Tipping point - iPad 4th gen vs iPad mini

[reputationZed]

Just a question for those who were debating between the iPad mini and the iPad gen 4. Prior to last Tuesdays event my plan was that if the rumoured revision to the full sized iPad included a bump to the A6X as well as the switch to the lightening connector I'd upgrade to the latest iPad. At that point I was interested in seeing what the mini would turn out to be but was not considering purchasing one myself.

After watching the event it was clear that the 4th gen iPad was going to be a nice upgrade over the iPad 2 as well as addressing some of the short comings of the iPad 3rd gen. But something about the mini started pulling at me. I weighed the pros and cons back and forth and by Thursday night had decided that I'd go with the 4th gen iPad. In the end I felt that a performance increase had more value that a reduction in size and weight.

The next morning I picked up my iPad 2 with all intent of pre ordering the 4th gen iPad. As I was holding the iPad 2 I was struck by how heavy it really is and thought how much nicer a lighter device would be. I thought about the upgrade from the iPhone 4 to the iPhone 5 which gave me both a performance increase and a lighter weight device. While I love the added performance of the A6 and the GB of RAM it's the iPhone 6's lighter weight that continues to strike me every time I pick it up. It struck me that in all that I use the iPad for, web surfing, e-mail, reading e-books, and playing the occasional game, I've never wished the iPad was faster but I have wished it was lighter. In the end I chose to go with a 32GB LTE mini. Did I make the right choice, only time will tell.

I'd be interested in hearing from others who were debating between the two, particularly if you changed your mind at the last moment. What was your tipping point

 

[CapnJackGig]

I don't get that excuse about the iPhone 4 to 5. No one on the planet was complaining about the iPhone 4's weight. And if you were, punch yourself in the face. Now people actually do complain about the iPad 3's weight. Especially since iPad 2 weighed noticeably less. It's not a huge advantage though, but the real difference is in size. The regular iPad is just too damn big to walk around with. I see people doing it, and I just laugh. I laugh especially hard when I see these people taking pictures of it in public. It's hilarious. The Mini is far more portable, but still not ideal. At it's weight and size, I can safely stick it in my wife's purse without her noticing and let her lug it around for me and then take it out when I want it. The other downside for me of the current iPad is looks. It just looks old. Stale design, like an old TV. Get rid of those stupidly huge borders.

 

[Minarets]

This is pretty much me. I'm getting one or the other for work purposes, for Xmas.

The mini's portability sounds fantastic, but when did the regular ipad become "huge abd unportable?" My work laptop is sucks to lug around, and having the ipad will allow me to do 90% of what I need to do.

I have a ipad 1 nown so anything will be an upgrade. It will be handed to the 6 year old and will be just fine for him. I am trying to figure out if I'd rather have the smaller form factor or retina display. That is really what it boils down to, between these 2 for me.

Ill be getting 64gig LTE in either one, so I am waiting for the apple stores to have them in so I can play amd compare. Right now, I'm leaning towards ipad4.

 

[ZBoater]

I did. In thinking of my uses, there is nothing the iPad 4 can do the mini can't (including playing infinity blade, my favorite iPad 2 game). The reduction in size and weight are two big factors for me.

If I played more games maybe the iPad 4 would be better. But for work, email, web browsing and the other apps I use, being half the weight and more portable is more important to me.

 

[reputationZed]

I don't get that excuse about the iPhone 4 to 5. No one on the planet was complaining about the iPhone 4's weight. And if you were, punch yourself in the face. Now people actually do complain about the iPad 3's weight. Especially since iPad 2 weighed noticeably less. It's not a huge advantage though, but the real difference is in size. The regular iPad is just too damn big to walk around with. I see people doing it, and I just laugh. I laugh especially hard when I see these people taking pictures of it in public. It's hilarious. The Mini is far more portable, but still not ideal. At it's weight and size, I can safely stick it in my wife's purse without her noticing and let her lug it around for me and then take it out when I want it. The other downside for me of the current iPad is looks. It just looks old. Stale design, like an old TV. Get rid of those stupidly huge borders.

Never complained about the iPhone 4's weight, simply stated that the weight difference between the 4/4S and the 5 is very noticeable. In fact I never thought of the 4/4S, or the iPad2 for that matter, as being heavy until I picked up the 5.

I agree that the current iPad look has grown stale. I prefer the thin border more iPhone 5 like look of the mini.

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This is pretty much me. I'm getting one or the other for work purposes, for Xmas.

The mini's portability sounds fantastic, but when did the regular ipad become "huge abd unportable?" My work laptop is sucks to lug around, and having the ipad will allow me to do 90% of what I need to do.

I have a ipad 1 nown so anything will be an upgrade. It will be handed to the 6 year old and will be just fine for him. I am trying to figure out if I'd rather have the smaller form factor or retina display. That is really what it boils down to, between these 2 for me.

