iPad Mini 6 Reviews: Impressive Upgrade Brings iPad Air Features to Smaller Size

[MacRumors]

The sixth-generation iPad mini will begin arriving to customers and launch in stores this Friday, September 24, and ahead of time, reviews of the device have now been shared by several tech websites and YouTube channels.

We've already rounded up video reviews of the new iPad mini, and we've shared some highlights from additional reviews below.

The consensus among reviews is that the new iPad mini is more like an iPad Air mini, as the two devices now share several features, including slimmer bezels, a USB-C port, a Touch ID power button, a 12-megapixel rear Wide camera, and compatibility with the second-generation Apple Pencil. The new iPad mini actually goes a step beyond the iPad Air with Apple's latest A15 Bionic chip, 5G on cellular models, and Center Stage support.

Design and Portability

MacStories editor-in-chief Federico Viticci summed it up best:

I'll cut right to the chase: I've been waiting for this kind of iPad mini refresh for years, and the device absolutely delivers on all fronts. The new iPad mini fulfills my longstanding dream of an iPad Pro/Air-like device in a diminutive form factor, providing a highly portable experience unlike anything else in Apple's lineup.

Even with its larger 8.3-inch display, the new iPad mini maintains portable convenience, according to Engadget's Valentina Palladino:

I've been keeping the iPad mini by my side at all times for the past week or so, and I was pleasantly surprised by how easy that was thanks to its size. Every iPad is portable, but some are certainly more portable than others. I have a 2020 11-inch iPad Pro and, while it could come with me almost anywhere, I mostly use it in my home as a secondary device or as my main driver when I'm traveling. The iPad mini, on the other hand, could fit into almost any bag I own without hassle, providing a much-needed larger screen for activities like reading, watching videos and FaceTime calls. I didn't find it super difficult to use my thumbs to type on the mini, treating it almost like a super-wide iPhone, but I also wouldn't call it a comfortable experience.

Battery Life
WIRED's Brenda Stolyar did express some concerns about battery life:

Every morning, I used the iPad Mini to create To-Do lists in the Notes app and then as a second monitor to my MacBook with Sidecar the rest of the day. […] Depending on my schedule, I also used the Mini to jump on Zoom calls with colleagues.

Sadly, battery life struggled with all that activity. I managed to squeeze about five hours out of it, so almost a full workday. Apple claims up to 10 hours of web browsing or watching video on the Wi-Fi model and nine on the 5G variant. But when I streamed a Netflix show (with iMessage, Telegram, the Notes app, and Google Calendar running in the background) it hit 1 percent at around the six-hour mark. Unless you're using it lightly, don't expect it to last from 9 to 5.

Performance of A15 Bionic
As we were first to report last week, the A15 chip in the new iPad mini is downclocked to 2.9GHz, compared to 3.2GHz in all iPhone 13 models. Six Colors editor-in-chief Jason Snell shared a chart with Geekbench 5 benchmark results for comparison.

More Reviews

• Gizmodo's Caitlin McGarry
• CNET's Scott Stein
• Ars Technica's Andrew Cunningham
• The Loop's Jim Dalrymple
• CNN Underscored's Jake Krol

MacRumors will have our own hands-on iPad mini review in an upcoming video, so be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel.

Article Link: iPad Mini 6 Reviews: Impressive Upgrade Brings iPad Air Features to Smaller Size

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

The size of the iPad mini is just perfect.

 

[l0stl0rd]

I will be really disappointed if battery life is that bad.

 

[Attirex]

Lol, battery life is why I decided to ditch my 5 and upgrade to the 6. Welp.

 

[cmaier]

The size of the iPad mini is just perfect.

Perfect for what?

 

[Yorkshire Lad]

The Guardian also has a (non-video) review. In true Grauniad style it gets the screen size wrong... https://www.theguardian.com/technol...ew-the-best-small-tablet-gets-stunning-revamp

One thing that bugs me from the images is the way the screen itself curves to match the bezels. I'd prefer it to be squared (rectangled?) off; but this seems to be the design philosophy now for the bezel-free products.

 

[Rogifan]

MKBHD was a bit meh on the screen. My guess is most of the people buying this device won’t care and will think it’s a really great screen. He also mentioned some weird padding with the Home Screen that made everything look kind of small and cramped. I assume it’s the same border as on the larger iPads but maybe it’s something Apple could adjust and make smaller for the mini?

 

[jonnyb]

I agree with MKBHD that a mini Pro would have been nice. I don't want to go back to 60Hz anything now.

 

[psac]

The battery life thing concerns me. I use my mini heavily for gaming, and as it is it has trouble keeping up with 5-6 hours of Genshin Impact, which is a really high-res game. I'm sure it'll look awesome on the better/bigger screen, but not at the expense of battery life....

 

[lordcradden]

Excited for mine - hoping I experience better battery life than the above reviewer!

 

[Moakesy]

Sadly, battery life struggled with all that activity. I managed to squeeze about five hours out of it, so almost a full workday.

Anyone else read this and think "I wish"?

