iPad Mini 2 users, upgrading to Mini 4?

[newellj]

Newellj: Yes, look a few threads down -- I started a thread about it with specific examples. I own both an iPad Air 2 and Mini 4 on iOS 9.0.1, as well as iPod Touch 5 on iOS 7.

Others have corroborated my findings. There is something amiss, but I don't think it will bother you unless you play games. For people who are mainly reading and watching media, the Mini 4 is great. The screen is superb -- even slightly better than Air 2 (can go a little brighter). But gaming performance is poor in a number of games; Air 2 is much better.

Thanks for the link. Too bad it's not possible to run a Mini 4 on iOS 8.x, just for purposes of comparison (which is obviously completely impossible...).

 

[ZBoater]

Irrelevant, I wasn't responding to the OP.

Then perhaps you should. That's how this works.

 

[newellj]

Then perhaps you should. That's how this works.

Is this like throwing out comments about how something "isn't a computer" and then being unable to explain what that meant?

You're already way outside the original thread, so it's hard to see the point of your picking arguments when people are having a reasonable discussion.

 

[ZBoater]

Is this like throwing out comments about how something "isn't a computer" and then being unable to explain what that meant?

Unwilling. Not unable. Just not willing to humor you. It's the second time I've had to correct you. Do you have some sort of reading comprehension difficulty?

Here. Let me help you. I can explain it. I just don't want to.

You're already way outside the original thread, so it's hard to see the point of your picking arguments when people are having a reasonable discussion.

Let me help you, again. Here's the OP title.

iPad Mini 2 users, upgrading to Mini 4?

Get it? The 2, upgrading to a 4. Not the 3. Geez.

 

[wchigo]

Unwilling. Not unable. Just not willing to humor you. It's the second time I've had to correct you. Do you have some sort of reading comprehension difficulty?

Here. Let me help you. I can explain it. I just don't want to.



Let me help you, again. Here's the OP title.

iPad Mini 2 users, upgrading to Mini 4?

Get it? The 2, upgrading to a 4. Not the 3. Geez.

I preface this by saying that I don't have any issues with you ZBoater, I generally like your posts, and I didn't really want to poke my nose into something that's none of my business (which I am now doing against my better judgment).

In this case, newellj was responding to another poster who was saying they were picking up a used Mini 3. Sure, he wasn't responding to the OP which meant he was going "off-topic", but isn't it odd to take umbrage with him, who was just replying to the comment, rather than the person who first posted the comment that went "off-topic"?

 

[newellj]

Unwilling. Not unable. Just not willing to humor you. It's the second time I've had to correct you. Do you have some sort of reading comprehension difficulty?

Here. Let me help you. I can explain it. I just don't want to.



Let me help you, again. Here's the OP title.

iPad Mini 2 users, upgrading to Mini 4?

Get it? The 2, upgrading to a 4. Not the 3. Geez.

So, is your bottom line: you're here to pick fights, rather than to participate in a discussion forum? Your posts frequently seem to be not only off the original topic but off the discussion of the thread. What principle are we supposed to be employing here?

 

[Mackinjosh]

I sorta upgraded. I still have the Mini 2. Just waiting to decide if I'll keep the 4. Right now it's a no. There are far too many performance issues with the UI and apps/games that are at times worse than the same apps running on the Mini 2. If they ever get around to fixing that, I'll buy another in the future. The biggest differences other than performance I noticed are colors. Much better on the 4. And the anti-glare coating on the 4 is just atrocious when it comes to fingerprints. Yuck. Stop using it, Apple.

 

[newellj]

I sorta upgraded. I still have the Mini 2. Just waiting to decide if I'll keep the 4. Right now it's a no. There are far too many performance issues with the UI and apps/games that are at times worse than the same apps running on the Mini 2. If they ever get around to fixing that, I'll buy another in the future. The biggest differences other than performance I noticed are colors. Much better on the 4. And the anti-glare coating on the 4 is just atrocious when it comes to fingerprints. Yuck. Stop using it, Apple.

I had the same reaction with the AR coating on the Air 2. Beautiful display, hard to see through the fingerprints. Solved by putting a TechArmor glass screen protector on it: has the same slick glassy feel, but no fingerprints.

