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This is the iPad to beat now. Pair it with a cheap external monitor, BT keyboard and Magic Trackpad and you have a mobile office workhorse. Ordered Purple, my first non-black or white electronic device potentially ever.

Would have preferred 8GB of RAM tho. But still, it'll do.
Hmm... interesting idea. However, isn't external display support still horrible for iPad? Hopefully this will change soon, but can't bank on it.
 
This is somewhat disappointing. iPad apps, and iPadOS itself, are going to target the lowest common denominator for specs which is currently the base iPad and 3GB of RAM. iPads aren’t limited by CPU but they are limited by RAM (and iPadOS’s lack of virtual memory). iPad Pro users were howling for more advanced features this past spring only to be bitterly disappointed with such incremental updates out of iPadOS 15. The iPad will never see professional level software or certain missing features if the most popular model is hobbled by inadequate RAM. Example: Adobe won’t add HDR merging of raw files in Lightroom for iPad because, while the recent pros have ample memory to merge multiple high-megapixel shots together, the base model iPad does not and they want feature parity for all devices.
 
Does this mean that apps will actually work in the background instead of being fubared? I doubt it with 4gb, but one can only hope. For me this is really one of the last things separating iOS from being a full OS, well that and user accounts a well.
 
I am saying Apple and other tablets I know of (that are wifi only) do not allow you to access GPS without a cellular connection, so why add the chip?

Galaxy Tab S7+ WIFI model has GPS chip. Using it right now on the road and the tracking is accurate and smooth. iPad Pro M1 WIFI, on the other hand, doesn't and relies on known WIFI AP locations so less accuracy with location jumping around and at intervals.
 
It basically shares the same SoC of the iPhone 13 Pro, as in, it has not only the same amount of RAM but also the 5-core GPU, instead of the 4-core GPU found on the A15 of the non-pro iPhone 13.
The Iphone Pros have 6 GB RAM, but the Mini 6 has 4 GB RAM so not the same. Also is it confirmed anywhere for sure that Mini 6 has the same 5 core GPU A15 chip as the Pro’s? Either way im getting one but would be interested to know what A15 chip it has.
 
This is the "phone" I want because it has TouchID. I know this won't make phone calls by itself, but what if I pair this with an Apple Watch activated through "Family Setup"? Here's the plan. Will it work?
  1. Get rid of current iPhone.
  2. Get an cellular Apple Watch through "Family Setup" and port my phone number to it.
  3. Get cellular iPad mini with 5g service.
A) Will "continuity" work between the Watch and the iPad if I don't carry around an iPhone? (take calls on iPad etc)

B) Will I get all day battery-life with the Watch? (cellular takes more battery than bluetooth?)
 
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This is the "phone" I want because it has TouchID. I know this won't make phone calls by itself, but what if I pair this with an Apple Watch activated through "Family Setup"? Here's the plan. Will it work?
  1. Get rid of current iPhone.
  2. Get an cellular Apple Watch through "Family Setup" and port my phone number to it.
  3. Get cellular iPad mini with 5g service.
A) Will "continuity" work between the Watch and the iPad if I don't carry around an iPhone? (take calls on iPad etc)

B) Will I get all day battery-life with the Watch? (cellular takes more battery than bluetooth?)
Continuity surely won’t work between Watch and iPad.
 
This is the "phone" I want because it has TouchID. I know this won't make phone calls by itself...

Use Google Voice app which gives you a standard xxx-xxx-xxxx number if you're in the US. If you don't want randomly generated # pay $10 for custom #.
 
It basically shares the same SoC of the iPhone 13 Pro, as in, it has not only the same amount of RAM but also the 5-core GPU, instead of the 4-core GPU found on the A15 of the non-pro iPhone 13.
The iPhone 13 Pro has 6GB RAM but you're correct that it has the same CPU & GPU configuration
 
One thing I don’t see mentioned anywhere is that the new iPad Mini does not have ProMotion. That is a dealbreaker for me. So lower screen refresh rate compared to the Pro models that have it. The Mini does have higher ppi though at 326 I believe vs. 264 for the other iPads.
It doesn't have ProMotion, OLED display or FaceID. Apple has to save something for future upgrades
 
The Iphone Pros have 6 GB RAM, but the Mini 6 has 4 GB RAM so not the same. Also is it confirmed anywhere for sure that Mini 6 has the same 5 core GPU A15 chip as the Pro’s? Either way im getting one but would be interested to know what A15 chip it has.

