini was (color-wise).

 

[DisplacedMic]

cool, thanks for posting

 

[Nozuka]

i'm pretty sure they'll fix that with the next ipad mini, since the competition seems to be better in this area.

which is right around the time i'll want to replace my old nexus 7.

if they need a difference between the air and the mini - besides the size - they'll probably do it with touchID.

 

[DisplacedMic]

Didn't really tell us anything we didn't already know/found out ourselves. It does but some hard numbers on it though.

isn't that the case with every review?

my boss loves to say that "a week on the bench can save you half an hour in the library"

 

[technopimp]

So wait, let's see-we suffer a week of people absolutely losing their minds over the "horrible" and "unusable" display, saying that they'll essentially have no choice but to have to get the Air (or stick with an older model) instead. But them "the" review comes out saying basically it doesn't matter, and now people will go "phew! I was worried for a minute-now I KNOW it's an awesome device!"?

Is that what's happening?

I guess if people want to believe Anand over any "normal" person who said they don't see any issues that's fine, but if it's someone who has already bought one and been complaining about it and then will suddenly find it acceptable just because he said so, that seems nuts to me.

 

[locust76]

I was glad to see confirmation for this. For a while there all the Mini Retina vs Air display comparisons were making me wonder if the Retina Mini had become worse than the Mini was (color-wise).

Yeah, it's kind of sad that Apple chose to make the rMini a less-than-premium product in that regard. Since I ordered mine on the day they came out without prior knowledge of this, I guess I'll have to wait and see if I can live with the washed out colors or not, though last year I was really close to getting the 1st gen mini, but wound up getting the iPad 4 instead, so maybe the size and weight will be enough to win me over.

----------

So wait, let's see-we suffer a week of people absolutely losing their minds over the "horrible" and "unusable" display, saying that they'll essentially have no choice but to have to get the Air (or stick with an older model) instead. But them "the" review comes out saying basically it doesn't matter, and now people will go "phew! I was worried for a minute-now I KNOW it's an awesome device!"?

Is that what's happening?

No, not at all. If anything, all the douchebags running around slapping people for complaining saying that there's nothing wrong with the display, it's perfect, you're nuts, you're nitpicking, can all now go screw themselves since it's been officially confirmed that the rMini has an inferior display in terms of color reproduction than even Android tablets that cost almost half as much.

 

[Anti-Lucifer]

Yeah, it's kind of sad that Apple chose to make the rMini a less-than-premium product in that regard.

No, not at all. If anything, all the douchebags running around slapping people for complaining saying that there's nothing wrong with the display, it's perfect, you're nuts, you're nitpicking, can all now go screw themselves since it's been officially confirmed that the rMini has an inferior display in terms of color reproduction than even Android tablets that cost almost half as much.

^^^this is so true:

Typical sheep behavior (and mods, please don't send me warnings for this is not name calling to any one specifically, you moderators have gotten really sensitive these days). When the evidence points out there is definitely some "washy" (pun intended) display issues going on with the new retina mini, you have these apple defenders come and say it's not even a problem or it doesn't exist. Like I said for people who use these devices in their photography workflow, it does affect them greatly. But no, it can't be true because there is a shiny apple logo on the back and that's automatically not true for apple to give you something less than superior on a $400 tablet vs even a $229 tablet

This is apple's way of gimping buyers of this new mini and you just wait, come 2014, apple will have a 3rd generation mini that will magically support the same color gamut as the iPad AIR and these loyal apple sheeps will come and praise apple being superior. Apple trickle feeds you people tiny features for every iteration of their product line. This is how they make money and I'm sick and tired of these tactics. Give people what a $400 mini tablet is worth, not something like this!

 

[ZBoater]

...it's been officially confirmed that the rMini has an inferior display in terms of color reproduction than even Android tablets that cost almost half as much.

Can you link to this "official" confirmation of inferiority? Because all I read was a third party review that said the screen covered a smaller gamut, but the reviewer would still pick the Mini over the Air.

And is a smaller gamut "inferior" to the Android tablets? What's the battery life on those tablets??? Was this a conscious design decision to maintain excellent battery life or a machiavellical scheme by Apple to push "inferior" displays to maximize profit?

Geez Louise.

 

[Anti-Lucifer]

Can you link to this "official" confirmation of inferiority? Because all I read was a third party review that said the screen covered a smaller gamut, but the reviewer would still pick the Mini over the Air.

And is a smaller gamut "inferior" to the Android tablets? What's the battery life on those tablets??? Was this a conscious design decision to maintain excellent batter life or a machiavellical scheme by Apple to push "inferior" displays to maximize profit?

Geez Louise.

^^^Zboater - sorry man, it's inferior because it's the same as a mini 1 and yes, the choice comes down to personal preference but you didn't read this clearly:

"I suspect the justification here is Apple likely views the bigger iPad as being a better fit for photographers/those who care about color reproduction, but it’s a shame that this is a tradeoff that exists between the two iPads especially given how good Apple is about sRGB coverage in nearly all of its other displays."

 

[AppleRobert]

I've been looking forward to reading this, thanks!

I think it's a great review. He concedes the colors aren't as great as the Air. But portability may still win out for many, many people. I'm thrilled with my retina mini.

