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jwolf6589

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Dec 15, 2010
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IOS 11 was slowing down my Mini 2 too much. Actually the slowdown started after I upgraded from IOS 9 to IOS 10 and it was annoying me too much. I hope I did not buy the new model right before they release the iPad Mini 5 but I doubt it. Anyone have this model and do you like it? How well does it run IOS 11? Mine is upgrading to IOS 11 as I type. One annoying thing about the 4 is that its only sold in 1 size. I would have taken the 32GB model but its only sold in 128GB. I have lived with 16GB for 4 years with the 2, how will I fill up 128GB's?
 
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IOS 11 was slowing down my Mini 2 too much. Actually the slowdown started after I upgraded from IOS 9 to IOS 10 and it was annoying me too much. I hope I did not buy the new model right before they release the iPad Mini 5 but I doubt it. Anyone have this model and do you like it? How well does it run IOS 11? Mine is upgrading to IOS 11 as I type. One annoying thing about the 4 is that its only sold in 1 size. I would have taken the 32GB model but its only sold in 128GB. I have lived with 16GB for 4 years with the 2, how will I fill up 128GB's?

It’s better to have more than less. If you’re struggling to fill it up then just download crap.
 
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Yeah its a shame that it only comes in one size, but at least it is still on the shelves! But as mentioned above, it would be nice to have that space to download files for offline use. I wouldnt mind having downloaded images of my entire photo library or iCloud drive/iBooks available without internet :) but that is just me. Maybe even load some movies onto it. Either way good for you on your purchase! Ive used my brothers mini 2 on iOS10 and it was atrociously slow! I havent had an issue on my mini 4 with iOS10, I dont expect one with 11, but let us know. I personally dont think Ill be updating mine though unless some of my favorite apps force my hand
 
I love my ipad mini 2, but is barely hanging in there. Numerous cracks in the screen which i can live with, but the home button is completely dead. Had to set up a "virtual" home button which works okay, but sometimes dissappears and i have to restart the ipad which is a pain. Lastly, it's just sloooooow. Was hoping for an ipad mini update, cause the ipad mini 4 is already 2 yrs old...but nothing was announced yet. I hear talk of Apple discontinuing the mini altogether, which would suck. Ideally, i'd love an ipad mini pro cause as an artist, i would love to use the Apple pencil. I'll wait alittle longer, but i just may have to get one of the 10.5" ipad pros.
 
I upgraded from a Mini 2 to a Mini 4 a couple of months ago. Ummed and ahhed (I though about going Pro) but I prefer the size and portability of Mini. In short a huge performance upgrade and a much better screen; I also went from 32gb to 128gb. It runs iOS 11 really well, even handling the multitasking features.

I use it for reading, browsing, automation and as a portable writing setup
 
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I love my ipad mini 2, but is barely hanging in there. Numerous cracks in the screen which i can live with, but the home button is completely dead. Had to set up a "virtual" home button which works okay, but sometimes dissappears and i have to restart the ipad which is a pain. Lastly, it's just sloooooow. Was hoping for an ipad mini update, cause the ipad mini 4 is already 2 yrs old...but nothing was announced yet. I hear talk of Apple discontinuing the mini altogether, which would suck. Ideally, i'd love an ipad mini pro cause as an artist, i would love to use the Apple pencil. I'll wait alittle longer, but i just may have to get one of the 10.5" ipad pros.

Discontinuing the Mini? Who has said this?
 
Discontinuing the Mini? Who has said this?

No official word. Just rumors. But just the fact that the mini hasn't been updated in over 2 years now doesn't look good. How much longer will the ipad mini 4 be able to run each years ios update? Seems like ios 11 runs fine. But i think by the time ios 12 rolls out next fall...it may not. I would imagine that if Apple plans to update the mini, it'll happen by that time. If not, i don't think it bodes well for the future of the mini ipad. Nobody can say for sure what Apple is gonna do, but the fact that there hasnt been an updatein over two years says alot.
 
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It's an old rumor. Go read several years of back posts in the iPod forum and look at the time period between the Gen 5 and Gen 6 iPod Touch introductions. I think it's too early to say there won't be any 5. And please notice that that rumor, which was reported in *May 2017* has not, to my knowledge, been confirmed in any way since then.
 
I've had mine since the launch, hence it's 16GB.

Love it. It gets used for most things, if I'm travelling (and hence off work) i'll leave my phone at home and use the Mini for everything, as people from work can't ring me, but I still receive texts. ;)
 
Does anyone think there'll be an iPad update this fall?

Was this summer's Pro updates all we'll get of any iPad until next year?

The only thing that can really come this fall is a mini as it's long overdue an update.

Everything else has been updated this year so it's highly unlikely that there will be anymore for iPad aside from the especially rare possibility of a new mini.

The iPad 2017 was out in March, I would expect it to get the A10 in March 2018, unlike the mini with the A8, it can actually take advantage of all the new features of iOS 11 with its A9 chip (HEVC h/w decode, AR kit etc) so there's no rush to upgrade it just yet.

The pros with the A10x still destroy the A11 gpu wise, so there's a long wait there too.
 
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I've got a mini 2 at work that I use as a reader at work (over the years I've bought a ton of O'Reilly pdfs) since performance isn't that critical, and last week I bought a mini 4 for the home on the chance that it's the last of the minis. At 128 GB the latter holds my ~90GB music collection and has some headroom.
 
Does anyone think there'll be an iPad update this fall?

Was this summer's Pro updates all we'll get of any iPad until next year?
Im hopeful but doubtful. I think the last event Apple will hold this year will be the Mac event sometime this month, maybe next. But again, I doubt any iPad refreshes this soon.
 
