New iPad Mini Has Downclocked A15 Chip Compared to iPhone 13

[spinedoc77]

Totally agree! The low RAM (4GB) makes me think any web pages will constantly be refreshing, and apps will lose their place anytime you switch between them. I had this problem eventually with my original iPad Air. Not immediately, but after 2-3 years. Of course, that device had only 1-2GB RAM (not sure). But my current 2018 iPad Pro 11” is beginning to have the Safari refresh frequency problem—and I think it has 3GB RAM. But, that’s really the only disappointment I see with this device, aside from maybe an option with more storage.

Yes, the RAM issue is MUCH more important here. I can't believe it's 2021 and Apple is still putting out a device with 4gb RAM, that's just awful (you know it's awful because they don't even advertise it). I still feel iOS will never be a real OS until it resolves the issue of backgrounded apps. I get that less RAM means better battery life, but even my surface pro 6 with a full OS (no backgrounded/refreshed nonsense), 16GB of RAM and a crappy Intel chip still gets 8-10 hours. Don't even get me started on the inability to have user accounts, but that's another conversation.

I'm almost starting to regret I sold my Galaxy Fold 2 instead of just keeping it as a "tablet", at least that had 12gb RAM and didn't have the refreshing crap iOS does. But the mini 6 does have a larger screen which is nice. I'll have to wait and see when I get my mini 6 to see how bad it is in practice.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Liquid Retina display

What about a “liquid” retina is better than just “retina” of the exact same PPI?

Mini5 and Mini6 screens are both laminated, True Tone, P3, anti reflective, 326ppi

Anyone know what the “liquid” means, or are we all just parroting Apple marketing terms?

 

[spinedoc77]

I suggest restarting your Pro and closing all apps not in immediate use to maximize your free RAM. I'm still rocking a Mini 2 (1GB ram) and it is NOT "constantly refreshing web pages" and apps are not "losing their place" UNLESS I have a number of tabs open and/or too many apps open. Empty your 3X-more-RAM than I have and I bet your experience will improve.

I have friends that were griping about "slow" iPads. In helping them, I always look at how many apps are open- usually every app they've ever opened because they don't know how to close apps- and then I show them how to restart their iPad to flush out any memory tied up for nothing. Magically, after freeing their available RAM, their iPads speed up.

I'm finally jumping on this 6 myself only because the 2 is no longer getting iOS upgrades and some apps I use seem to really "want" new iOS functionality. Since 1GB RAM still works pretty well on the 2, I'm thinking 4 times that is going to be amazing instead of "low."

Of course, we can always want more "specs" stuff. Had Apple put 6GB RAM in, someone would gripe why not 8? If there was 8, why not 16? There are plenty of posts about the A15 being slowed just a bit from the A15 in iPhone. Why not M1? Why not M1X? Why not M1X AND Intel so we can run Windows too? Why not a card slot for dedicated graphics? Why not 2 card slots?

I can "want" with the seemingly many craving what would be the iPad Mini Pro (though many posts read like they don't want to pay up for such a pro at what would likely be $1000+). Had Apple also rolled out such a pro, I would have paid the difference. To me, that would be the perfect Mini.

But this is what they offer. If we like it, we buy it. If we don't, we can buy something else or buy nothing. How dollars actually flow is the only tangible way to show Apple if they made good or bad product dev decisions. Coming from the "2" and this form factor being "ideal" IMO, it was a no-brainer purchase for me. For others wanting features not available here and/or wanting what is available here for substantially lower prices, this is not the product for such people.

I excitedly await this loaded 6 to arrive. Yes, I certainly wish it cost less, but I could have that same wish if it was priced at $600, $500, $400, $300, $200 or even $100. Much like the Mini 2's useful longevity, I expect this one to still be in daily use 4-6 years from now. Spread even the max config specs over- say- 5- years and we're talking < $200/yr for a daily use tool/device. Meanwhile, over in iPhone threads, people are clamoring to spend $1599 on (maxed) iPhone MAX that they'll be spinning as "long in tooth" as soon as next year or the year thereafter to rationalize paying $1799-$1999 or whatever Apple wants for iPhone 14 or 15. Many woke up in the wee hours desperately trying to spend much more than this cost ASAP... and then are gushing if they were "lucky" enough to get one.

