If you are used to OLEDs, these devices are a hard pass
So I tried it and ... returned it hours later
Screen is dimmer yellower in a noticeable way and really narrow viewing angles I will get a pic or two up shortly showing it But I think it looks worse in person
Also looking at mini5 then 6, on 6 I could see faint runny horizontal lines in solid colors for a few seconds before my eyes adjusted me no likey. Wasn’t present on mini 5 at all. The text on mini 5 was subtlely crisper than mini 6 as well I could see it causing some strain I wouldn’t know where it’s coming from. Possibly.
Jelly roll was actually surprisingly the least of my issues with the panel though without is always preferred, but I tried mostly on light mode I heard dark it’s even more apparent. But oddly if everything else was sorted I wouldn’t consider this a deal breaker alone. Personally.
Came with iOS15.4 and I dunno it felt unoptimized. No faster and maybe even slower than 14.3 on my mini 5 I understand people griping about iPadOS now. It’s weird though my m1 11” pro on 15.1 is better than 14.5 was but14.5 was the shipping os so maybe more kinks to work out with m1 out the gate. Or m1 has so much overhead that iPadOS 15 can’t stop it
But even app drawer animation is terrible even disregarding a 60hz display just so chunky in movement it was gross. And not jelly related. And sliding into some overlay widgets not that graceful.
New style Mini will eventually be awesome but I can’t cope with those compromises.
iPad mini 5 and 11” M1 is the combo for now until maybe mini 7? Maybe?
If the panel was even on par with mini 5 it would be a contender for a keeper but it’s silly to regress really
The display reminds me of how mini 1 was inferior quality wise to iPad 2 though same res and specs on paper size aside,
Same with mini 2 compared to air 1 / iPad 4 at the time
It reminds me of mini 1 in that the draw is the form factor and the screen is a concession
I Thought mini 4 looked a lot like air2 equivalent
And mini 5 close to 9.7 pro though a slight regression but not in super glaring ways for the unobservant eye
I won’t fault anyone for loving the device though and not seeing a difference or having a bad panel mini 5 next to it or upgrading from a model prior to mini 5 without the reference point.
I really think it’s shameful charging 500 Msrp for it and my hope is they hiked it to give it some breathing room for spec bumps in later generations. We’ve seen this with iPhones and pro pads. Granted I don’t like price increases but if they set a base for higher standards it’s alright
The $100 increase for 9.7 pro was justified IMO from air 2. This, nah
Same with $800 for a12x 11” in 2018. Now it’s $800 for an m1 11” not a steal but it’s packed
Same with iPhone X $1k. Now the oled screen is top notch and three cameras and better build. It cozies up to the price, some breathing room for specs. In theory.