 

[ron7624]

I upgraded and love the new super fast device. I have a different problem now. I don't want to get rid of my Mini 2. Keeping both seems a waste. I guess seeing this typed out is helping me decide to sell it. I have an Air 1 that I use for reading sheet music but nothing else. I had thought of mounting the Mini 2 in my car permanently, but that doesn't seem like a great idea now either as I've recently retired and don't drive much anymore.
Indecision... lol

 

[newellj]

I upgraded and love the new super fast device. I have a different problem now. I don't want to get rid of my Mini 2. Keeping both seems a waste. I guess seeing this typed out is helping me decide to sell it. I have an Air 1 that I use for reading sheet music but nothing else. I had thought of mounting the Mini 2 in my car permanently, but that doesn't seem like a great idea now either as I've recently retired and don't drive much anymore.
Indecision... lol

I think readers of the thread would be interested in any reasons you could toss out for why you're so reluctant to sell the Mini 2? I'm on the other side of the upgrade decision, really having a hard time deciding whether the upgrade is worth the roughly $350 cost after selling my Mini 2. You might help me save $350...

 

[ron7624]

I think readers of the thread would be interested in any reasons you could toss out for why you're so reluctant to sell the Mini 2? I'm on the other side of the upgrade decision, really having a hard time deciding whether the upgrade is worth the roughly $350 cost after selling my Mini 2. You might help me save $350...

Well, that's a hard one since I'm undecided.the Mini 2 is still a magical device. Save your money lol. On the other side the Mini 4 is much faster at everything, so it is more future proof and has Touch ID which I've grown used to on my iPhone 6, not to mention the much improved camera and a lot of other new features that I haven't gotten used to yet.
I can't lead you in a clear direction although the Mini 4 is in my hands right now.

 

[newellj]

Thanks, Ron. What's magical? Doesn't the Mini 4 have the same magic, and then some?

My Mini 2 is purely a commuting/during the workday device, mostly for reading email and occasionally for checking websites - nothing more taxing. (I commute by train, no issues with distracted driving.) That's why the display and speed issues aren't really compelling, although they're attractive. My work email requires an 8+ digit unlock so TouchID would also be convenient, although I swear I can enter 8 digits and touch OK faster than TouchID can unlock my iPhones or Air 2.

 

[ron7624]

Thanks, Ron. What's magical? Doesn't the Mini 4 have the same magic, and then some?

My Mini 2 is purely a commuting/during the workday device, mostly for reading email and occasionally for checking websites - nothing more taxing. (I commute by train, no issues with distracted driving.) That's why the display and speed issues aren't really compelling, although they're attractive. My work email requires an 8+ digit unlock so TouchID would also be convenient, although I swear I can enter 8 digits and touch OK faster than TouchID can unlock my iPhones or Air 2.

The magic is that everyhhing works, and works well always. Sure the Mini 4 has the same magic and then some as you suggested. The Mini 4 is easier to read in direct sunlight, but I'm not often in direct sunlight - I waited for the Mini 4 for an extra year and I am hapoy with the purchase. Movies on it look better... but only of side by side as they always looked fine on the 2 to me. I am still impressed with both tablits abilities. Again indicision but just my thoughts as asked for.

 

[RickTaylor]

I went by the Apple store to have another look at the mini 4, and decided not to upgrade for now. It's a worthy upgrade to the mini 2, in my opinion. More memory, better speakers, a better screen, a faster device, Touch ID, and a slimmer device would all be nice. But after nearly two years my mini 2 still works great and is a pleasure to use. I think my limited supply of dollars would be better applied somewhere else for now.

 

[thadoggfather]

^ for not knowing what to do with a mini2 you got laying around, gift it to a family member

 

[ron7624]

Thanks, Ron. What's magical? Doesn't the Mini 4 have the same magic, and then some?

My Mini 2 is purely a commuting/during the workday device, mostly for reading email and occasionally for checking websites - nothing more taxing. (I commute by train, no issues with distracted driving.) That's why the display and speed issues aren't really compelling, although they're attractive. My work email requires an 8+ digit unlock so TouchID would also be convenient, although I swear I can enter 8 digits and touch OK faster than TouchID can unlock my iPhones or Air 2.

The magic is that everyhhing works, and works well always. Sure the Mini 4 has the same magic and then some as you suggested. The Mini 4 is easier to read in direct sunlight, but I'm not often in direct sunlight - I waited for the Mini 4 for an extra year and I am happy with the purchase. Movies on it look better... but only of side by side as they always looked fine on the 2 to me. I am still impressed with both tablits ability

^ for not knowing what to do with a mini2 you got laying around, gift it to a family member

my wife has her Air, my children are all grown and dont need to be gifted but that is a possibility as I have 10 (yes count em) grandchildren, 5 of which would love it. Only problem is not having 4 more to give out as well, lol. A bit of humor here folks

 

[newellj]

The magic is that everyhhing works, and works well always. Sure the Mini 4 has the same magic and then some as you suggested. The Mini 4 is easier to read in direct sunlight, but I'm not often in direct sunlight - I waited for the Mini 4 for an extra year and I am hapoy with the purchase. Movies on it look better... but only of side by side as they always looked fine on the 2 to me. I am still impressed with both tablits abilities. Again indicision but just my thoughts as asked for.