I close all my apps all the time, and my ipad mini 4 and 5 still refresh all the time. Not 100% of the time, but the vast majority of the time I see webpages and apps refreshed and I lose data, or lose my place in an app. It's unfortunate, but the mini is really the best choice because of it's size. If Windows made a tablet that size (they used to) I'd buy it over the mini ANY day of the week. But I need a tablet that fits into my scrubs pocket, and when I'm not working into my back jeans pocket. I'm ok with the price myself, but I do agree with others that for the price it really should have had more RAM.

 

[turbineseaplane]

I close all my apps all the time, and my ipad mini 4 and 5 still refresh all the time

Are you force closing the apps?

 

[spinedoc77]

Are you force closing the apps?

Yep, sometimes I even fully reboot.

 

[FriendlyMackle]

I suggest restarting your Pro and closing all apps not in immediate use to maximize your free RAM. I'm still rocking a Mini 2 (1GB ram) and it is NOT "constantly refreshing web pages" and apps are not "losing their place" UNLESS I have a number of tabs open and/or too many apps open. Empty your 3X-more-RAM than I have and I bet your experience will improve.

I have friends that were griping about "slow" iPads. In helping them, I always look at how many apps are open- usually every app they've ever opened because they don't know how to close apps- and then I show them how to restart their iPad to flush out any memory tied up for nothing. Magically, after freeing their available RAM, their iPads speed up.

I'm finally jumping on this 6 myself only because the 2 is no longer getting iOS upgrades and some apps I use seem to really "want" new iOS functionality. Since 1GB RAM still works pretty well on the 2, I'm thinking 4 times that is going to be amazing instead of "low."

Of course, we can always want more "specs" stuff. Had Apple put 6GB RAM in, someone would gripe why not 8? If there was 8, why not 16? There are plenty of posts about the A15 being slowed just a bit from the A15 in iPhone. Why not M1? Why not M1X? Why not M1X AND Intel so we can run Windows too? Why not a card slot for dedicated graphics? Why not 2 card slots?

I can "want" with the seemingly many craving what would be the iPad Mini Pro (though many posts read like they don't want to pay up for such a pro at what would likely be $1000+). Had Apple also rolled out such a pro, I would have paid the difference. To me, that would be the perfect Mini.

But this is what they offer. If we like it, we buy it. If we don't, we can buy something else or buy nothing. How dollars actually flow is the only tangible way to show Apple if they made good or bad product dev decisions. Coming from the "2" and this form factor being "ideal" IMO, it was a no-brainer purchase for me. For others wanting features not available here and/or wanting what is available here for substantially lower prices, this is not the product for such people.

I excitedly await this loaded 6 to arrive. Yes, I certainly wish it cost less, but I could have that same wish if it was priced at $600, $500, $400, $300, $200 or even $100. Much like the Mini 2's useful longevity, I expect this one to still be in daily use 4-6 years from now. Spread even the max config specs over- say- 5- years and we're talking < $200/yr for a daily use tool/device. Meanwhile, over in iPhone threads, people are clamoring to spend $1599 on (maxed) iPhone MAX that they'll be spinning as "long in tooth" as soon as next year or the year thereafter to rationalize paying $1799-$1999 or whatever Apple wants for iPhone 14 or 15. Many woke up in the wee hours desperately trying to spend much more than this cost ASAP... and then are gushing if they were "lucky" enough to get one.

Haha, you’re funny, and you do make fair points.
I’m not saying that anything about this release deters me from purchasing a mini. I just would have liked some more RAM (but you are correct in that I would not have been satisfied with less than 8; and if there had been 8GB of RAM, I would truly have wanted 16GB)! 😀
The underclocking doesn’t bother me, as I doubt it will be noticeable at all, other than via Geekbench.
I‘ve never wanted a mini, as the screen is small for any kind of web browsing—but it is perfect for reading books, and as a super lightweight mo lie tablet hat could it in a pocket (maybe).
Edit: I also meant to say that I always force close my apps on my iPad Pro 2018. And that even with nothing else open, and only 3-4 tabs in safari, the device constantly refreshes if or when I do switch/open another app, or change tabs. It is very annoying, and a new problem. Previously, I could keep open a large number of tabs and apps before I’d start to see refreshes. Perhaps it has to do with the current version of iOS?

 

[turbineseaplane]

Yep, sometimes I even fully reboot.

source: https://tidbits.com/2020/05/21/why-...-quitting-ios-apps-or-restarting-ios-devices/

The biggest irony is that force quitting an iOS app doesn’t even quit the app. The app still resides in memory!

