Do you feel the iPad Mini 4 was underrated by Apple?

[The Game 161]

Barely got a mention at their event but many here are loving their mini 4 including me with some ditching their air 2 for the mini version.

Do you think the market for the mini is better than what they think? I have both the air 2 and mini 4 but I do find using the mini is so much easier for more tasks when you can't be bothered to use a bigger device first thing in the morning for example or right before bed.

anybody here going to stick with the mini version instead of the bigger air going forward?

 

[Skylitfly]

Well... I currently have Air 2 and next iPad I'll buy is the Pro. Exactly the opposite compared to you.

 

[The Game 161]

Well... I currently have Air 2 and next iPad I'll buy is the Pro. Exactly the opposite compared to you.

Don't get me wrong I use my air alot at home and more than the mini but certain tasks are easier with the mini.

I will still be buying the air 3 when it's out no doubt. Not the pro though.

 

[ron7624]

I have a Mini 4 and an Air 1. I bought my wife and Air 2. To me, the Mini 4 is the go to device for everything.

 

[mcdj]

I have a mini 4 which replaced a mini 2. The screen is a bit nicer, but not night and day. Extra speed is nominally noticeable. I'm already used to Touch ID from the Air 2 and iPhone, so it doesn't have much impact. Overall the 4 feels like a fairly ho hum upgrade.

 

[cardfan]

Barely got a mention at their event but many here are loving their mini 4 including me with some ditching their air 2 for the mini version.

Do you think the market for the mini is better than what they think? I have both the air 2 and mini 4 but I do find using the mini is so much easier for more tasks when you can't be bothered to use a bigger device first thing in the morning for example or right before bed.

anybody here going to stick with the mini version instead of the bigger air going forward?

The Mini was being picked on when the iphone Plus debuted. Apple then sort of played the bully and gave the Mini a few more kicks in the ribs with the Mini 3 "upgrade" and self actualized the speculation that smaller tablets were falling in demand. The Mini 4 was what we should have had with the 3, but Apple's continued desire to put in worse processors in smaller tablets and not give much promotion to it hampers it.

To be clear, when ipads became slower than my iphone, I hardly used them. Why should I use a Mini with an A8 or worse when my iphone is A9? From Ars: The A8 wasn’t all that much faster than the A7—“up to 25 percent,” though in our testing it was often less than that. In Geekbench the A9 is over 50 percent faster than the A8 in both single- and multi-core benchmarks. It’s fast enough that it can match the triple-core A8X in multi-core tests despite having one fewer CPU core, which bodes well for the iPad Pro’s A9X

The Air 2 is still viable (barely but definitely not worth full asking price) as A8x because its processor is triple core. The 6S and 6S Plus match it (and exceed it sometimes) though in performance. The Mini 4 and ones before that are just too slow to want to use vs the rest.

This is one of the reasons why I bought the ipad pro. It's the only ios tablet that is noticeably faster than my iphone.

So no, I don't see buying a Mini again unless it's dirt cheap and even then just for the kids. In fact, Apple needs to give the Air 3 a drastic boost or I won't be interested in that. Most likely I'll end up with the ipad pro again even though I returned it. Using the ipad air one the past few days hasn't been fun after being on steroids. Of course I realize the casual typical user doesn't care anything about performance and is more price oriented. There's still a market especially if Apple cared more about it.

 

[Skylitfly]

The Mini was being picked on when the iphone Plus debuted. Apple then sort of played the bully and gave the Mini a few more kicks in the ribs with the Mini 3 "upgrade" and self actualized the speculation that smaller tablets were falling in demand. The Mini 4 was what we should have had with the 3, but Apple's continued desire to put in worse processors in smaller tablets and not give much promotion to it hampers it.

