iPad mini iPad Mini 4 vs 5

[gsusser]

I am not exactly a heavy user of my Mini 4 and wasn't considering the new one. That is, until I noticed a sharp drain in my battery over the past month or so. It doesn't last a day. I don't do anything different than when I first got it - play Words With Friends (45 minutes a days approx), read books, check email. However, the battery seemed to last more than three times as long when it was new. I did fiddle with the settings so as not to use the battery needlessly, but no help.

I brought it to the Apple store thinking I'd get a replacement iPad for $99. But that deal is only good if the battery fails the Apple diagnostics. My battery came in at 98%. I don't know how that's possible considering I haven't changed the way I use it in 4 years. Any ideas?

Now I'm considering the new iPad Mini. I don't really need the upgrades considering how I use it, but after selling the Mini 4, the cost would only be about $150, not much more than if I had the 4 replaced. I need to make a decision now since I will be traveling abroad for at least a year where Apple anything is considerably more expensive than the here (US).

 

[Apple_Robert]

Try the new mini in the store. If you like what you see, $150 is not bad for out of pocket. If not, you may have 1 or more apps on your mini that are not running properly out not optimized etc. You may want to check your setting to make sure you aren't running the brightness level at maximum all the time amongst other things. While in settings, see what is using the most of your battery during the day. If you are using the iPad as cellular, you could also have a weak signal during the day that could also drain the battery.

 

[just21]

The mini 5 renders web pages much faster than the mini 4. It is very impressive.

 

[netnothing]

You won’t regret the new mini. It’s awesome. I replaced my 4 for the new 5 and it’s so much faster. The screen has better color as well.

 

[gsusser]

The deed is done, mini 5 is on the way and sold my mini 4 on eBay in 1 hour. It's quite a hot item there.
However, I'm second guessing myself about all the options I chose or didn't choose. I opted for the pencil, 64gb and wi-fi only. The rationale was as follows:
64gb - I don't really need space to store anything. My iPhone has 512gb to store all my music.
wi-fi only - I find I rarely use cellular on the mini 4. And I have the iPhone to use as a hot spot.
pencil - this is a big second guess. I really don't foresee using it. I'm a lightweight user as mentioned.
No apple care - first, I'm moving to South America where getting Apple support is not an easy thing. Secondly, I don't think I ever used apple care for an iPad before and I've had 2 iterations of iPads.

 

[AutomaticApple]

I am not exactly a heavy user of my Mini 4 and wasn't considering the new one. That is, until I noticed a sharp drain in my battery over the past month or so. It doesn't last a day. I don't do anything different than when I first got it - play Words With Friends (45 minutes a days approx), read books, check email. However, the battery seemed to last more than three times as long when it was new. I did fiddle with the settings so as not to use the battery needlessly, but no help.

I brought it to the Apple store thinking I'd get a replacement iPad for $99. But that deal is only good if the battery fails the Apple diagnostics. My battery came in at 98%. I don't know how that's possible considering I haven't changed the way I use it in 4 years. Any ideas?

Now I'm considering the new iPad Mini. I don't really need the upgrades considering how I use it, but after selling the Mini 4, the cost would only be about $150, not much more than if I had the 4 replaced. I need to make a decision now since I will be traveling abroad for at least a year where Apple anything is considerably more expensive than the here (US).

The iPad Mini 5 is miles better in every way.

 

[Shanghaichica]

I’m in the same boat as you OP. I don’t use my mini 4 that much but can upgrade to the mini 5 for about £200. So I’ve ordered one to pick up on Monday and I’ll sell my iPad mini 4 later on. If I don’t think it’s worth it I can just return my mini 5 but I don’t think I will.

 

[gsusser]

I’m in the same boat as you OP. I don’t use my mini 4 that much but can upgrade to the mini 5 for about £200. So I’ve ordered one to pick up on Monday and I’ll sell my iPad mini 4 later on. If I don’t think it’s worth it I can just return my mini 5 but I don’t think I will.

I've had mine a day now. I don't notice a huge difference in performance but, as I said, I don't use it for anything mind boggling. Still, I'm glad I did it because of the battery problem. The net cost after selling my Mini 4 was about $150. Then again, I went from wi-fi + cell and 128gb to the very basic configuration.

 

[Shanghaichica]

I've had mine a day now. I don't notice a huge difference in performance but, as I said, I don't use it for anything mind boggling. Still, I'm glad I did it because of the battery problem. The net cost after selling my Mini 4 was about $150. Then again, I went from wi-fi + cell and 128gb to the very basic configuration.

My mini 4 is ok when it’s being used but when it’s in standby it’s been draining a lot. I’m going from 128GB to 64GB. I’ve been using it on my commute which is 4 hours. However I just got a new job which I’ll be starting in a month and the commute is only 25 minutes so I won’t really need to store that much. I have an iPad Pro and iPhone XS Max both with 256GB as well so I think I can manage the 64GB.

I only use mine for watching videos, web browsing, playing a few games on the level of angry birds and using colouring apps.

 

[philipma1957]

I sold a basic iPad mini 3 with 16 gb and WiFi.

I got a basic iPad min 5 with 64gb and WiFi .

My net cost was 280 after sale and purchase.

I am happy with downloading of eBay Newegg amazon pages. They sucked now that are good.

Wunderground is also much quicker.
The time had come for the upgrade.

 

[Chip NoVaMac]

The deed is done, mini 5 is on the way and sold my mini 4 on eBay in 1 hour. It's quite a hot item there.
However, I'm second guessing myself about all the options I chose or didn't choose. I opted for the pencil, 64gb and wi-fi only. The rationale was as follows:
64gb - I don't really need space to store anything. My iPhone has 512gb to store all my music.
wi-fi only - I find I rarely use cellular on the mini 4. And I have the iPhone to use as a hot spot.
pencil - this is a big second guess. I really don't foresee using it. I'm a lightweight user as mentioned.
No apple care - first, I'm moving to South America where getting Apple support is not an easy thing. Secondly, I don't think I ever used apple care for an iPad before and I've had 2 iterations of iPads.

You will love the 5’s responsiveness!