All force quitting does is send a signal to the app that the next time it comes into the foreground, the app should reinitialize itself.

iOS manages its memory. When more memory is needed, iOS will determine what apps to kill or cache memory that can be freed. In fact, if an app is written correctly, you’ll never know if an app quit since apps are supposed to save their state since any time they could be terminated by the OS. A well written app should restart and return to exactly the point where it left off.

 

[spinedoc77]

source: https://tidbits.com/2020/05/21/why-...-quitting-ios-apps-or-restarting-ios-devices/

The biggest irony is that force quitting an iOS app doesn’t even quit the app. The app still resides in memory!

All force quitting does is send a signal to the app that the next time it comes into the foreground, the app should reinitialize itself.

iOS manages its memory. When more memory is needed, iOS will determine what apps to kill or cache memory that can be freed. In fact, if an app is written correctly, you’ll never know if an app quit since apps are supposed to save their state since any time they could be terminated by the OS. A well written app should restart and return to exactly the point where it left off.

Yep I was going to post exactly this, but I didn't know the technical details and was too lazy to look them up. It's been this way for years now. But it still goes back to the point of not enough RAM and apps which don't save your place, or save your data and web pages which refresh.

 

[Crow_Servo]

What about a “liquid” retina is better than just “retina” of the exact same PPI?

Mini5 and Mini6 screens are both laminated, True Tone, P3, anti reflective, 326ppi

Anyone know what the “liquid” means, or are we all just parroting Apple marketing terms?

Honestly, I think they use that term to describe it being edge-to-edge. Not sure why they think Liquid describes that design, but it's what they called the display on the iPhone XR and iPhone 11, so it makes the most sense to me.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Honestly, I think they use that term to describe it being edge-to-edge. Not sure why they think Liquid describes that design, but it's what they called the display on the iPhone XR and iPhone 11, so it makes the most sense to me.

So where is the “edge” in Apple world?

There is a uniform bezel all the way around the device….
Which there needs to be for an iPad so you can hold the bloody thing

I guess I don’t understand how we can call that edge to edge though

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

I close all my apps all the time, and my ipad mini 4 and 5 still refresh all the time. Not 100% of the time, but the vast majority of the time I see webpages and apps refreshed and I lose data, or lose my place in an app. It's unfortunate, but the mini is really the best choice because of it's size. If Windows made a tablet that size (they used to) I'd buy it over the mini ANY day of the week. But I need a tablet that fits into my scrubs pocket, and when I'm not working into my back jeans pocket. I'm ok with the price myself, but I do agree with others that for the price it really should have had more RAM.

I just don't seem to have those "vast majority of the time" experiences with only 1GB of RAM on this Mini 2. Of course, we must be using vastly different websites and/or you must be leaving a number of tabs open or running big memory-hungry apps in the background. I just don't replicate that with 1/4 of this amount of RAM.

I can't recall EVER losing my place in an app. Again, maybe we just use different apps or you must have some memory-hungry ones open at the same time. Big games maybe?

I agree with all that I wish it had even more "specs": more ram, more storage, etc. I wish it had iPhone Max Cameras and I wish it kept the 3.5mm headphone jack too so that there was a way to hear that wonderful lossless without dongles hanging off of it.

Sorry for your negative experiences. I've been pretty happy with 1GB RAM in this 2 up until the iOS upgrades cut off + 1-2 years. I hope they build both of us iPad Mini Pro for next year.

 

[code-m]

What about a “liquid” retina is better than just “retina” of the exact same PPI?

Mini5 and Mini6 screens are both laminated, True Tone, P3, anti reflective, 326ppi

Anyone know what the “liquid” means, or are we all just parroting Apple marketing terms?

I presume to Apple’s marketing department “liquid” retina means curved or rounded corners of the display it has nothing to do with resolution or PPI as iPhone XR had it with an LCD screen and non-retina resolution/PPI. So yes the mini 6 does have a “liquid” Retina display compared to mini 5 or even the 2021 iPad 10.2”.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

source: https://tidbits.com/2020/05/21/why-...-quitting-ios-apps-or-restarting-ios-devices/

The biggest irony is that force quitting an iOS app doesn’t even quit the app. The app still resides in memory!

All force quitting does is send a signal to the app that the next time it comes into the foreground, the app should reinitialize itself.

iOS manages its memory. When more memory is needed, iOS will determine what apps to kill or cache memory that can be freed. In fact, if an app is written correctly, you’ll never know if an app quit since apps are supposed to save their state since any time they could be terminated by the OS. A well written app should restart and return to exactly the point where it left off.