To be clear, when ipads became slower than my iphone, I hardly used them. Why should I use a Mini with an A8 or worse when my iphone is A9? From Ars: The A8 wasn’t all that much faster than the A7—“up to 25 percent,” though in our testing it was often less than that. In Geekbench the A9 is over 50 percent faster than the A8 in both single- and multi-core benchmarks. It’s fast enough that it can match the triple-core A8X in multi-core tests despite having one fewer CPU core, which bodes well for the iPad Pro’s A9X

The Air 2 is still viable (barely but definitely not worth full asking price) as A8x because its processor is triple core. The 6S and 6S Plus match it (and exceed it sometimes) though in performance. The Mini 4 and ones before that are just too slow to want to use vs the rest.

This is one of the reasons why I bought the ipad pro. It's the only ios tablet that is noticeably faster than my iphone.

So no, I don't see buying a Mini again unless it's dirt cheap and even then just for the kids. In fact, Apple needs to give the Air 3 a drastic boost or I won't be interested in that. Most likely I'll end up with the ipad pro again even though I returned it. Using the ipad air one the past few days hasn't been fun after being on steroids.

Well... Despite I think Air 2 and the Pro are the best tablet options at the moment. Mostly because of the size. They offer the best iPad experience, but not because of the speed.

A8 and even A7 are pretty good performers still. Speed is the worst possible argument in this case. You can barely notice the speed differences in real life scenarios. Benchmark numbers are useless information for most of the folks.

If you happen to prefer the Mini form factor. I think processor benchmark doesn't change that fact for you.

 

[Mcdevidr]

I went from pro to mini. There is not a major speed difference. Sure the pro is a bit faster on graphic heavy websites and there are no glitches but I can actually type on the mini while using it without overs tracking my thumbs. Don't really care about the speed myself just the utility.

 

[Mystro]

The mini4 was under sold but who would ditch a more powerful Air 2 for a Mini 4??

 

[Mystro]

Your kidding right?? You may like the mini 4 and I certainly see its portability factor but..??????
Owning both, the Mini 4 isn't even close in performance to the Pro. Thats not even subjective. The iPad Pro trounces the Mini 4 at such a significant margin that no one would ever compare the two. How can Speed not matter?? Crazy talk. If not then buy a refurb Air and save a lot of coin.

I went from pro to mini. There is not a major speed difference. Sure the pro is a bit faster on graphic heavy websites and there are no glitches but I can actually type on the mini while using it without overs tracking my thumbs. Don't really care about the speed myself just the utility.

 

[The Game 161]

The mini4 was under sold but who would ditch a more powerful Air 2 for a Mini 4??

Quite a few here have.

 

[AVBeatMan]

I sold my Air 2 and mini 3 and replaced them with a Pro and a mini 4. This is the perfect set up for me. I use the Pro at home and take the mini to work with me.

 

[Mystro]

I agree. If my eyes were better I would have kept my mini 4 for my portability tablet. Split screen on the mini was brutal for me. I like tech so I own all kinds of tablets for different reasons. I tend to use my Air 2 or Yoga Tab 3 Pro as my portable tablet. The pro still goes a lot of places and isn't that hard to carry around.

I sold my Air 2 and mini 3 and replaced them with a Pro and a mini 4. This is the perfect set up for me. I use the Pro at home and take the mini to work with me.

 

[masotime]

I have all 3. All 3 are really compromises on screen size / power versus ergonomics - the iPad mini 4 is a delight to hold, but the iPad Pro brings that huge screen and integrated accessories support.

The iPad you choose will depend very much on how you use it, but to me if I could only pick one, it would still be the iPad Air 2 (hopefully a 3 is coming out soon).

Interestingly out of all the iPads, the mini 4 apparently has the longest battery life and display quality.

 

[ozaz]

I have a mini 4 which replaced a mini 2. The screen is a bit nicer, but not night and day. Extra speed is nominally noticeable. I'm already used to Touch ID from the Air 2 and iPhone, so it doesn't have much impact. Overall the 4 feels like a fairly ho hum upgrade.

