iPad Another iPad Air and Mini question...

[Fireball Dragon]

Simple question: As the iPad Air and Mini have the same resolution, will the iPad Air screen simply display the same amount of information, just bigger?

Sorry of this is a silly question and listed elsewhere. Just wanted a straight answer. Thanks in advance!

-Andy

 

[Zepaw]

From what I understand its more the other way around, the mini is the Air's screen but condensed. It means they are essentially the same but it can provide a slight advantage of clarity to the mini. The Air loses nothing though.

 

[meistervu]

Simple question: As the iPad Air and Mini have the same resolution, will the iPad Air screen simply display the same amount of information, just bigger?

Sorry of this is a silly question and listed elsewhere. Just wanted a straight answer. Thanks in advance!

-Andy

Yes, you got it.

There are those who claims that the Mini being smaller with the same number of pixels is sharper. I doubt that is the case. I suspect if you have really good near vision, you may be able to see the pixels if you really try, but that doesn't mean it's at all distracting the way the first generation Mini was with lower resolution.

Here is an example: I use a Macbook Pro 13" Retina connected to a 24" display conncurently. The Retina screen was much higher in density, yet I find the 24" screen not distractingly pixelated. Sure, if I think about it, I can see the pixels on the 24" screen. But that's not how my brain normally work. I look at images and words for meaning, and unless the screen are really pixellated, it is not distracting enough that I notice the pixels.

 

[Fireball Dragon]

Ah, thanks for the replies. That is excellent.

I think I will go for the iPad Air in this case. Although I love the mini, zooming in and out is sometimes inconvenient. My (corrected!) eyesight is fine, but reading bigger text is a little more comfortable.

Thanks again.

 

[ZBoater]

...I suspect if you have really good near vision, you may be able to see the pixels if you really try...

Really? On the screen that is supposedly designed to have pixels so small that the human retina cannot distinguish them, thus the "retina display" designation?

Ok. I will look. There is no try.

 

[benji888]

Yes, they display the same information, both 2048x1536 pixels showing the exact same amount of information. So, for instance, the status bar at top, the clock will appear a bit smaller on the mini. You have the same number of app icons on screen. (No extra rows on full-size iPad). This is not the same thing as going from 3.5 to 4" iPhone screens, that's entirely different.

the iPad Mini retina has the same screen resolution (326PPI) as the retina iPhones, so it will look as sharp as the iPhones.

the retina iPads are not quite as sharp (264PPI), they have slightly bigger pixels since they have the same amount of pixels as the retina mini.

So, on one hand, the mini retina's screen, you won't be able to see the pixels. But, on the other hand, (either mini), is a reduced version of the full sized iPad screen, so, some things are shrunk down.