No official word. Just rumors. But just the fact that the mini hasn't been updated in over 2 years now doesn't look good. How much longer will the ipad mini 4 be able to run each years ios update? Seems like ios 11 runs fine. But i think by the time ios 12 rolls out next fall...it may not. I would imagine that if Apple plans to update the mini, it'll happen by that time. If not, i don't think it bodes well for the future of the mini ipad. Nobody can say for sure what Apple is gonna do, but the fact that there hasnt been an updatein over two years says alot.

iOS 11 on my mini 4 runs way better than on my iPhone 7.

I also love the dock feature.
 
Does anyone think there'll be an iPad update this fall?

Was this summer's Pro updates all we'll get of any iPad until next year?

The firmware leaks already confirmed no iPad mini update. So did Ming-Chi Kuo.

But some posters are perpetually hopeful.
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It's an old rumor. Go read several years of back posts in the iPod forum and look at the time period between the Gen 5 and Gen 6 iPod Touch introductions. I think it's too early to say there won't be any 5. And please notice that that rumor, which was reported in *May 2017* has not, to my knowledge, been confirmed in any way since then.

iPod is a $199 gateway product into the App Store and iOS ecosystem. Apple updates it because it's a welcome mat for kids and youth. The iPad mini doesn't serve that purpose at $399.
 
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I don't know if it's got much of a future. I think Apple will keep it around for its original purpose - to forestall the hemorrhaging of iOS users to 7/8 inch Android tablets and Kindles. Once they feel that's no longer an issue, it's gone.

It may be the odd duck in the iOS line up, but those of us who like it do so for reasons that are unique to it. I don't want a plus sized phone (I still use a 5s). My commute and preference for reading in portrait mode, make the Mini the perfect device for me.
 
I don't know if it's got much of a future. I think Apple will keep it around for its original purpose - to forestall the hemorrhaging of iOS users to 7/8 inch Android tablets and Kindles. Once they feel that's no longer an issue, it's gone.

It may be the odd duck in the iOS line up, but those of us who like it do so for reasons that are unique to it. I don't want a plus sized phone (I still use a 5s). My commute and preference for reading in portrait mode, make the Mini the perfect device for me.

I agree. I bought mine primarily for reading and a replacement for paper books. If IOS 12 & 13 slow the thing down like what IOS 11 did to the Mini 2 I will not upgrade the OS past iOS 11.
 
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Great device, congrats! I love ios11 on the mini 4, but my experience has been that its burns through the battery much more quickly. Otherwise, huge upgrade from ios10.
 
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It's great for that, especially novels.

Its a shame that Apple does not see it this way.

I don’t think the primary iPad user base is made of readers. In fact probably books are one of the least used apps on the iPad. Generally casual games and social apps are always at the top of the list.

It’s certain that Apple doesn’t do things just because they “feel” like. There’s hard data to prove their decisions - bar the occasional “courage” - are made on fact rather than fiction.

Most people who like to read on the go generally go for a cheaper but dedicated ebook reader which is specifically suited for that purpose.

From my anecdotal observation out and about, I haven’t seen many mini users here in London. In fact I’ve seen most 9.7-10.5 category iPads around than mini.

Edit - apologies, just checked the kindle app is 19th on the AppStore. That’s not bad at all.
 
I don’t think the primary iPad user base is made of readers. In fact probably books are one of the least used apps on the iPad. Generally casual games and social apps are always at the top of the list.

It’s certain that Apple doesn’t do things just because they “feel” like. There’s hard data to prove their decisions - bar the occasional “courage” - are made on fact rather than fiction.

Most people who like to read on the go generally go for a cheaper but dedicated ebook reader which is specifically suited for that purpose.

From my anecdotal observation out and about, I haven’t seen many mini users here in London. In fact I’ve seen most 9.7-10.5 category iPads around than mini.

Edit - apologies, just checked the kindle app is 19th on the AppStore. That’s not bad at all.
The Mini is really a niche device. I love the size for reading, but I agree that it's probably only a small percentage of Mini owners that use it for that. I would wager that the majority of Mini owners are kids that use it for games and early-school stuff.
 
IOS 11 was slowing down my Mini 2 too much. Actually the slowdown started after I upgraded from IOS 9 to IOS 10 and it was annoying me too much. I hope I did not buy the new model right before they release the iPad Mini 5 but I doubt it. Anyone have this model and do you like it? How well does it run IOS 11? Mine is upgrading to IOS 11 as I type. One annoying thing about the 4 is that its only sold in 1 size. I would have taken the 32GB model but its only sold in 128GB. I have lived with 16GB for 4 years with the 2, how will I fill up 128GB's?
If you're struggling to fill it up, then just leave it empty. NAND flash works better when there's plenty of free space anyway.

The Mini 4 has a laminated display while the 2017 iPad 9.7 does not. I expect the extra cost of that display is why Apple only offers the Mini 4 in 128GB capacity to partly justify the price premium over the 2017 iPad. Out of warranty replacement cost for the Mini 4 is actually higher than the 2017 iPad.
 
I don’t think the primary iPad user base is made of readers. In fact probably books are one of the least used apps on the iPad. Generally casual games and social apps are always at the top of the list.
I have worked in hospital settings and have seen many clinicians (including new Residences and Interns) using the iPad minis as quick reference tools. They load up lots of policy and procedure PDFs as well as job aids related to Electronic Health Record applications.
 
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If you're struggling to fill it up, then just leave it empty. NAND flash works better when there's plenty of free space anyway.

The Mini 4 has a laminated display while the 2017 iPad 9.7 does not. I expect the extra cost of that display is why Apple only offers the Mini 4 in 128GB capacity to partly justify the price premium over the 2017 iPad. Out of warranty replacement cost for the Mini 4 is actually higher than the 2017 iPad.

Is that why the Mini 4 is so much brighter and clearer than my Mini 2?
 
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