It's on Apple's website (5-core graphics), so, it's not the same as the 4-core GPU on the non-pro iPhone 13:

Screen Shot 2021-09-15 at 3.26.18 p.m..jpg
 
This is the "phone" I want because it has TouchID. I know this won't make phone calls by itself, but what if I pair this with an Apple Watch activated through "Family Setup"? Here's the plan. Will it work?
  1. Get rid of current iPhone.
  2. Get an cellular Apple Watch through "Family Setup" and port my phone number to it.
  3. Get cellular iPad mini with 5g service.
A) Will "continuity" work between the Watch and the iPad if I don't carry around an iPhone? (take calls on iPad etc)

B) Will I get all day battery-life with the Watch? (cellular takes more battery than bluetooth?)

VOIP app like Google Voice, Talkatone, Comcast Voice, etc will make this iPad with Cellular a call-receiving & call-making "phone" and can receive and send texts to your number too. Get some buds with microphone and you can use this almost exactly like an iPhone with buds (sans Apple's own VOIP app exclusively for iPhone).

Been using Minis as my "phone" for many years. ONE device can do it all if you want it.

Bonus: AT&T offers 2GB LTE for 3 months for $30 on demand. I've been averaging $90 per YEAR for cellular service for a couple of years now. That's per YEAR.

Caveats:
  • Mini is not pocketable (but suit pockets tend to work, purses for the ladies, etc. I just tuck mine under my arm when not suited, or in a bag if I have one).
  • Mini does not come with cameras as good as iPhone Max.
  • If Watch is a must, I think Watches must be "married" to iPhones (only) to give you full functionality.
  • If you use heavy cellular data, the great savings of that AT&T option fails. On the other hand, if you can save eating so much data until you have wifi, works great. I always run out of time (90 days) before I burn up the 2GB but I both live and work in free wifi zones and don't even need cellular for stretches of time.
  • I do NOT have a sense of how well CarPlay works without iPhone. But this setup will connect with my car's system via bluetooth and I can make and take calls using the car's microphone & speakers... and feed maps voice directions to the cars speakers too, play music stored on it, etc.
Not for everyone but this has worked GREAT for me for years... and is MUCH cheaper than annual/bi-annual iPhone purchases and always-on cellular bills that come with them. Personally, I don't feel like I'm missing a thing this way. I expect to use this new 6 (replacing a 2) for the next 4-6 years. DELIGHTED that the 6 is as loaded as it is. It will be a great "phone"... AND tablet!
 
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Use Google Voice app which gives you a standard xxx-xxx-xxxx number if you're in the US. If you don't want randomly generated # pay $10 for custom #.

...or port the number you already have, which is what I did.

Bonus: if you still have land line- maybe for alarm system- look into the Obihai device on Amazon. It will leverage the SAME google voice number to take over as a land line phone at home. Works with alarm system... even works with the rare faxing need. If your calls are within North America, the monthly bill is $0. ZERO.

When someone calls my number, both my Mini AND those home phones ring. When someone texts my number, the notification pops up on my Mini and I can text with them.

Calls OUTSIDE the U.S. (if you don't want to keep 'em free with FaceTime/Skype/Zoom) are dirt cheap too.

Bonus #2: Nobody on the other end can tell. To them, I'm probably using a cell phone for texts and calls.
 
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I am already waiting for it to be delivery to come so I can refuse it! 4GB RAM is not good enough! iPad Pro has 8GB RAM and it just $250 more for the 256GB storage. I going to be return the Mini and just use my Pro! ;)
 
Remember it's a balance between amount of RAM and battery life, so you wouldn't just want more, when the battery is so small compared with the bigger iPads.
iOS devices need less RAM compared with Android devices as Android uses "Garbage Collection" memory model, but iOS uses "Reference Counting".
My point being engineers always need to balance power, space, cost, etc. But commenters always now better :)
The amount of RAM inside dictates when Apple will stop supporting the device! 4GB RAM is now the bottom hierarchy in the cheap mobile devices. You can keep yours if you like but I do not want to have something like this that will be obsolete in a few years from now! Apple is so frugal when it comes to expanding the RAM especially on cheap devices. The cost from 4 to 6 GB is like $3 more!
 
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