iPad mini iOS 12 has breathed new life into the iPad mini 4.

[Jacoblee23]

My mini 4 was so sluggish on iOS 11, but it runs like a champ on iOS 12. Heck, my daughter’s mini 2 runs better as well. It is kind of bittersweet to think about what might hav been with a mini 5. I have a 9.7,10.5, and 12.9, but there is no other device that I rather use in bed than the mini 4..it’s perfect. Has anyone else’s noticed major improvements in their mini 4 since iOS 12?

 

[MistrSynistr]

My mom has a Mini 4 on 12 and said it's way faster/smoother.

 

[gatorknight904]

My iPad Mini 3 is a lot faster and smoother.

 

[Lobwedgephil]

Agree completely. My mini 4 was almost unusable before iOS 12, now it runs great.

 

[macduke]

My wife's Mini 2 wasn't helped much by iOS 12 (a little bit but not enough for her to want to keep using it) so I gave her my 10.5" Pro and got the new 12.9" Pro. Now my daughter has the old Mini 2, which replaced her Mini on iOS 9, and even though it can slow down it's still way faster for her and her simple usage (she will be 5 in a few months), while my wife was using it to run her small business. At least now I can use the iOS 12 parental controls to fine tune things more so that she is using more educational apps than games. Also she can run a lot more apps now that she went up three versions.

 

[Cosmo M3]

I think I'm spoiled by my 10.5 inch iPad Pro because it was still slow to me

 

[nlkccom]

My mini 2 was very sluggish. I just installed iOS 12 on it and it’s quite usable. It’s not fast by any means, but much better than before iOS 12.

 

[Nozuka]

Definitely much better.
Obviously slower compared to my X, but it's usable without getting annoyed

 

[EvilEvil]

Great to hear! I got tired of waiting for the iPad Mini 5 and ordered a 4 just now on Amazon.

 

[HarryWild]

iOS 12.1 made my Mini 2 like it is brand new with iOS 7.0.1! Very happpy!

 

[Superman730]

My iPad Mini 3 is a lot faster and smoother.

Same with mine.

 

[sracer]

My Mini 4 is still on 10.x and is still buttery smooth. Some might ask why 10.x... first, it is the last version of iOS that is optimized for iPads. Subsequent versions of iOS have been iPhone-centric in the use of the screen. There are a few points of difference, but perhaps the easiest to recognize is the widget screen in landscape orientation.

Here's what the widget screen looks like on my Mini 4 running iOS 10.x


Here's the widget screen on the 12.9 iPad Pro running iOS 12.x


Another reason is support for 32-bit apps. I have apps that are 32-bit and no longer in the App Store (nor will ever return)... things like MAME.

Am I concerned about any security issues running iOS 10.x? No, and I won't be unless someone shows me that this Mini 4 is vulnerable in my day-to-day use.

 

[minimo3]

It’s faster but battery life is weaker. The brand new iPad mini 4 with iOS 12 in the house goes about 8 hours meanwhile the 5 year old mini 2 on iOS 10 still lasts 10 hours