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iPad Air 2 or iPad Mini 4

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Wackery

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Original poster
Feb 1, 2015
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So I gave my ipad air away a while back in place for an iphone 6 plus and i want to get back in the ipad game. Now that the mini 4 is finally on par with the regular air, which should I get? My two concerns are:

1. Is the ipad mini 4 too small?
2. Do apps that run on the ipad mini run exactly the same as the iPad Air? Or do they have sizing issues?
 
Wackery said:
So I gave my ipad air away a while back in place for an iphone 6 plus and i want to get back in the ipad game. Now that the mini 4 is finally on par with the regular air, which should I get? My two concerns are:

1. Is the ipad mini 4 too small?
2. Do apps that run on the ipad mini run exactly the same as the iPad Air? Or do they have sizing issues?
Click to expand...
I bought an Air 1 and a Mini 2 at the same time. on release. yes, they acted pretty much the same. Both were very useable and enjoyable. I prefer the size of a Mini because I can take it with me being a guy, the Air is too big for me to conveniently take with me.
 
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1. That's entirely up to you. Some people (including myself) love the portability of the mini. Other people like the larger screen of the Air. It's a matter of personal preference.

2. A great thing about the mini is there are no sizing issues. It has exactly the same number of pixes as the Air, just crammed into a smaller space, which ensures everything runs the same on it (just smaller).
 
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I just noticed, you mention you have an iPhone 6+. That might mean you'd prefer an iPad Air, if your phone satisfies your portable computing needs.
 
RickTaylor said:
I just noticed, you mention you have an iPhone 6+. That might mean you'd prefer an iPad Air, if your phone satisfies your portable computing needs.
Click to expand...
Well for the most part the iPad will live at home, for when i want to use something on a larger screen, but I don't want to go on the computer. My instincts gravitate towards the ipad Air 2, but if the mini is big enough I'd prefer it because it's less likely to get in the way and I can buy more storage for less $ than if I wanted the Air 2
 
You've had the iPad Air before. Did you feel like it got in the way? Were there times when you felt you'd use it more often or you'd enjoy using it more if it was a bit more portable? If not, and if your instincts gravitate towards the Air, I'd take that into consideration, in your shoes.

Which device one chooses is largely a matter of personal preference where there's no objective answer as to which size is superior. Because of that, I think it's good to take one's instincts seriously. I remember when I first saw the original mini, my instincts shouted, oh my goodness, that's just the perfect form factor.
 
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RickTaylor said:
You've had the iPad Air before. Did you feel like it got in the way? Were there times when you felt you'd use it more often or you'd enjoy using it more if it was a bit more portable? If not, and if your instincts gravitate towards the Air, I'd take that into consideration, in your shoes.

Which device one chooses is largely a matter of personal preference where there's no objective answer as to which size is superior. Because of that, I think it's good to take one's instincts seriously. I remember when I first saw the original mini, my instincts shouted, oh my goodness, that's just the perfect form factor.
Click to expand...
So I guess in your daily use you find it ok? I guess I should wait to see if the mini 4 has 2 gigs of ram, if it does then that seals the deal for me
 
The biggest concern is if the Mini 4 has a very wide color range to match the iPad air 2, or is it still the same inferior color gamut display like the mini 2/3. I remember when the mini 2 and Air had 1:1 specs, but if you took a quick glance at the displays, you could tell that the mini 2 retina had very washed out colors and the airs looked noticeably better. Heres to hoping Apple fixed that issue
 
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I found that the 6+ can't compare to my Mini for web viewing. The aspect ratio on the Mini is the deciding factor.

Once the Mini 4 is (hopefully) confirmed to have 2GB or RAM I'll be picking up a 64GB cellular version.

My iPad Air 2 (same specs) is currently on Craigslist -- just too big and awkward for my personal usage needs.
 
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onepoint said:
I found that the 6+ can't compare to my Mini for web viewing. The aspect ratio on the Mini is the deciding factor.

Once the Mini 4 is (hopefully) confirmed to have 2GB or RAM I'll be picking up a 64GB cellular version.

