iPad Mini 2024 (A17 Pro)
Apple’s smallest tablet has recently under gone a ‘minor’ refresh, to enable it to run Apple Intelligence and play modern mobile games. I say minor, changing the A14 chip to the A17 pro (be it a cut down version) has given the mini tablet a new lease of life. The iPad Mini has had a sort of ‘cult’ following over the years, with many creatives using them as essentially ‘digital notebooks’ when they travel regularly.
I have recently purchased one of these myself to see what all the fuss is about! In the past I have always gone ‘big screen’ and had a 13” or 11” iPad Pro, thinking a smaller screen would be unsuitable. I was wrong and I am loving this smaller tablet as I can carry it around easily, yet the screen is still large enough to type on and edit photo/videos. the tablet has also been given a RAM boost (to 8GB), like the other iPad line up for the ‘AI’ features. So, the question to ask is, does the faster processor and new USB 3/ Wi-FI 6E warrant an upgrade. I think if you are happy with your current Mini 6 and don’t use it for anything particularly taxing, then not necessarily. For other users finding it a bit sluggish or like the look of the Apple Pencil Pro, then I think it is a great upgrade. The Pencil Pro happily clips to the outside of the tablet like on its larger siblings and the mini supports full use of all the new features such as hover etc.
One thing to point out again and discuss is why does Apple keep giving us the same processors, with cut down power. We keep seeing this time and time again, like in the new iMac line up. Of you choose the base iMac you get a cut down M4 chip. Apple have chosen again to cut down the power of the A17 pro in the mini compared to the iPhone 15 and I just don’t get the reasoning. Why not just give us the full fat processor instead of forcing us all on a digital diet! This of course is a typical Apple thing to do, take a very good chip and make it worse in different products for no apparent reason.
I digress, so how does the Mini perform in day to day tasks and who is it for. The answer is, it performs very well, even with powerful video editing. It now supports the new Final Cut Pro app and multi camera recording. I have tried both out and the tablet feels powerful enough to run the app smoothly. 4k 60 rendering times on the projects were very good and the tablet only got slightly warm. Same story with photo editing and the Apple Pencil, it works very well with no slow down on photoshop etc. I did try gaming on Resident Evil 7 but fame-rates weren’t that good, however it did look good and was playable still. If you think back 5 years, software like these would only have been useable on the Mac, so this is a remarkable achievement.
There is no Face ID on any iPad below the Pro, which actually I don’t find to be an issue as the ‘Touch ID’ located on the power switch is fairly responsive and you can add multiple fingerprints, meaning less switching of hands! Charging speeds are also fairly slow at 20watt which Apple dont seem concerned about as in Android land, 150watt charging on some Motorola devices is becoming the norm! Please Apple can we have faster charging on our devices!!
So is the screen big enough?
Ultimately it comes down to what you need a tablet for and this is leads me onto why the Mini is my new favorite tablet. As I’ve mentioned in other posts, I think the iPad line up has become confused over the years, trying to compete with the Mac, instead of being offered as a separate product to compliment it. I have tried to replace my Mac with an iPad on several occasions over the years and it just isn’t as good as a MacBook, running Mac OS (and no we don’t need Mac OS on the iPad). The hardware is fine, it’s usually limitations on iPad OS but I am fine with that as a tablet should be something used alongside your Mac. I don’t see any reason for me to buy a iPad Pro (as good as they are) because it is way to overpowered for a tablet. The Mini and the Air are great tablets as they offer good performance and value for money.
The Mini has a plenty large enough screen for everyday use and is the perfect size to use the Apple Pencil Pro on. It’s great as a digital notebook and compact enough to carry around easily, with plenty of performance (despite the cut down chip) that you can leave your laptop at home on occasions
If you have watched my video review, you will already no that I am not a fan of cellular iPads, as I always tether to my phone and use that data plan! If you do decide to pick one of these Mini iPad’s up, please don’t spec them to highly and go for 256GB, without cellular. You can plug an external drive in, for more storage and it works well. I would actually recommend the official folio case (pictured at the top of the review) as it works well and doesn’t fall over or anything like some third party ones I have used in the past. It is £59 at the time of writing, but I would say it is worth if for added protection and daily use.
Thank you and please check out my YouTube channel if you haven’t already!
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