I went by the Apple store to have another look at the mini 4, and decided not to upgrade for now. It's a worthy upgrade to the mini 2, in my opinion. More memory, better speakers, a better screen, a faster device, Touch ID, and a slimmer device would all be nice. But after nearly two years my mini 2 still works great and is a pleasure to use. I think my limited supply of dollars would be better applied somewhere else for now.

What you're saying makes a lot of sense. The Mini 2 is still very capable and stands up very well unless compared side by side. Good food for thought.

 

[Skyhawk21]

Mini 4 is awesome except for IOS 9 and all the new problems associated with adopting new software to work differently from past iterations with same hardware (metal API).

That being said this nice very good looking screen better than air 1 and air 2 on the mini 4 drains the battery when it's set to 50 percent or higher. Currently I got auto brightness off and it set to 20-30 percent which is good for indoors even with some daylight poking in through windows and blinds.

Safari sips the battery browsing web like on all iPads. Gaming on it sucks some life out of battery using the higher clocked newer cpu and better/newer gpu.

First got 10 hours and 37 minutes out of mini 4 mostly web browsing, YouTube video clips,music,speed tests and mild gaming with auto brightness on that works differently with new sensor and IOS 9.

With set brightness low and auto disabled, more gaming, less safari and other apps (also turned off option to use Touch ID for Apple Pay which I did not set up) I got this thing with longer screen on usage time of 11 hours and 37 minutes. Still I did not do my heavy gaming routine I conduct on my mini 2 and Air 1. (Also did a calibrated battery routine with instructions found on the net and conducted the hold power button and home button down together until device reboots to Apple logo;supposedly this clears junk files and cleans OS cache files)

Mini 2 with IOS 8.4.1 usage time with screen on, 13 hours 15 minutes.

Air 1 with IOS 8.2 usage time with screen on, 14 hours 50 minutes.

Both of those have auto brightness on which works better compared to mini 4, new hidden light sensor, and IOS controlling it.

Mini 2 came with lower quality screen I believe to not drain battery at high Brightness levels hence it also having lower color gamut.

Mini 4 screen gets super bright and boy is it calibrated perfectly at high brightness, everything pops and colors are dead on. Better looking than any screen on any Apple device yet. Eats battery though which is smaller in mini 4 for due to how thin it is.

I enjoy it but in games it's not optimized to how IOS 9 code is new and changed, so many apps are having a hard time working correctly and smoothly.

Mini 2 and IOS 8.4.1 none of these problems.

When IOS 9 matures, and apps catch up then it will be doing better and getting better battery life(we can hope anyway).

Hope the info helps...

 

[Ray2]

Seriously the iPad mini3 only had TouchID and a different gold color choice that was it in comparison to the iPad mini2. But as far as i know the mini3 didn;t have a better display, battery or processor. Upgrading from mini2 or 3 to the 4 does make a huge diffference:

mini 2/3: 1.3 GHz A7 processor, 1GB RAM, double-cell battery with a capacity rated at 6,471mAh, 5MP photos, Bluetooth 4.0, hardware mute/orientation lock switch, no Touch ID on mini2

mini 4: 1.4 GHz A8 processor, 2GB RAM, Touch ID, device is 1.4mm thinner than the iPad mini 3 and features round speaker ports, 5,124mAh single-cell battery putting out 19.1-watt-hours of energy, 8MP photos, Burst mode, Slo-mo video, LCD and front panel glass are fused together, Fully laminated display, Antireflective coating, Bluetooth 4.2, lacks hardware mute/orientation lock switch

See also a good review of the Mini4 here.

iOS8 slow on iPad mini2? Eh not so much in my opinion. I do think that iOS9 is a tiny bit slower then iOS7/8 on my iPad mini2.

Oops. My mistake. I just looked at my mini evolution and I must have gone from the non-retina mini to the retina mini (2).

Thank you. The mini 4 was still in my saved carts so I switched it to a refurb'd mini 3.