It's lighter and more comfortable to hold for long periods of time. AND it's cheaper and one can use the prior accessories. Many cost minded folks out there who will take that into consideration.

99% of iPad rMini owners don't even know about this forum and they aren't going to notice the color difference because they will not compare it to the Air or other retina iPads.

 

[ZBoater]

^^^Zboater - sorry man, it's inferior because it's the same as a mini 1 and yes, the choice comes down to personal preference but you didn't read this clearly:

"I suspect the justification here is Apple likely views the bigger iPad as being a better fit for photographers/those who care about color reproduction, but it’s a shame that this is a tradeoff that exists between the two iPads especially given how good Apple is about sRGB coverage in nearly all of its other displays."

He suspects. Well, I suspect Apple did this to maintain insane battery life in as small a package as possible. I mean, if we are going to make stuff up...

 

[Dlanod]

AnandTech's iPad mini w/ Retina review is out!

Interesting that Anand's model didn't have image retention. To be honest, if mind hadn't had this I'd probably have kept it. But this and the disappointing display - and it is disappointing to me as I was expecting an iPhone quality display - means that it had to go.

So it's Air and old Mini for me for a while yet.

 

[AppleRobert]

^^^Zboater - sorry man, it's inferior because it's the same as a mini 1 and yes, the choice comes down to personal preference but you didn't read this clearly:

"I suspect the justification here is Apple likely views the bigger iPad as being a better fit for photographers/those who care about color reproduction, but it’s a shame that this is a tradeoff that exists between the two iPads especially given how good Apple is about sRGB coverage in nearly all of its other displays."

Just like RAM, for 99% of owners it ain't going to make a difference so ......

For those folks where both or either matter alot, buy something else.

 

[Anti-Lucifer]

Don't get confused here, the iPad mini retina is such a great package - the 326ppi ultra dense resolution and yes, for millions of regular people, the color gamut isn't a deal breaker but the biggest problem I'm having is how apple is behaving these days. They intentionally do these sort of tactics when they could just give you the superior color gamut retina display in this form factor but they are saving it for part 3 in 2014 to sell.

The margin profits are just too enticing for apple these days and yes they are a business to make money but seriously, you have loyal buyers who wished they wouldn't trickle feed these sort of upgrades year after year. I know they own the tablet space but it pains me to have to say this retina display isn't the same and I can't buy a mini retina knowing they gimped on the colors. Then you also have that stupid image retention issues!

 

[ZBoater]

...the biggest problem I'm having is how apple is behaving these days. They intentionally do these sort of tactics when they could just give you the superior color gamut retina display in this form factor but they are saving it for part 3 in 2014 to sell...

Why do you come to this conclusion? Why not think they've included what their design team deemed possible to mass produce at this point in time? Why not think they opted for better battery life, and that next year the display and battery technology will advance to the point you can get 100% gamut, 10 hours of battery AND a Mini package? I mean, what is your source of ascribing evil intent to Apple's design decisions?

 

[FrankB1191]

^^^Zboater - sorry man, it's inferior because it's the same as a mini 1 .......

"I suspect the justification here is Apple likely views the bigger iPad as being a better fit for photographers/those who care about color reproduction, but it’s a shame that this is a tradeoff that exists between the two iPads especially given how good Apple is about sRGB coverage in nearly all of its other displays."

And yet Anand says he would choose the rMini over the Air for himself. I guess he either doesn't care about color reproduction, or he's not going to use it for editing videos and photos.

The rMini is not the same as the Mini 1 in terms of performance, and does better than the iPad 4.

 

[Brittany246]

So wait, let's see-we suffer a week of people absolutely losing their minds over the "horrible" and "unusable" display, saying that they'll essentially have no choice but to have to get the Air (or stick with an older model) instead. But them "the" review comes out saying basically it doesn't matter, and now people will go "phew! I was worried for a minute-now I KNOW it's an awesome device!"?

Is that what's happening?

I guess if people want to believe Anand over any "normal" person who said they don't see any issues that's fine, but if it's someone who has already bought one and been complaining about it and then will suddenly find it acceptable just because he said so, that seems nuts to me.

Yeah, he's treated like a god around here for some reason. The first time I heard about him was last month. I personally don't care what some random reviewer has to say about a product.

 

[doboy]

^^^this is so true:

Typical sheep behavior (and mods, please don't send me warnings for this is not name calling to any one specifically, you moderators have gotten really sensitive these days). When the evidence points out there is definitely some "washy" (pun intended) display issues going on with the new retina mini, you have these apple defenders come and say it's not even a problem or it doesn't exist. Like I said for people who use these devices in their photography workflow, it does affect them greatly. But no, it can't be true because there is a shiny apple logo on the back and that's automatically not true for apple to give you something less than superior on a $400 tablet vs even a $229 tablet

This is apple's way of gimping buyers of this new mini and you just wait, come 2014, apple will have a 3rd generation mini that will magically support the same color gamut as the iPad AIR and these loyal apple sheeps will come and praise apple being superior. Apple trickle feeds you people tiny features for every iteration of their product line. This is how they make money and I'm sick and tired of these tactics. Give people what a $400 mini tablet is worth, not something like this!

Man, you really sound like a broken record in every post dealing with gamut complaints. We get it. You're not happy with Apple's decision to use an "inferior" display panel. I think you just need to accept it and move on.