Would it be smart to buy an iPad mini 2?

[T909]

I've been thinking about getting a new tablet, because my old tablet (Android) is way too old and it has issues (like earbuds don't work) and it's generally slow. It has 512MB of RAM.

Now, at first I was planning to get an iPad mini 1, but it had 512MB of RAM and that made me think it'll be kinda slow, since my tablet PC is very slow (running Android) and my phone has 1GB of RAM (an Android phone) and it's very fast.

I already have a MacBook Pro (2010) and I'll take one with 16GB of storage, because it's the cheapest.
I know it might have problems with updates and so on due to external storage, but I wanted to ask before:

Is it good for video editing (one project at the time)
Is it comfortable to type on?
Will I get iWork for free?

Or should I just get a 200$ Android tablet that has 4G and 1GB of RAM and 32GB of memory?

 

[ron7624]

I have and use one daily. It currently works great. I don't know what iOS 9 will do, but it runs iOS 8.3 like a champ.
It will do what you want. Video editing is fine as long as you use common sense and don't overburden an iPad with heavy demands, and yes you will get iWork for free. I type on my iPad very well, and I'm not a graceful typist.
You are right to stay away from the first generation mini. I had one and although I loved it at the time, I would not go back to it now.
For me, it has been a great product and you have found a great price. Go for it!
I do not regret buying new at full price. It has been worth every penny.

 

[cdm283813]

I personally waited to buy an iPad until it got 2GB of ram and that was a long wait until I got my iPad Air 2. The writing is on the wall for 1GB and less tablets. Don't underestimate the power of ram.
Just because pre iPad Air 2's can do video pop out doesn't guarantee that the experience will be smooth. Ram just doesn't magically appear. Wait until fall if you have your heart set on the mini. Either Apple updates it or kills it

 

[T909]

I have and use one daily. It currently works great. I don't know what iOS 9 will do, but it runs iOS 8.3 like a champ.
It will do what you want. Video editing is fine as long as you use common sense and don't overburden an iPad with heavy demands, and yes you will get iWork for free. I type on my iPad very well, and I'm not a graceful typist.
You are right to stay away from the first generation mini. I had one and although I loved it at the time, I would not go back to it now.
For me, it has been a great product and you have found a great price. Go for it!
I do not regret buying new at full price. It has been worth every penny.

I am not a gamer, but I do look at what games it can run, so that way I'll know how powerful it is. The iPad Mini 1 didn't run it, so I guess it's pretty smart to buy 2.

Also, I saw iPad Mini 3 cheaper in my neighbour country (same price as iPad mini 2 is).

I'll think about it, but thank you for your replies! I'll let you know my decision.

 

[IFRIT]

I've been thinking about getting a new tablet, because my old tablet (Android) is way too old and it has issues (like earbuds don't work) and it's generally slow. It has 512MB of RAM.

Now, at first I was planning to get an iPad mini 1, but it had 512MB of RAM and that made me think it'll be kinda slow, since my tablet PC is very slow (running Android) and my phone has 1GB of RAM (an Android phone) and it's very fast.

I already have a MacBook Pro (2010) and I'll take one with 16GB of storage, because it's the cheapest.
I know it might have problems with updates and so on due to external storage, but I wanted to ask before:

Is it good for video editing (one project at the time)
Is it comfortable to type on?
Will I get iWork for free?

Or should I just get a 200$ Android tablet that has 4G and 1GB of RAM and 32GB of memory?

I would buy a iPad mini 2 over a budget end Android tablet any day of the week and this from someone who has a foot in both camps, the iPad 2 is a really nice working tablet iOS 8.3 is not buttery smooth all the time but the slight stuttery animations sometimes it's not enough to be an annoyance. I can't comment on the video editing though.

I would stay well clear of the iPad mini 1, slow hardware and a very poor screen.

 

[T909]

Yeah, my heart told me that iPad 1 is a bad idea since it has 512MB of RAM and so (so does iPad2, but still)…I've been using Android tablet for 2 years now and also some of my relatives have Android phones with 512MB of RAM and these things are mostly just a nightmare. 1GB is way better and I believe it's the same theory for an iPad.

