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iPad Mini 4 Teardown Confirms Smaller Battery and 2 GB RAM
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When you make a smaller battery, battery life goes down in real world scenarios. That's just the way it is. If you are reading a book at low brightness, typing on word, writing emails, texting...fine you may get similar battery life numbers. But use it in real life: watch a movie, use the camera, surf the web, play a game, and the battery life will quickly plummet. In other words, battery life is still mostly determined by the size of the battery. Everything else: a slightly more efficient screen, processor, more ram, all help but are far less important than the size of the battery. It's interesting that Apple keeps thinking that they can get away with this.
For sure: the battery life for the vast majority of people will be worse. Losing 1000 mah is a big deal that no processor nor screen improvements can overcome.
For sure: the battery life for the vast majority of people will be worse. Losing 1000 mah is a big deal that no processor nor screen improvements can overcome.
Here I am. I owned an iPad 3 and that was one of my complaints. And also that it took a long time to charge, not to mention heat. You don't really see what everyone's problem is? That's your problem.
No good. It should be even thinner — as thin as a paper sheet — and run for 2 hours non-stop, even though no one wants to charge it every day if they don't really have to, but hey... Who needs to use it for more than 2 hours at a time?
The iPad 3 had pretty much the best battery life on the market at the time, what was the problem there?
Regarding recharge time, smaller batteries recharge faster so the Mini 4/Air 2 both will charge faster than their predecessors whilst holding the same advertised battery life, so there's an advantage for you.
Not sure if I should feel old or not for thinking of that term in its original definition.
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I think battery life on the iPad is good, so a small decrease in battery size shouldn't be a problem.
I was really happy when they reduced the size and weight of iPad Air because on such a large device weight is important. So as long as battery life remains roughly the same it is ok to gain weight on an iPad.
The iPhone is a completely different story and I'm one of the people who would like it to have more battery even if that means a thicker phone.
The good news about mini 4 is the display, if is similar to the Air 2 we are talking about a great user experience.
I was really happy when they reduced the size and weight of iPad Air because on such a large device weight is important. So as long as battery life remains roughly the same it is ok to gain weight on an iPad.
The iPhone is a completely different story and I'm one of the people who would like it to have more battery even if that means a thicker phone.
The good news about mini 4 is the display, if is similar to the Air 2 we are talking about a great user experience.
By making it thinner, Apple was able to cut the weight down to 0.65 pounds from 0.73 pounds. That 0.08 pound savings is A LOT!!! Not everyone has the physical aptitude to carry around a 0.73 pound tablet.
Apple cares.
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Not giving you flak, but if you think about it, you may see that just like the vastly varying usage times people get from their iphones, they woill also get the same on the ipad as it's all about usage pattern. if you are using the ipad in the comfort of your home to browse the web or watch a movie you will most likely be in the 10 houre range of battery life (well that is my experience) BUT, on those days I am out of office an use the iPad extensively (data via 3g/LTE, calculations, spreadsheets, calculations and some light rendering) I easily burn that battery down to zero in 5-6 houres, when in an area with bad reception sometimes even 4. Then again, the part of users who actualy use the iPad in such manners is probably just too small to be recognised by apple...on a more general note, if you have been using apple products in a productive enviorment for some time, you just get the impression that due to the rise of the iphone the course of apple is more and more towards the casual media consumer and less and less the productive workhorse...just my impression, depending on ones field of work ymmv
Pretty much. In the first few years it was the race to make a portable device thin enough to truly feel portable. Now we have super thin iPads and phones and there's no need to go any thinner. Especially since it always means sacrificing something else like battery life. We should stay at this thinness and work on other things. Make battery tech the next big thing
Depends. At least for a phone thats (not only, but heavingly) aiming at business customers, it is important that it´s as slim as possible to not make their business suits baggy.
Maybe sounds silly, but it is very relevant for many business people.
Btw, to me the battery life is also great, even more than I need, so thinner is welcome.
As you see, there is also the exact opposite perspective of yours.
Honestly I think Apple isn't even trying to care for the consumer anymore. Considering complaints about battery life of their products amongst other factors, this is just ridiculous. At this point, they just care about selling underpowered gadgets with a big profit margin. I can't believe it took me this long to realize such a simple thing.
