No one complained when the iPad Air 1 and Mini 2 had an A7.

[Kendo]

No one complained when the iPad Air got a vanilla A7. So why are people making a big deal that the iPad Mini 4 "only" has an A8? If an A7 was good enough for a flagship device (iPad Air 1 at the time), then why isn't a next generation A8 good enough for their lower tier device (Mini 4)? It was most likely done for power and heating constraints in that small case.

Not that it matters to me, I have an iPad Air 2. But I can't see why people are complaining about the A8 in a Mini 4?

 

[Batavian]

I think a bigger complaint for me would be lack of Force Touch. But this is how Apple operates. They deliberately nerf devices so one will continue to upgrade to get the latest features.

My understanding the iPad Mini 4 got the slower chip to save on battery.

Knowing that the iPad Mini 4 has 2 GB RAM is compelling reason for me to upgrade. Not only will this allow for less tab reloading, but it can take full advantage of iOS 9's split screen features.

 

[acastic]

No one complained when the iPad Air got a vanilla A7. So why are people making a big deal that the iPad Mini 4 "only" has an A8? If an A7 was good enough for a flagship device (iPad Air 1 at the time), then why isn't a next generation A8 good enough for their lower tier device (Mini 4)? It was most likely done for power and heating constraints in that small case.

Not that it matters to me, I have an iPad Air 2. But I can't see why people are complaining about the A8 in a Mini 4?

Based on the keynote, Apple made it seem like the mini 4 would be a smaller version of the Air 2, i.e. the A8X processor. That's why people are a bit on the frosty side.

 

[IJBrekke]

I think it's exactly because of the comparison you mentioned: For one generation the Air and Mini were on equal footing processor-wise. Since then the Mini has been left behind. Those that prefer the Mini's form factor are forced to compromise with lesser speeds or go to the bigger Air screen.

People want a goldilocks device but Apple refuses to make it.

 

[Jetcat3]

I think it's exactly because of the comparison you mentioned: For one generation the Air and Mini were on equal footing processor-wise. Since then the Mini has been left behind. Those that prefer the Mini's form factor are forced to compromise with lesser speeds or go to the bigger Air screen.

People want a goldilocks device but Apple refuses to make it.

It is also an A8 that has been turned up too. 1.5Ghz from 1.4Ghz. I think it's a great chip for the Mini 4 to be honest. I'm not sure I'd want the A8X in such a small chassis but truth be told it could probably handle it from a thermal perspective.

 

[Sydde]

The A8X has 3 CPU cores instead of 2 in the A8, and it has twice the GPU capacity; the Mini 4 has the same number of little dots on the screen as the full-size Air, so less GPU will mean less performance over the same number of pixels. It will be nice if the mini can handle the multi-tasking features, but it may come up short.

 

[Leonick]

then why isn't a next generation A8 good enough for their lower tier device (Mini 4)? It was most likely done for power and heating constraints in that small case.

Well, first of there is what you said about "lower tier". A lot of us want the iPad Mini because of the smaller form factor, not because it's cheaper, and want Apple to once again just be an option of screen size like it was with the Mini 2 and how they treat their laptop lineups. If you go buy an 11" MacBook Air you get the same CPU and graphics as the 13" (although you don't get the SD card slot and sacrifice a bit of battery).

They already keep around an older model as a low tier option so why cripple the latest Mini? Bring the price up a bit if needed for the margin, I wouldn't care.


For this particular update the fact that it was announced as a smaller Air 2 set the expectation that it did in fact have the same internals as the Air 2 which is significantly faster, can't you blame people for being annoyed be the outright lie?

This year I suspect it actually is a bit about power constraints, the A8X takes more batter, the Mini has less space for battery and Apple has decided iPad's must have 10 hours of battery life, no less no more. Totally fair. I still have to ask the eternal question here though, what if they hadn't made it 1.5 millimeters thinner and a bit over 30 grams lighter?

 

[Resseh]

sometimes it feels like people just like to have a moan. only having 1GB of RAM have been usual gripe with apple products - with that fixed, it had to be something else. if it had the A8X, people would have moaned about lack of force touch. If not that - the lack of pencil integration etc.

 

[ValO]

People are complaing and i think they are right.

1. When the ipad mini and air 1 came out, it was about a month later than the iphone 5s, they had the same greatest and latest soc from apple with a faster clockspeed.

Now the iphone 6s has an a9 soc, and this mini has last years gen, an a8.

2. Apple said the ipad mini is the same as ipad air 2. But it in' t. The soc is (a faster clocked and 2gb) a8 for mini vs a8x for ipad air 2.

 

[Chundles]

If anything the Air 2 is massively over-specced on the processor side. It has power to burn in there, the software as it stand barley scrapes the surface.

The mini 4 is great value.

 

[journeyy]

No one complained when the iPad Air got a vanilla A7. So why are people making a big deal that the iPad Mini 4 "only" has an A8? If an A7 was good enough for a flagship device (iPad Air 1 at the time), then why isn't a next generation A8 good enough for their lower tier device (Mini 4)? It was most likely done for power and heating constraints in that small case.

Not that it matters to me, I have an iPad Air 2. But I can't see why people are complaining about the A8 in a Mini 4?

I don't think Force Touch is ready for the iPad yet. Look at the weight increase on the iPhones, the iPads would be MUCH heavier with the current tech. I guess they wait for a lighter second revision to include it

 

[Mystro]

X2. I am right there with you. After seeing how hot my Galaxy Tab S got with just moderate use, I am more than satisfied the mini 4 got the best chip for its application. There isn't another tablet its size that will touch it so those that are not impressed don't have a plan b to even fall back on as a equal in its size category.

It is also an A8 that has been turned up too. 1.5Ghz from 1.4Ghz. I think it's a great chip for the Mini 4 to be honest. I'm not sure I'd want the A8X in such a small chassis but truth be told it could probably handle it from a thermal perspective.