Does the DATA used by apps also stay in memory?

Doesn't quitting apps help iOS decide which RAM to release? For instance, play then quit BIG RAM-hungry game but leave some productivity apps open in the background. I'm confident- but can't know for sure- that priority of what RAM will get freed in that scenario will be the game before the productivity apps are "closed."

 

[code-m]

I close all my apps all the time, and my ipad mini 4 and 5 still refresh all the time. Not 100% of the time, but the vast majority of the time I see webpages and apps refreshed and I lose data, or lose my place in an app. It's unfortunate, but the mini is really the best choice because of it's size. If Windows made a tablet that size (they used to) I'd buy it over the mini ANY day of the week. But I need a tablet that fits into my scrubs pocket, and when I'm not working into my back jeans pocket. I'm ok with the price myself, but I do agree with others that for the price it really should have had more RAM.

I can understand the app reload/refresh occurring on the mini 4 with its 2GB of RAM but I have never experienced it with mini 5 with 3GB or my long gone iPadPro 12.9” with 4GB of RAM. It maybe something related to the iOS version your are running or leaky memory by some 3rd party app. I have experienced this with some 3rd party apps but usually it’s resolved with an update by the developer due to a lack of oversight in the development and release stage.

 

[code-m]

Does the DATA used by apps also stay in memory?

Doesn't quitting apps help iOS decide which RAM to release?

To my knowledge force quitting an app signals iOS to release the memory but according to Craig he recommends to not force quite apps on iOS as memory management is done seamlessly but I have a force of habit that I manually force quite apps, I know old habits die hard. 😢

 

[code-m]

So where is the “edge” in Apple world?

There is a uniform bezel all the way around the device….
Which there needs to be for an iPad so you can hold the bloody thing

I guess I don’t understand how we can call that edge to edge though

Depends as you say what Apple or the industry defines as edge, is it considered the part of what is displayed with lighted pixels or the panel or something else like the physical product. All Apple devices have a bezel, my projector has no frame or bezel but the picture still has an edge as it does not fade/transition to nothing. Again it depends on what each person considers as edge. I am just happy that the iPad mini 6 finally resembles the rest of the iPad line and the OG design has been retired with the exception of the 10.2” iPad. Bezel or not it’s still a beautiful device. 😃

FYI if you consider the camera and other sensors have to be incorporated into the bezel maybe with OLED mini 7 we can either see a larger display or a smaller body as the iPad mini is the only iPad that can be held in one hand from edge-to-edge when held in portrait view.

 

[spinedoc77]

I just don't seem to have those "vast majority of the time" experiences with only 1GB of RAM on this Mini 2. Of course, we must be using vastly different websites and/or you must be leaving a number of tabs open or running big memory-hungry apps in the background. I just don't replicate that with 1/4 of this amount of RAM.

I can't recall EVER losing my place in an app. Again, maybe we just use different apps or you must have some memory-hungry ones open at the same time. Big games maybe?

I agree with all that I wish it had even more "specs": more ram, more storage, etc. I wish it had iPhone Max Cameras and I wish it kept the 3.5mm headphone jack too so that there was a way to hear that wonderful lossless without dongles hanging off of it.

Sorry for your negative experiences. I've been pretty happy with 1GB RAM in this 2 up until the iOS upgrades cut off + 1-2 years. I hope they build both of us iPad Mini Pro for next year.

Nope, I'm talking about running a website with maybe half a dozen tabs. No memory hungry apps either. I'll give an example that frustrates me on a daily basis, the Apple News app. Guestimating here, but probably 80% of the time when I'm reading a news article and I swap to a different app, it completely refreshes and I'm back on page 1 all the way at the top, completely losing my story and place in the story. Another offender is the Kindle app, but I am willing to chalk this one up to simply a piss poor app as it runs really slowly and bogs down all the time, but it also loses the book I was reading if I swap to another app. Google voice does this as well, I can swap to another app to, for example, enter in a phone number but when I swap back the app has refreshed the digits I already entered and gone back to its home page. Some issues are sort of related, like my email counter doesn't update unless I actually open the email app, then it shows emails disappearing that I deleted hours ago, this is the stock Apple email app. This actually happens in the Slack app as well, it will show a badge from messages that I already read in another app or PC hours ago and wont update until I open the Slack app in iOS.