I really hope that when I'll buy an iPad that I'll get iWork for free. To be fair this thing got me thinking into iPad since it goes straight into your Mac and everything is well synced.

I am not buying an iPad for something heavy. It's just light video editing and photoshop while I'm on the road and I can see that on the tablet I have now…It's not working out and to be fair carrying a laptop became quite annoying, because it's too heavy. (MacBook Pro mid 2013) and I really don't want to get a MacBook Air, since it's getting too hot. (Or I've had very bad experiences.)

Seeing that Apple will still support the iPad 2 made me think that iPad mini 2nd generation won't be dead so soon, because the iPad 2 has been around for ages with the latest releases.

 

[mcdj]

I've been thinking about getting a new tablet

Then don't get an iPad mini 2.

 

[T909]

Then don't get an iPad mini 2.

Why not?
iPad mini 2 has 1GB of RAM

 

[SquireSCA]

Why not?
iPad mini 2 has 1GB of RAM

Because 1GB of RAM is not enough. It is absolute bare minimum and is that way so that you are forced to buy a new tablet when the new OS comes out.

Most Android flagship phones have been coming with 2-3GB of RAM. I had the Mini 2 Retina and it lagged and had constant page reloads when browsing, because 1GB just isn't enough.

It is annoying that Apple charges a premium price for the tablet, and 1GB of RAM is about $1 on the open market when purchased in bulk. They they can't add an extra GB or two, is beyond me. The only reason that makes sense is "Planned Obsolescence"

I have the Air 2 and it sometimes runs out of RAM if you don't open up the multitask screen and manually shut down programs...

 

[T909]

Because 1GB of RAM is not enough. It is absolute bare minimum and is that way so that you are forced to buy a new tablet when the new OS comes out.

Most Android flagship phones have been coming with 2-3GB of RAM. I had the Mini 2 Retina and it lagged and had constant page reloads when browsing, because 1GB just isn't enough.

It is annoying that Apple charges a premium price for the tablet, and 1GB of RAM is about $1 on the open market when purchased in bulk. They they can't add an extra GB or two, is beyond me. The only reason that makes sense is "Planned Obsolescence"

I have the Air 2 and it sometimes runs out of RAM if you don't open up the multitask screen and manually shut down programs...

Yeah, I've been scratching my head over that and I've seen nice Android tablets that cost less and have more RAM and 3G.
I thought the thing is about the iOS because it's different than Android..Well, maybe not. But the new OS'es run on an iPad 2 still?

 

[SquireSCA]

Yeah, I've been scratching my head over that and I've seen nice Android tablets that cost less and have more RAM and 3G.
I thought the thing is about the iOS because it's different than Android..Well, maybe not. But the new OS'es run on an iPad 2 still?

Many Android phones have 3GB of RAM these days, and have for awhile. The differences between iOS and Android are not as much as most people think. Both are based on Linux and have very similar roots.

If you have an iPad Mini 2 Retina, you have 1GB of RAM. But your OS takes up the majority of that... Open an app or two and you have like 100mb free, if that.

My Nexus 6 phone, right now has several widgets and like 14 apps running and I have 1.3GB RAM free...

My iPad Air 2, I never see more than 600mb free and that is a 2GB RAM tablet... Just the OS and the background processes take up 3/4 of the available memory, and then we wonder why opening an app or two and having a browser open with a few tabs has it running out of RAM and reloading pages every 5 min... LOL

 

[T909]

Yeah, I've looked at the reviews.
Thank you very much for your honesty and there are many iPad mini 2 users that complain that it crashes when 4 safari tabs are open.
I've had 50 tabs on my Chrome (sony xperia) and it's still working perfectly. I've watched videos gaming and Vice City loads as fast as my Sony Xperia.

For the same price there are tablets out there that have wireless charging.

Wow, this forum is much better than Apple Discussions. Users give you honest answers and not everybody's blind Apple fanboys. Plus, if I'll buy iPad Mini I'll get 12GB out of 16 anyway and there's no SD card option.

I couldn't find anything about RAM, but it makes me question how does iPhone 4S run iOS 8&9 if it has 512MB of RAM?
And how does iPhone 5C update to a new OS when it has only 8GB of storage? How much is actually left?!