Ill be getting 64gig LTE in either one, so I am waiting for the apple stores to have them in so I can play amd compare. Right now, I'm leaning towards ipad4.

I wouldn't necessarily say that the iPad is 'huge and unportable', but now that a lighter more portable solution is available there's room to question whether its lite and portable enough.

----------

I did. In thinking of my uses, there is nothing the iPad 4 can do the mini can't (including playing infinity blade, my favorite iPad 2 game). The reduction in size and weight are two big factors for me.

If I played more games maybe the iPad 4 would be better. But for work, email, web browsing and the other apps I use, being half the weight and more portable is more important to me.

Funny, the only real reservation I have with the mini is how well will it handle Real Racing 3? Then again considering I still haven't gotten around to finishing RR2 it's not that great of a concern.

 

[Dick Whitman]

This is pretty much me. I'm getting one or the other for work purposes, for Xmas.

The mini's portability sounds fantastic, but when did the regular ipad become "huge abd unportable?" My work laptop is sucks to lug around, and having the ipad will allow me to do 90% of what I need to do.

I have a ipad 1 nown so anything will be an upgrade. It will be handed to the 6 year old and will be just fine for him. I am trying to figure out if I'd rather have the smaller form factor or retina display. That is really what it boils down to, between these 2 for me.

Ill be getting 64gig LTE in either one, so I am waiting for the apple stores to have them in so I can play amd compare. Right now, I'm leaning towards ipad4.

Why would you possibly need 64 gig with LTE? With LTE you could save and keep most of you content in the cloud and then quickly access it. I've always gotten the lowest storage size with Apple devices and have been just fine. My current iPhone is a 32 gig but that's only because that was all they had and I really wanted an iPhone 5 at the time. In retrospect I guess the 32 gig was good though because ill have more space for higher quality photos from the new camera and the device itself will have better resell value.

 

[Fry-man22]

I fail to understand how anyone with such questions could possibly come to an intelligent conclusion without holding/using both devices.

You say that performance vs portability were your "tipping points", yet you made a decision without having personal experience with either. If I were trying to decide based on these two points I would make sure to hold and use each device before thinking I came to an accurate conclusion. Yes, the Mini is lighter, but is it enough lighter to hit your personal definition of "portable"?

"Fast" and "Portable" are hugely subjective observations so basing a decision off what you read is the same as flipping a coin in my opinion.

 

[ZBoater]

I already know how big the iPad 3 is. I also own a Nexus 7. Having iOS in that smaller form factor is going yo be great. I don't have to hold it in my hand to come to that conclusion.

 

[Fry-man22]

I already know how big the iPad 3 is. I also own a Nexus 7. Having iOS in that smaller form factor is going yo be great. I don't have to hold it in my hand to come to that conclusion.

You did, however have to hold the 7" object for reference and that is how you drew that conclusion. You are assuming the Mini will feel like that reference object - you may or may not be correct. You are correct that you can come to a conclusion at any point you like, I still say that that conclusion is drawn from incomplete data and assumption.

 

[ZBoater]

You did, however have to hold the 7" object for reference and that is how you drew that conclusion. You are assuming the Mini will feel like that reference object - you may or may not be correct. You are correct that you can come to a conclusion at any point you like, I still say that that conclusion is drawn from incomplete data and assumption.

Yes, which is where Apple's return policy comes into play...

 

[MrXiro]

You did, however have to hold the 7" object for reference and that is how you drew that conclusion. You are assuming the Mini will feel like that reference object - you may or may not be correct. You are correct that you can come to a conclusion at any point you like, I still say that that conclusion is drawn from incomplete data and assumption.

The 7 inch tablet is similar enough for any intelligent person to come to a conclusion roughly how a iPad mini will handle... Especially since he's also used iPads before. Had he never used a tablet before and his base of reference was ONLY the N7 then you can debate him on this... He knows what he wants based on his experience, not your lack of...

 

[urkel]

I fail to understand how anyone with such questions could possibly come to an intelligent conclusion without holding/using both devices.

The entire Apple Defense Squads case on Apple sticking with these iterative and "intentionally" boring devices is because drastic change would scare normal people off. So why would it be necessary for someone to handle an iPhone 5 or iPad Mini first before knowing how it will be? And IF for some reason a product doesnt fit the user then they have return polcies so its better to get in early than wait to hold/use it and find out theres now a 3wk delay in shipments.

 

[reputationZed]

I fail to understand how anyone with such questions could possibly come to an intelligent conclusion without holding/using both devices.

You say that performance vs portability were your "tipping points", yet you made a decision without having personal experience with either. If I were trying to decide based on these two points I would make sure to hold and use each device before thinking I came to an accurate conclusion. Yes, the Mini is lighter, but is it enough lighter to hit your personal definition of "portable"?