Yeah I'm still happy with my mini 2.

Don't plan to upgrade until the mini gets Apple Pencil support (fingers crossed the mini 5!)

 

[joeblow7777]

The Mini 4 is great and it's my personal iPad of choice at the moment, but Apple is focused on pushing the Pro this year, and I think that the market for smaller tablets in general has gone down as people move towards larger phones.

But yes, Apple could have promoted it a bit more at the keynote, and maybe feature it in a TV ad.

 

[xraydoc]

I have an iPad Pro and a mini 4. Good combo.

 

[silverblack]

I have an iPhone 6S and an iPad Pro. I can't think of a situation where I would prefer something in between, not even once.

 

[Mcdevidr]

Your kidding right?? You may like the mini 4 and I certainly see its portability factor but..??????
Owning both, the Mini 4 isn't even close in performance to the Pro. Thats not even subjective. The iPad Pro trounces the Mini 4 at such a significant margin that no one would ever compare the two. How can Speed not matter?? Crazy talk. If not then buy a refurb Air and save a lot of coin.

Fine let me reword. There is not a major perceived speed difference on my part. I've used both. I'm talking about in safari and word and my banking apps. In other things I'd bet there would be a more obvious difference. The biggest difference however is that I use the mini more.

 

[kapp2]

Mini 4 is very nice. Screen is superb. but the A8 processor will make it feel outdated fast compared to Pro and Air 2

 

[masotime]

Another perspective is that the iPad mini doesn't need heavy marketing. People drawn to the iPad Air 2 or the iPad Pro may decide in the store that it's too large, spot the mini then decide the mini is right for them. I've overheard some conversations at least where people are deciding which iPad to buy based on whether it's "too big".

 

[5105973]

I sold my Air 2 and mini 3 and replaced them with a Pro and a mini 4. This is the perfect set up for me. I use the Pro at home and take the mini to work with me.

That's going to be my combo, too. Apparently there's a strong possibility Santa Hubby is getting me a mini 4 and I'll pass my retina mini that I'm using now to the kids.

I love Minis because I like to read in bed and often I fall asleep while the iPad is propped up on my chest. Unfortunately this means it falls over and bonks me on the nose a lot. When I went from a full sized iPad to the Mini my nose thanked me. I got to try out the new Mini 4 in the Apple Store and it's incredibly light. I'm not going to feel that much when it falls on my nose.

I'm getting an IPad Pro next year to do artwork and to use it to sketch out landscaping plans. I think it's going to be fun to use. I already had a blast trying out my husband's iPad Pro.

The Air has kind of a middling size and lower res display that doesn't really do anything for me. And it doesn't pass the nose bonk test.

Yeah, I'm weird. But I know for sure I'm not the only person who has fallen asleep holding an iPad and gotten bonked on the nose. I once read a review on iPads and the reviewer specially mentioned this problem and how much nicer an Air was to his nose. I'm definitely using the iPad pro only when fully awake and while seated at my desk or table!

 

[AVBeatMan]

That's going to be my combo, too. Apparently there's a strong possibility Santa Hubby is getting me a mini 4 and I'll pass my retina mini that I'm using now to the kids.

I love Minis because I like to read in bed and often I fall asleep while the iPad is propped up on my chest. Unfortunately this means it falls over and bonks me on the nose a lot. When I went from a full sized iPad to the Mini my nose thanked me. I got to try out the new Mini 4 in the Apple Store and it's incredibly light. I'm not going to feel that much when it falls on my nose.

I'm getting an IPad Pro next year to do artwork and to use it to sketch out landscaping plans. I think it's going to be fun to use. I already had a blast trying out my husband's iPad Pro.

The Air has kind of a middling size and lower res display that doesn't really do anything for me. And it doesn't pass the nose bonk test.