I guess that Siri isn't anything special either, is it?

 

[SquireSCA]

Yeah, I've looked at the reviews.
Thank you very much for your honesty and there are many iPad mini 2 users that complain that it crashes when 4 safari tabs are open.
I've had 50 tabs on my Chrome (sony xperia) and it's still working perfectly. I've watched videos gaming and Vice City loads as fast as my Sony Xperia.

For the same price there are tablets out there that have wireless charging.

Wow, this forum is much better than Apple Discussions. Users give you honest answers and not everybody's blind Apple fanboys. Plus, if I'll buy iPad Mini I'll get 12GB out of 16 anyway and there's no SD card option.

I couldn't find anything about RAM, but it makes me question how does iPhone 4S run iOS 8&9 if it has 512MB of RAM?
And how does iPhone 5C update to a new OS when it has only 8GB of storage? How much is actually left?!

I guess that Siri isn't anything special either, is it?

The reality is that a lot of us use both platforms.

For a phone, Android is the clear winner as a do-anything smartphone.

If you like to tinker with your tablet, Android is the way to go... Lots of nice features, Samsung has the best screen you can buy, expandable storage, etc...

if you really need productivity, Surface Pro or another full windows tablet is the answer.

if you just want a quality media consumption device, that is where the iPad comes in...

I don't know how the older Apple products are going to run the new OS. If history is any indicator, not very well. To make them run it, plenty of new features will be disabled...

I had the Mini 2 Retina and returned it for the Air 2 because it just wasn't that fast... Constantly having to manually close programs to keep enough RAM free to not reload pages when browsing, was annoying...

 

[SquireSCA]

I guess that Siri isn't anything special either, is it?

Siri is a gimick. It was a fun novelty for a couple minutes to show off to your friends, but it was form over function. If you want to actually get stuff done, Google Now and Cortana trump it easily...

 

[T909]

I'd like to have a tablet for a video editing and Photoshop Touch mainly. I thought that iPad has an iMovie but no idea how it'll work on iPad 2 mini.

 

[T909]

Oh, thanks a lot.
I've never used an iPad for that long to have an opinion and i had a chance to use an iPhone 5 in 2013, but… I really don't see what it can do that my Sony Xperia can't. Sony Xperia even has a little video editor preinstalled, but it doesn't have the stuff that iMovie on a Mac has…

 

[SquireSCA]

If you want to do Photoshop and video editing, then I would not get the iPad Mini, or any iPad for that matter.

The apps are a little more limited than true apps like you would see on a Mac or PC, and with the limited storage and no way to use USB storage or easy file transfer, coupled with low RAM... And the 2GB of RAM on the Air 2 is still low... My main PC has 16GB of RAM and 3TB of storage...

Anyway, for that stuff, I would consider a Windows tablet, full Windows, not RT. Gives you access to use native desktop apps, and they have expansion slots for more storage, plus USB 3.0 ports to plug in whatever device or external HD that you want.

Android can do all that too, except it is still largely a mobile OS, but hardware wise, the storage, increased RAM and USB support is the same as a PC.

Edit:

That advice is based on the assumption that you want a tablet. If you are open to a laptop, then you have more options like a MacBook or Windows laptop, even Linux...

But for what you want, if you have the budget, I would look at the Windows tabs, which are about to start shipping with Windows 10, which is a big improvement over 8.1...

 

[T909]

I already have a MacBook Pro (mid 2010), well, it does the job that I need and I am not getting a new one any time soon.
Even if Apple will drop the support in OS X 10.12 (which is unlikely to happen seeing that older and crappier computers haven't lost the support) and I've heard that if you write something on Pages you can continue it right on your Mac…Oh and continuity and such stuff won't work with my MacBook. Now I've completely changed my mind.

Now, my next computer will be a PC for sure. I could use evernote on my Android and PC and just Chrome to have these features.


In all honesty…I dont like where Apple is going. I used to love programming on OS X and Xcode was so comfortable now it's just utter failure. I liked Macs when it was Leopard and Snow Leopard era… Also the time difference between releasing the OS was 2 years now it's coming out every year with "new" features that everyone's had for awhile already.