"Fast" and "Portable" are hugely subjective observations so basing a decision off what you read is the same as flipping a coin in my opinion.

Roughly the same weight as a pad of paper. Now if I only had any experience with a pad of paper.

https://www.macrumors.com/2012/10/25/which-tests-phil-schillers-ipad-mini-weight-comparison-claims/


But you are correct, if I wanted to play it safe, I should wait until its released, and only come to a conclusion after exhaustive hands on analysis. I'm just not that anal. If the mini doesn't meet my expectations, based on what I learned during the Apple event, I can simply return it.

 

[AdonisSMU]

Just a question for those who were debating between the iPad mini and the iPad gen 4. Prior to last Tuesdays event my plan was that if the rumoured revision to the full sized iPad included a bump to the A6X as well as the switch to the lightening connector I'd upgrade to the latest iPad. At that point I was interested in seeing what the mini would turn out to be but was not considering purchasing one myself.

After watching the event it was clear that the 4th gen iPad was going to be a nice upgrade over the iPad 2 as well as addressing some of the short comings of the iPad 3rd gen. But something about the mini started pulling at me. I weighed the pros and cons back and forth and by Thursday night had decided that I'd go with the 4th gen iPad. In the end I felt that a performance increase had more value that a reduction in size and weight.

The next morning I picked up my iPad 2 with all intent of pre ordering the 4th gen iPad. As I was holding the iPad 2 I was struck by how heavy it really is and thought how much nicer a lighter device would be. I thought about the upgrade from the iPhone 4 to the iPhone 5 which gave me both a performance increase and a lighter weight device. While I love the added performance of the A6 and the GB of RAM it's the iPhone 6's lighter weight that continues to strike me every time I pick it up. It struck me that in all that I use the iPad for, web surfing, e-mail, reading e-books, and playing the occasional game, I've never wished the iPad was faster but I have wished it was lighter. Did I make the right choice, only time will tell.

I'd be interested in hearing from others who were debating between the two, particularly if you changed your mind at the last moment. What was your tipping point

Very similar to my experience accept that I went for the mini. I decided that iPad mini will replace iPad as my favorite device because the heft of the retina display iPad was my biggest concern. I think a lightweight device is best for mobile. Plus it has a larger screen than others whilst having a lighter weight.

 

[reputationZed]

Very similar to my experience accept that I went for the mini. I decided that iPad mini will replace iPad as my favorite device because the heft of the retina display iPad was my biggest concern. I think a lightweight device is best for mobile. Plus it has a larger screen than others whilst having a lighter weight.

I just re read my original post and I guess I didn't make it clear that in the end I chose the mini as well

 

[iEvolution]

As far as I'm considered its like this:

A tablet with the greatest processor/retina vs a shrunken down iPad 2

To each his own but I'm not going to sacrifice a faster processor, better display, more memory for a smaller tablet with last years specs.

I own a 3rd generation iPad and I'm still considering the 4th gen but to tell you the truth the biggest turn off is how Apple has cornered the lightning adapter market by "forcing" users to buy conversion/extra adapters from them.

 

[ZBoater]

As far as I'm considered its like this:

A tablet with the greatest processor/retina THAT WEIGHS TWICE AS MUCH vs a shrunken down iPad 2 ...

There. Fixed it for you.

 

[iEvolution]

There. Fixed it for you.

Smarty pants.

 

[kappaknight]

Why would you possibly need 64 gig with LTE? With LTE you could save and keep most of you content in the cloud and then quickly access it. I've always gotten the lowest storage size with Apple devices and have been just fine. My current iPhone is a 32 gig but that's only because that was all they had and I really wanted an iPhone 5 at the time. In retrospect I guess the 32 gig was good though because ill have more space for higher quality photos from the new camera and the device itself will have better resell value.

As a parent who has over 30 GB's of photos and videos of my first born (and other things), I can tell you that 64GB comes in really handy for me. There's about 40GB's worth of stuff on my phone now - though I think I can get by with 32GB for the iPad since I won't be using it to document my life as I go.

I don't necessarily want to pay for iCloud, and having the freedom to shoot and record as I please knowing there'll be room has been great, or will be great for the highlight reel at the wedding. =)

 

[metzy25]

Ill be returning my mini and going with a iPad 4 if I don't like the mini

 

[ZBoater]

Ill be returning my mini and going with a iPad 4 if I don't like the mini

This.

Enlightened approach. My plan exactly.

 

[PhoenixMac]

Having an iPad 2 and 3 simultaneously for my needs there really was no go to device. And the retina display was not a "deal breaker" for me. I just sold my 2 and 3 and am getting 3 minis 2 for the kids and one for me and the wife to use occasionally.

I find the mini perfect.