Yeah, I'm weird. But I know for sure I'm not the only person who has fallen asleep holding an iPad and gotten bonked on the nose. I once read a review on iPads and the reviewer specially mentioned this problem and how much nicer an Air was to his nose. I'm definitely using the iPad pro only when fully awake and while seated at my desk or table!

Ha! This makes me laugh, I can just imagine!

I'm just in the process of trying to switch my reading from my Kindle Voyage to the Mini 4. I just don't see the point of carrying two devices. I'd be interested to know how you feel reading on the mini is? Not too tempting to surf the net or read incoming emails? To many interruptions?

Also, I've read that the Kindle devices are better to read on than iPad's?

 

[ozaz]

Ha! This makes me laugh, I can just imagine!

I'm just in the process of trying to switch my reading from my Kindle Voyage to the Mini 4. I just don't see the point of carrying two devices. I'd be interested to know how you feel reading on the mini is? Not too tempting to surf the net or read incoming emails? To many interruptions?

Also, I've read that the Kindle devices are better to read on than iPad's?

Kindles are better for long & night-time reading sessions due to less strain on your eyes. Also better for use in direct sunlight. But what you're reading is also a factor. For books read linearly with little to no graphics (e.g. novels) I'd definitely use a Kindle. For technical books, magazines, and newspapers (which constitutes most of my reading) I prefer iPad due to larger size and greater importance of graphics.

 

[Max(IT)]

Barely got a mention at their event but many here are loving their mini 4 including me with some ditching their air 2 for the mini version.

Do you think the market for the mini is better than what they think? I have both the air 2 and mini 4 but I do find using the mini is so much easier for more tasks when you can't be bothered to use a bigger device first thing in the morning for example or right before bed.

anybody here going to stick with the mini version instead of the bigger air going forward?

I ditched the Air 2 to the Mini 4. My focus is in portability, so the Mini is just perfect. I laugh at people saying the A8 feels outdated: they are just victims of the marketing. There literally isn't any situation where the A8 with 2 Gb of RAM drags behind in real world application.
When I need a bigger screen, well, I have my 13" MacBook Pro...

The Mini was being picked on when the iphone Plus debuted. Apple then sort of played the bully and gave the Mini a few more kicks in the ribs with the Mini 3 "upgrade" and self actualized the speculation that smaller tablets were falling in demand. The Mini 4 was what we should have had with the 3, but Apple's continued desire to put in worse processors in smaller tablets and not give much promotion to it hampers it.

To be clear, when ipads became slower than my iphone, I hardly used them. Why should I use a Mini with an A8 or worse when my iphone is A9? From Ars: The A8 wasn’t all that much faster than the A7—“up to 25 percent,” though in our testing it was often less than that. In Geekbench the A9 is over 50 percent faster than the A8 in both single- and multi-core benchmarks. It’s fast enough that it can match the triple-core A8X in multi-core tests despite having one fewer CPU core, which bodes well for the iPad Pro’s A9X

The Air 2 is still viable (barely but definitely not worth full asking price) as A8x because its processor is triple core. The 6S and 6S Plus match it (and exceed it sometimes) though in performance. The Mini 4 and ones before that are just too slow to want to use vs the rest.

This is one of the reasons why I bought the ipad pro. It's the only ios tablet that is noticeably faster than my iphone.

So no, I don't see buying a Mini again unless it's dirt cheap and even then just for the kids. In fact, Apple needs to give the Air 3 a drastic boost or I won't be interested in that. Most likely I'll end up with the ipad pro again even though I returned it. Using the ipad air one the past few days hasn't been fun after being on steroids. Of course I realize the casual typical user doesn't care anything about performance and is more price oriented. There's still a market especially if Apple cared more about it.

Oh give me a break. Forget about synthetic benchmarks. There isn't a single app where a Mini 4 is slow...

The mini4 was under sold but who would ditch a more powerful Air 2 for a Mini 4??

I did.
Btw, could you show me sales data reporting poor numbers for the Mini 4 ?
Apple doesn't disclose sales data for single model....