 

[SquireSCA]

I already have a MacBook Pro (mid 2010), well, it does the job that I need and I am not getting a new one any time soon.
Even if Apple will drop the support in OS X 10.12 (which is unlikely to happen seeing that older and crappier computers haven't lost the support) and I've heard that if you write something on Pages you can continue it right on your Mac…Oh and continuity and such stuff won't work with my MacBook. Now I've completely changed my mind.

Now, my next computer will be a PC for sure. I could use evernote on my Android and PC and just Chrome to have these features.


In all honesty…I dont like where Apple is going. I used to love programming on OS X and Xcode was so comfortable now it's just utter failure. I liked Macs when it was Leopard and Snow Leopard era… Also the time difference between releasing the OS was 2 years now it's coming out every year with "new" features that everyone's had for awhile already.

I never owned a Mac, but I did make a Hacintosh a few years ago with Snow Leopard. It was nice enough, but at the end of the day it couldn't do a single thing that Windows didn't do, but there were things, like playing modern games, that didn't work as well on the Mac... So I went back to Windows...

I have duel booted many time with different OS's, but when one of them, Windows, does everything, and the others don't, what's the point of having those others? Other than just to tinker around with, it just didn't make sense.

I would have a Mac, but only as a laptop... For serious gaming, you need a PC. But I can pick up a nice Linux laptop or just install Linux to a Windows laptop, for half the price... Which is what I did.

 

[Shirasaki]

I don't really like playing with apple. The only reason I insisted on using Apple product is the ecosystem, which is currently the greatest I can find.

Apple products are claimed as the most user friendly device. I may agree to some extent, but other brands are also catching up fast, while apple is slowing down the step to move forward. They need to slow down because they need sometime for wrap up.

I use iPad mini first generation quite a few months, and I know its memory is really low. I play a Japanese game often, and it requires a considerable amount of ram to run smoothly, and to run for a long time. On iPad mini first generation, I could barely run this game at most 13 minutes with all special effects removed, and when I completed a quest, app would surely quit. I even didn't have the opportunity to see score screen. The experience was horrible.

Now I have iPhone 6 Plus. With 1GB of ram, I can play this game with all special effects on, and I still can play it at full speed. In addition, I am able to enjoy the game for more than 30 minutes without worrying about the app quitted unexpectedly.

So, my opinion is, if you take care of the real thing, you will need to consider android devices or even a windows tablet. Otherwise, consider the latest iPad, but not iPad mini 2.

 

[T909]

I never owned a Mac, but I did make a Hacintosh a few years ago with Snow Leopard. It was nice enough, but at the end of the day it couldn't do a single thing that Windows didn't do, but there were things, like playing modern games, that didn't work as well on the Mac... So I went back to Windows...

I have duel booted many time with different OS's, but when one of them, Windows, does everything, and the others don't, what's the point of having those others? Other than just to tinker around with, it just didn't make sense.

I would have a Mac, but only as a laptop... For serious gaming, you need a PC. But I can pick up a nice Linux laptop or just install Linux to a Windows laptop, for half the price... Which is what I did.

The thing is that you can't find Linux laptops in my country. I've been searching for awhile from stores and everything has Windows on it.
I used to work at computer as a repairman and I saw a HP Desktop that I really liked. It was very easy to open and very easily upgradable.
Loved it and it didn't overheat.

I do dual boot between Windows and OS X as Unity and Android Studio works just better on Windows.
I also have a PC Desktop from 2004 and believe it or not it does run Windows 7 (it'd run Windows 8 as well). My point is that it came with XP and runs Windows 7 very well. Of course new games are out of the question, but so are new games on my MacBook Pro out of the question. It can't run GTA V. It does run GTA IV fine though.

If you bought a Mac in 2004 it can't run Yosemite or anything newer than Leopard. So I do admire Windows a lot and someday I'll get a new Windows PC (I've been thinking of building one by myself), but right now I constantly move, so I'd rather not do that now.

Thank you very much for your realistic and truthful answers.

 

[T909]

I don't really like playing with apple. The only reason I insisted on using Apple product is the ecosystem, which is currently the greatest I can find.