There's a difference between a claim and solid evidence. This is all just useless conjecture. From their end, they're trying to sell a product and for all we know, it could be a dud. Unless someone actually tests and verifies this, you shouldn't take things at face value. I'm personally taking this claim with a grain of salt as I think it's too good to be true but you never know. That's the mystery of life.
There's a difference between a claim and solid evidence. This is all just useless conjecture. From their end, they're trying to sell a product and for all we know, it could be a dud. Unless someone actually tests and verifies this, you shouldn't take things at face value. I'm personally taking this claim with a grain of salt as I think it's too good to be true but you never know. That's the mystery of life.
I'm totally against Apple's race for thinner phones. But, I'm totally supporting Apple pursuing thinner and lighter iPads.
iPad is a heavy device, even the mini 2 gets a little heavy once you hold it in your hands por 2-3 hours. And I do that, almost every day.
As long as Apple can keep the claimed 10h of battery life, I'll support they until they can get the Mini close to the 200g territory.
WOW ... the all new iPad Mini with last year's technology ... Apple should be ashamed of themselves ... world leaders ... HARDLY.
I've decided my next home will not have any traditional light switches. The iPad Mini 4, mounted more or less permanently where the switch would normally be, will make an excellent substitute. With split screen, it can have basic on-off/dimming/color selection/temperature controls on one side and the other side can play videos, or display the weather forecast and news headline, or show me who's at the front door, or make a Face Time call, or countless other functions.
I can also access more sophisticated controls for my HomeKit devices by running the app full-screen.
When guests are visiting, I can switch it to kiosk mode, so they can turn the room's lights on or off without having access to things like the pool heater or garage door.
At $279 or less*, it won't be very expensive for all the things it can do. I can also control everything from my iPhone or Apple Watch or the iPad next to my bed, but what if they're not in their usual places?
*what it will cost in two or three years, when I build this dream house.
I can also access more sophisticated controls for my HomeKit devices by running the app full-screen.
When guests are visiting, I can switch it to kiosk mode, so they can turn the room's lights on or off without having access to things like the pool heater or garage door.
At $279 or less*, it won't be very expensive for all the things it can do. I can also control everything from my iPhone or Apple Watch or the iPad next to my bed, but what if they're not in their usual places?
*what it will cost in two or three years, when I build this dream house.
While iPads don't really need extended battery life, this is a trend that I don't not like of Apple's. We don't want the same battery life in anything. We want extended battery life. Form over function is nice but not when it comes at the expense of curbing battery life progression.
Considering how particular Apple is (was) with its designs, it looks like there's a bunch of wasted space in there. Maybe they should have reconsidered parts placement and their obsession with anorexic tendencies.
Component placement at the top & bottom would allow a wider battery, and shaving only .7mm off the thickness instead of 1.4mm would have allowed a thinner device AND better battery life. The A9 is also the current CPU tech, and yet they hobble the mini4 with a last-generation chip (I know, Apple treats the mini as the ugly step-child). This is one of those rare opportunities where they could have provided multiple benefits (incentives), but they chose poorly (IMHO).
Don't get me wrong, the mini4 is a terrific device, especially for my kids, and I'm still considering buying one, it's just a bit disappointing as a customer when I see the device is great, but I know it could have been insanely great, which is also the difference between "will absolutely buy one" and "still considering buying one".
They should also have made an iPad Air 3 with an A9 CPU, but that's a different topic...
Component placement at the top & bottom would allow a wider battery, and shaving only .7mm off the thickness instead of 1.4mm would have allowed a thinner device AND better battery life. The A9 is also the current CPU tech, and yet they hobble the mini4 with a last-generation chip (I know, Apple treats the mini as the ugly step-child). This is one of those rare opportunities where they could have provided multiple benefits (incentives), but they chose poorly (IMHO).
Don't get me wrong, the mini4 is a terrific device, especially for my kids, and I'm still considering buying one, it's just a bit disappointing as a customer when I see the device is great, but I know it could have been insanely great, which is also the difference between "will absolutely buy one" and "still considering buying one".
They should also have made an iPad Air 3 with an A9 CPU, but that's a different topic...