There are many more that don't come to mind right away. I'm actually really baffled by how well your mini 2 functions, I remember mine as being one of the most ungodly slow pieces of technology I had used, worse even than the original Atom chips released 10 or so years ago. But my difficulties lie with my current tablet, a mini 4.

 

[spinedoc77]

I can understand the app reload/refresh occurring on the mini 4 with its 2GB of RAM but I have never experienced it with mini 5 with 3GB or my long gone iPadPro 12.9” with 4GB of RAM. It maybe something related to the iOS version your are running or leaky memory by some 3rd party app. I have experienced this with some 3rd party apps but usually it’s resolved with an update by the developer due to a lack of oversight in the development and release stage.

My bad, I don't have a mini 5 anymore, this is on a mini 4. So 3gb is a big improvement? Hopefully 4gb is that much better, I'm going to be cautiously optimistic.

Edit: I've been using a XS for the past few months waiting for the 13 to release, that has 4gb of RAM and is just as awful at refreshing apps and losing data as my ipad mini 4 is.

 

[code-m]

My bad, I don't have a mini 5 anymore, this is on a mini 4. So 3gb is a big improvement? Hopefully 4gb is that much better, I'm going to be cautiously optimistic.

3GB is the minimum at present it’s probably going to be that way on iPadOS for sometime until 4GB becomes the minimum and by that time the mini and air would be on 6GB or more. With Apple it all depends on the iPad 10.2” product that is the least spec device to support with the addition of a few prior generations.

By the looks of it mini 7 will probably have 6GB of RAM or more around 2023/24 timeframe. 4GB will still be supported for sometime.

 

[turbineseaplane]

So yes the mini 6 does have a “liquid” Retina display compared to mini 5

I think we all understand that it has one but I think we are also understanding and it doesn’t actually mean anything other than rounded corners… maybe?

That was my only point for bringing this up.

I see people quoting that “liquid retina” is somehow a big upgrade

It seems to just be a made up Apple marketing term that sounds fancy

 

[Crow_Servo]

I presume to Apple’s marketing department “liquid” retina means curved or rounded corners of the display it has nothing to do with resolution or PPI as iPhone XR had it with an LCD screen and non-retina resolution/PPI. So yes the mini 6 does have a “liquid” Retina display compared to mini 5 or even the 2021 iPad 10.2”.

I think the last non-Retina iPhone was like the 3GS and the last non-Retina iPad was the original Mini. I think you just mean lower resolution than the OLED iPhones, right? The PPI on the iPhone XR is the same as the Retina iPad Minis.

 

[turbineseaplane]

I can understand the app reload/refresh occurring on the mini 4 with its 2GB of RAM but I have never experienced it with mini 5 with 3GB or my long gone iPadPro 12.9” with 4GB of RAM. It maybe something related to the iOS version your are running or leaky memory by some 3rd party app

I completely agree.

I’m on my mini 5 all the time and really don’t remember any reloading or refreshing anytime in recent memory. I’m pretty sensitive to that I would not care for it if it was happening

 

[code-m]

I think we all understand that it has one but I think we are also understanding and it doesn’t actually mean anything other than rounded corners… maybe?

That was my only point for bringing this up.

I see people quoting that “liquid retina” is somehow a big upgrade

It seems to just be a made up Apple marketing term that sounds fancy

“Liquid Retina” maybe a big deal for some I presume, to me it’s something new, refreshing and Aesthetically pleasing that the product design is finally resembling the Air and Pro. Does it hold any benefit compared to right angles displays; no, but it’s seems more organic, soft and pleasing to see, use and hold. Is it an upgrade that is debatable, now the slightly larger screen certainly is while still maintaining a small package.

 

[turbineseaplane]

“Liquid Retina” maybe a big deal for some I presume, to me it’s something new, refreshing and Aesthetically pleasing that the product design is finally resembling the Air and Pro. Does it hold any benefit compared to right angles displays; no, but it’s seems more organic, soft and pleasing to see, use and hold. Is it an upgrade that is debatable, now the slightly larger screen certainly is while still maintaining a small package.

lmao
You should go work in Apple PR

No offense but that comes across as mostly vacuous nonsense.

 

[code-m]

I think the last non-Retina iPhone was like the 3GS and the last non-Retina iPad was the original Mini. I think you just mean lower resolution than the OLED iPhones, right? The PPI on the iPhone XR is the same as the Retina iPad Minis.

Correct as Apple was not using the “Liquid Retina” marketing term until rounded cornered displays were being used on iPhone and then iPad.