Apple products are claimed as the most user friendly device. I may agree to some extent, but other brands are also catching up fast, while apple is slowing down the step to move forward. They need to slow down because they need sometime for wrap up.

I use iPad mini first generation quite a few months, and I know its memory is really low. I play a Japanese game often, and it requires a considerable amount of ram to run smoothly, and to run for a long time. On iPad mini first generation, I could barely run this game at most 13 minutes with all special effects removed, and when I completed a quest, app would surely quit. I even didn't have the opportunity to see score screen. The experience was horrible.

Now I have iPhone 6 Plus. With 1GB of ram, I can play this game with all special effects on, and I still can play it at full speed. In addition, I am able to enjoy the game for more than 30 minutes without worrying about the app quitted unexpectedly.

So, my opinion is, if you take care of the real thing, you will need to consider android devices or even a windows tablet. Otherwise, consider the latest iPad, but not iPad mini 2.

But iPad mini 2 has 1GB of RAM?
iPad mini 1 has 512MB of RAM and I've looked at YouTube videos of GTA San Andreas and it kinda ran smoothly on iPad mini 2.
It had some lag, but it wasn't so often.

 

[Shirasaki]

But iPad mini 2 has 1GB of RAM?
iPad mini 1 has 512MB of RAM and I've looked at YouTube videos of GTA San Andreas and it kinda ran smoothly on iPad mini 2.
It had some lag, but it wasn't so often.

Yep. You see lag. That means this hardware cannot provide constant great experience when playing the game.
Game is often the hardware killer, same on iPad and iPhone. My game does not require significant ram to run smoothly, however half of 1 GB is fairly not enough.
Currently with 1 GB of ram I can run two of my games without worrying much about constant reloading. So I don't feel really bad on this. However, since apple often build hardware with lower spec than other devices, I doubt if those devices could really last long enough before it goes down forever.

 

[SquireSCA]

The thing is that you can't find Linux laptops in my country. I've been searching for awhile from stores and everything has Windows on it.
I used to work at computer as a repairman and I saw a HP Desktop that I really liked. It was very easy to open and very easily upgradable.
Loved it and it didn't overheat.

I do dual boot between Windows and OS X as Unity and Android Studio works just better on Windows.
I also have a PC Desktop from 2004 and believe it or not it does run Windows 7 (it'd run Windows 8 as well). My point is that it came with XP and runs Windows 7 very well. Of course new games are out of the question, but so are new games on my MacBook Pro out of the question. It can't run GTA V. It does run GTA IV fine though.

If you bought a Mac in 2004 it can't run Yosemite or anything newer than Leopard. So I do admire Windows a lot and someday I'll get a new Windows PC (I've been thinking of building one by myself), but right now I constantly move, so I'd rather not do that now.

Thank you very much for your realistic and truthful answers.

Windows has its faults, but when it comes to long term support, the ability to just about any app under the sun, with the widest range of hardware options, it simply can't be beat... I leave my gaming machine running 24/7... It has never blue screened on my in 1.5 years. It is stable as a rock, and to date, I have never gotten a virus on any of my machines... That is covering the 20+ years I have been online, downloading... all sorts of stuff... Like hundreds of terabytes of things over the years, etc...

If you can't find a Laptop in your country, see if you can find a laptop with no OS installed, or if that isn't an option, just wipe the HD and install Linux onto the Windows laptop. That's what I did with mine. Currently have Linux Mint with the KDE desktop and love it. Steam is starting to port a lot of their games to Linux, so Linux may be a viable gaming platform in the near future...

 

[SquireSCA]

Yep. You see lag. That means this hardware cannot provide constant great experience when playing the game.
Game is often the hardware killer, same on iPad and iPhone. My game does not require significant ram to run smoothly, however half of 1 GB is fairly not enough.
Currently with 1 GB of ram I can run two of my games without worrying much about constant reloading. So I don't feel really bad on this. However, since apple often build hardware with lower spec than other devices, I doubt if those devices could really last long enough before it goes down forever.

With 1GB of RAM, you don't even have half that for your apps and games. The most I ever saw free on my iPad 2 Mini was 350mb if I manually went in and closed every app that was running...