My iPad Air 2 (same specs) is currently on Craigslist -- just too big and awkward for my personal usage needs.
Click to expand...
fingers crossed
 
Mr Retina said:
The biggest concern is if the Mini 4 has a very wide color range to match the iPad air 2, or is it still the same inferior color gamut display like the mini 2/3. I remember when the mini 2 and Air had 1:1 specs, but if you took a quick glance at the displays, you could tell that the mini 2 retina had very washed out colors and the airs looked noticeably better. Heres to hoping Apple fixed that issue
Click to expand...

Color gamut....something almost no one cares about when they by an iPad. if they are close, its good to go.
 
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racer1441 said:
Color gamut....something almost no one cares about when they by an iPad. if they are close, its good to go.
Click to expand...
well everyone has preferences, for me the deciding factor is becoming the ram, I don't want to have a stuttering or can't handle mutiple apps tablet. apparently it supports multitasking, but i want to see the numbers on some site before i invest
 
Wackery said:
So I guess in your daily use you find it ok? I guess I should wait to see if the mini 4 has 2 gigs of ram, if it does then that seals the deal for me
Click to expand...

For me, the form factor of the mini is ideal. It's just barely big enough to be comfortable for reading pdfs (one of the main uses I put it to), yet is just bust barely small enough to slip into a suit jacket pocket and go every where I do. It never seems to get in the way, even when I'm reading problems from it and writing them on the board for a class I'm teaching, or using the gps to navigate a shopping mall while carrying a bag of. Yes, the interface is designed for a larger screen and it's sometimes a little finicky pressing smaller buttons, and movies do look better to me on a larger screen. But for me, the trade-offs are more than worth it. But that's just me. There are plenty of people (perhaps even more) for whom the Air is the perfect size.
 
If you keep the 6+, I would go for the Air 2, just because the screen size makes them sufficiently different. If you didn't have a 6+, and wanted something that's very portable, I'd suggest the Mini (I find the Air 2 a little unwieldy for some things, but the size of the display opens up uses that smaller devices are less suited for.)
 
Last year it was definitely iPad Air 2.

But this year I am actually torn. iPad Air 2 is last year's product. iPad Mini 4 seems a better choice based on the fact that it is 'new'.
 
Wackery said:
So I gave my ipad air away a while back in place for an iphone 6 plus and i want to get back in the ipad game. Now that the mini 4 is finally on par with the regular air, which should I get? My two concerns are:

1. Is the ipad mini 4 too small?
2. Do apps that run on the ipad mini run exactly the same as the iPad Air? Or do they have sizing issues?
Click to expand...

It's not yet clear that the Mini 4 will be on par with the Air 2. Apple has traditionally down-spec'ed the Mini line. I don't think I'd assume that the only trade-off is screen size until we see some decent reviews.
 
profmatt said:
Will the Mini 4 run Split Screen?
Click to expand...

Yes

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newellj said:
It's not yet clear that the Mini 4 will be on par with the Air 2. Apple has traditionally down-spec'ed the Mini line. I don't think I'd assume that the only trade-off is screen size until we see some decent reviews.
Click to expand...
They have not 'traditionally' down specced. And when they have, its been very clear.

Mini 2 vs Air was merely different on thermal capacity when the A7 downclocked. Might have been the most questionable, but the different casing size was obvious.
 
I own the iPad air 2 and recently picked up a used cellular iPad mini 2 off CL to use on a road trip. When browsing CL I didn't care if the cellular was a mini or Air, just wanted a cheap one I could buy and sell later.

With that background, I still prefer the Air 2's screen size and color gamut. Using both back to back, the bland/washed out colors on the Mini are noticeable to me.

I'm trying to love the Mini since if I ever upgrade to the next years iPad (air 3 or mini 5), I would opt for the cellular one and the cellular mini would be lighter on my wallet versus cellular Air.
 
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Hmmmm... No Air 3 this year. What is going to be my iPad 3 replacement ? The Air 3 would have been a no brainier, but now I'm wondering. My iPad 3 is used primarily at home for convenient web surfing (99%). Most of my travel is for scuba diving trips, and I always take my iPad and my MBP laptop; the pad for surfing and the laptop to watch movies on the plane and review the underwater videos that I have taken and also to store/backup those videos. I don't think the iPad Pro could replace the laptop, so I'll still need both. The thought process involved in typing this reply has led me to realize that the replacement will be the Mini 4 !
But wait .... Is it going to have 2GB of ram ? :)
 
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