At best, five hours is only half of my working day.?‍♂️

 

[esp718]

If you can get 8 hours on average i think it’s worth it. Also if you’re doing anything intensive like watching a Netflix show, does anyone know if disabling background app refresh can be a positive contributor to conserving battery life? I’m thinking yes but I’m no expert LOL

 

[one more]

Concerning the battery life - it’s hard to get the portability and long battery life together, so people need to decide what’s more important for them. Unless you literally move all the time, it can be plugged into a socket too and will charge quite quickly with its 20W charger. ?

 

[Oohara]

Would have been a day 1 purchase for me if it had AMOLED. Now, not so sure. MKBHD talked about wanting an iPad Mini Pro - that's what would have replaced my 12 Pro Max so I could downsize my phone to a 13 Mini.

 

[jclardy]

I'm pretty excited to get my Mini. The 11" Pro is great, but just a little bit too big as a tablet. And having the Smart Keyboard for me meant that I basically used it like a laptop 95% of the time. I want to go back to having an iPad, a touch first device. The extra width means using apps side by side is actually workable, and being able to keep the pencil attached is a huge QoL improvement.

I use my iPad for email/slack/messages/notes/video/web browsing/reading...so the mini screen will be more than capable for that.

 

[MrGimper]

She's older than she acts.

I'd hope so, she acts about 5

 

[cmichaelb]

Every morning, I used the iPad Mini to create To-Do lists in the Notes app and then as a second monitor to my MacBook with Sidecar the rest of the day. […] Depending on my schedule, I also used the Mini to jump on Zoom calls with colleagues.

Well no kidding you aren't getting 10 hours out of the mini using it as a monitor. I would think that would be more intensive than the average persons use case.

 

[blairh]

I loved having an iPad Mini for 4 years. But at this point I'm much happier using a larger iPad and if I were to buy a new iPad tomorrow it would be that updated 'regular' iPad at close to $300.

 

[MacStreamer]

I’m excited to get mine from AT&T next week. The old design is extremely dated.

 

[spinedoc77]

I'm still on the fence, even though I ordered a 256gb cellular one. iOS is still just too limiting, in particular I still have issues with refreshing/backgrounded apps and the lack of user accounts, plus from a hardware POV I continue to think a tablet without a kickstand is already inferior out of the gate. I think I was spoiled by having the Galaxy Fold 2 for the past year (as well as always having a surface pro device in my stable), which IMO is a much better tablet functionally, especially when it comes to multi tasking Samsung just really went all out. Still they both pale in comparison to Windows, but no one makes 7-8" Windows tablets anymore. I'm curious to see what Microsoft presents later on today.

Just to be clear I still think the ipad mini 6 is really incredibly nice, especially as a consumption device, I'm sure it will be a huge hit. I'm just not convinced that it checks off all the boxes for what I personally need, certainly not at its price range.

 

[MrGimper]

I'm still on the fence, even though I ordered a 256gb cellular one. iOS is still just too limiting, in particular I still have issues with refreshing/backgrounded apps and the lack of user accounts, plus from a hardware POV I continue to think a tablet without a kickstand is already inferior out of the gate. I think I was spoiled by having the Galaxy Fold 2 for the past year (as well as always having a surface pro device in my stable), which IMO is a much better tablet functionally, especially when it comes to multi tasking Samsung just really went all out. Still they both pale in comparison to Windows, but no one makes 7-8" Windows tablets anymore. I'm curious to see what Microsoft presents later on today.

Just to be clear I still think the ipad mini 6 is really incredibly nice, especially as a consumption device, I'm sure it will be a huge hit. I'm just not convinced that it checks off all the boxes for what I personally need, certainly not at its price range.

It sounds like it definately doesn't check all the boxes from what you have written ... in fact I can't for the life of me understand why on earth you ordered one with all it's shortcomings you are clearly aware of

 

[DotCom2]

Nice that they included the 20 Watt charger. I didn't know that before.

 

[smulji]

I agree with MKBHD that a mini Pro would have been nice. I don't want to go back to 60Hz anything now.

The iPad mini 6 is a great device. FaceID + ProMotion Display would make this device perfect.

 

[smulji]

Perfect for what?

It's perfect as a lean back against the couch device for consuming content due to being easy and comfortable to hold with one hand. When SJ introduced the first iPad in 2010, he said for the iPad to be successful it had to be better than the smartphone and laptop at seven key tasks. To me, the iPad mini 6 does a much better job of satisfying that vision than its bigger screen brethren which are more akin to laptop alternative / replacements. To make a long story short, it's the perfect tablet.

 

[840quadra]

Looking forward to this for quick event photo and video edits that I do nearly every weekend for clients. It has a screen small enough to fit in some of my cargo pants pockets, or vests, and is big enough to essentially ditch using my phone.

The lack of USB-C on the new pro phones was really a letdown this year. My cameras will not talk directly to an iPhone over a cable (even apples own), however they do connect to my iPad Pro. transfer of RAW images over camera WiFi is also not possible, and who wants to wait for that anyway.