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iPad mini 4

Shanghaichica

Shanghaichica

macrumors G5
Original poster
Apr 8, 2013
14,728
13,251
UK
I have an iPad mini 3.

I'm thinking about upgrading to the mini 4. I can get £200 for my mini 3 of I sell it. The therefore I'd have to pay £279 to upgrade to the mini 4. My question is it it worth it?

Yes I know about all the specs on paper

Improved colour gamut, laminated display
A8 processor
2GB of ram
8 mega pixel camera
Split screen multi tasking

I already have an iPad Air 2 which is my main iPad. I use the mini 3 for watching videos on my daily commute. I don't use it at home so I'm wondering if it's worth upgrading it. However on the other hand I'm noticing that my mini 3 is feeling a little sluggish.
 
Well, I never thought I'd say this, but after selling my Mini 2 and using a Mini 4 for several weeks..and because you use an iPad Air 2 mostly..I would keep the Mini 3 and save the money.
I'm the opposite, as I have an Air 1 and dont use it often and use the Mini 4 for everything. Im a bit dissapointed in my Mini 4 in that it doesnt handle my mail accounts as well as my Mini 2 did or as my Air 1 currently does. On the Mini 4, I can search for a specific email and it not be there but may show up later. To get it to be shown on the Mini 4, I have to flag it on the Air to see it on the 4. And, its not quite as fast as it was on day 1 anymore-not laggy but just not as fast.
Dont misunderstand, I do love the Mini 4, but it has some quirks the 2,3 didnt have.
It's your money, but I vote that you save your money since you dont use it often.
 
If you already have an Air 2 and all you use your Mini 3 for is watching videos, I don't see how you'd benefit from the improved specs of the Mini 4.
 
The one benefit that *I* would see, speaking as the current owner of both a Mini 2 and a Mini 4, when watching films is the improved color gamut. However, I'm very picky about that and lots of people wouldn't notice. I doubt that's worth almost BP300.
 
Hard for me to comment as I didn't have a mini 3 but the mini 4 has been great for on the go for me and very quick and I also have the air 2 as my home tablet
 
While I have other iPads, my mini went from an original mini to a mini 4.

Not quite as smooth as my iPad Air 2 but still pretty good for a second iPad.
 
Of course it's entirely up to you whether the improvements in the mini 4 are worth the cost of upgrading. I bought a mini 4 because I was able to get one at a substantial discount, but if it hadn't been for that, I would have stuck with the mini 2. I think the mini 4 is a great machine, but the mini 2 still works fine for most things; it's hardly obsolete yet.

Listing the advantages of the mini 4 over the mini 2 in descending order of importance to me, I'd note the following:

The speakers of the mini 4 are substantially louder than those on the two. For me, this is the biggest benefit. I don't like fussing with earbuds, and I find myself using the mini much more often for watching videos than I did before, now that I can hear them over moderate background noise. Also I can set an alarm and be reasonably confident I'll hear it.

My mini 4 has 10-15% better battery life than my mini 2. I tested both playing a movie over and over. Bear in mind my mini 2 is nearly two years old and my mini 4 is new, and even ignoring that we're dealing with a sample size of one, so this may not be a fair comparison. You're mileage may vary. Still, I'm happy with the improvement, and notice I'm more likely to get through a day with a significant charge left.

The mini 4 is a bit snappier than the mini 2. When I switch to my applications, it's more likely the old application is still in RAM, and if it isn't it will come up a little more quickly than on the mini 4. And of course tabs in Safari reload less often. I'm a patient sort, so this isn't a huge deal to me.

The screen of the mini 4 is better than the mini 2. Personally, I could only see the difference after setting them side by side and staring at them for a while. Both screens seem sharp and beautiful to me. But I may be less sensitive to such issues than most.

The mini 4 is a little lighter than the previous model. Not a big deal, but it's a nice improvement.

Of course there are some features allowing a second window the mini 4 has that the 2 doesn't support. I haven't even tried these. I generally just want to do one thing at a time on the mini.

This is irrelevant to you, but upgrading from the 2 to the 4 gave me touch id, which is nice. I didn't use to protect my mini with a pin, but I probably should; there is sensitive information on it after all.
 
Oh dear. I've just been to the Apple Store to have a look at the mini 4. I wanted to compare my mini 3 side by side. The only thing I was interested to see was if the display was much better. I thought I wouldn't be able to see much difference. The difference is night and day :(

I've walked out of the store but now I'm walking back. I'm quite picky when it comes to display quality. I always view things in HD where possible and find that SD really detracts from the viewing content. The upgrade is worth if the screen alone but it seems so frivolous. I've only had my mini 3 for 11 months :eek:
 
Shanghaichica said:
I have an iPad mini 3.

I'm thinking about upgrading to the mini 4. I can get £200 for my mini 3 of I sell it. The therefore I'd have to pay £279 to upgrade to the mini 4. My question is it it worth it?

Yes I know about all the specs on paper

Improved colour gamut, laminated display
A8 processor
2GB of ram
8 mega pixel camera
Split screen multi tasking

I already have an iPad Air 2 which is my main iPad. I use the mini 3 for watching videos on my daily commute. I don't use it at home so I'm wondering if it's worth upgrading it. However on the other hand I'm noticing that my mini 3 is feeling a little sluggish.
Click to expand...
Honestly the mini 4 is a great iPad. And I might end up buying another after I sold my previous one.
 
The mini 4 has a much better screen than the mini 3. Since you can get a decent price selling your mini 3, I'd go ahead and get the mini 4.
 
Shanghaichica said:
Oh dear. I've just been to the Apple Store to have a look at the mini 4. I wanted to compare my mini 3 side by side. The only thing I was interested to see was if the display was much better. I thought I wouldn't be able to see much difference. The difference is night and day :(

I've walked out of the store but now I'm walking back. I'm quite picky when it comes to display quality. I always view things in HD where possible and find that SD really detracts from the viewing content. The upgrade is worth if the screen alone but it seems so frivolous. I've only had my mini 3 for 11 months :eek:
Click to expand...

I upgraded from the mini 2 mostly based on screen quality and I'm very happy with the mini 4. The screen on any device is of #1 importance to me. I think you'll be very happy with the mini 4. It's also much thinner and lighter which I like. I don't know if there were screen issues with the mini 3, but many of the mini 2s seem to have uneven screen color. Mine had this to a minor degree, but not enough to consider exchanging it. My mini 4 has a perfectly even screen though a little warmer than my other screens, but only noticeable when comparing side by side.
 
If you like the screen of the mini 4 that much better than the mini 2, I'd go for it. I upgraded to the mini 2 after owning the mini 1 for less than a year because the retina screen was so much sharper, and because I used the device mostly for reading where that made a difference.
 
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