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rui no onna

Contributor
Oct 25, 2013
14,429
12,444
I dont want to say i hate the device. I truly dont. I want to love it, and despite its major flaws, its still the best ipad for laying in bed or taking with you!

But that portability. That laying in bed with it using it to read a book or watch youtube even on a clearly inferior screen...its form factor is near perfect it really is.

The best thing about the mini is it doesn’t hurt as much as bigger iPads when it falls on your face because you’re sleepy.
 

bikpunk

macrumors newbie
Aug 11, 2023
6
6
I currently have an 11” iPad Pro (2nd gen) I got from the Apple refurb store that I am happy with. Before that I had a series of minis from the 2 through 6. I grew to really dislike the mini 6 due to the weird scrolling and the Touch ID instead of Face ID on my iPhone. I eventually just stopped using the 6 and used my phone or Mac instead, so I got rid of it and was ipadless for a while. When the 11” IPP came back in stock on the refurb store, I bit and I’ve been happy with it since. I read a lot and the ability to render PDFs reasonably well on the 11” is something the mini couldn’t do very well adds another plus, but I suppose the 12.9” would do this even better but it’s just too big. I doubt I will ever go back to another mini now.
 

IJBrekke

macrumors 6502a
Oct 24, 2009
651
758
Long Beach, CA
I don’t see much of a price difference between mini 5 and 6 on Apple refurb.

Note, the OP got mini 6 256GB cellular for $629. The equivalent mini 5 is $579 on Apple refurb (out of stock at the moment) so just $50 difference.
But the open market is nowhere near that refurb price directly from Apple. Recent sales of 256gb unlocked Mini 5s on Swappa.com are hovering right around $300. Yes, there is more risk to a used model, but for less than half the dollar amount I believe it’s the better buy.
 

Yourbigpalal83

macrumors 6502
Original poster
May 22, 2015
270
373
Have you ever tried a Mini 5? It holds essentially all of the same benefits as the 6 (including some things that are just better), but is less than half the price right now. Might be the perfect holdover device until the 7 is released, which hopefully will have some fixes to the hardware - jelly scroll, screen quality, ram upgrade, etc.

The compromises to the Mini size are more palatable at a cheap price point. Still frustrating for those of us that want a premium device and would pay up for it, but since Apple doesn’t make that, we just do our best. I think the 6 is way overpriced for what it offers but the 5 is currently a decent deal.
I used to own a five..loved it but traded it in a while ago. Never saw the need to go back!
 

robertosh

macrumors 65816
Mar 2, 2011
1,099
918
Switzerland
I think you just wanted to frustrate yourself. All the drawbacks you mention are clearly stated on the iPad mini description page. It's clearly not for you, why did you buy it? Or at least you should have tested it before.
 

Yourbigpalal83

macrumors 6502
Original poster
May 22, 2015
270
373
I think you just wanted to frustrate yourself. All the drawbacks you mention are clearly stated on the iPad mini description page. It's clearly not for you, why did you buy it? Or at least you should have tested it before.
I wanted to buy it just to fustrate myself? So i wanted to spend nearly 700 dollars just to aggervate myself? Wow...that has got to be one of the most dumbest comments ive read on this forum.

No i bought it because this is the closest apple product i can currently buy that gets me to what i want, and thats a foldable iphone/ipad mini.

I did do my research. Im still keeping the product despite its flaws, but im saying in the next version...the least they can do is improve the screen!

It doesnt get super bright outside, jelly scrolling is a quality control issue, 120HZ and face id would be very much welcome, all things apple could easily put into the next model, even at a price hike. Its not beyond their capability.

My problem with the unit, is that its good but it could be so much better. They purposely made compromises just to get the cost down which i get, but still, id like to see them improve on ALL of their product lines.

To me it makes no sense what so ever that outside of the budget models, why we still have to use touch ID ON ANYTHING when faceID is avalable.

I still dont get why we cant get that on the macs? This makes no sense what so ever outside of making what is dated technology still appear to be a premium artificially when its not!

Even 120HZ screens. Common...not new technology. Again should be standard across all models. Even much older macs used higher refresh rates (but much lower resolutions).

OLED screens should be far more common then they are now too. Outside of the iphones and i believe the apple watches, no apple product uses that technology when it clearly is the superior technology. It does not have the blooming the microLED tech suffers from (and is the reason why i went with the 11 inch ipad pro m2 over the 12 inch one)

My point im trying to make is apple has access to all of this tech, has had access to it, and still doesnt combine it for current products. Its the carrot at the end of the stick of hopefully future upgrades.

I highly doubt Steve Jobs would aprove of the current lineup espically Ipads.. Theres too many of them and most of them have one compromise over another and theres no real unity across the line in terms of hardware.

I bitch about this stuff because i love apple products despite there flaws, and i want to see them do better and give the coustmer more!

You will never convince me that the current status of the Ipad mini 6 is the best they can do! Its a good start, but could be so much better and i want it to be better!

You should too. Same for every apple product you buy. If im paying for the product i should also be paying for the right to offer improvements on the next version of it, and what i expect as a paying coustmer!
 
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Reactions: robertosh

robertosh

macrumors 65816
Mar 2, 2011
1,099
918
Switzerland
I wanted to buy it just to fustrate myself? So i wanted to spend nearly 700 dollars just to aggervate myself? Wow...that has got to be one of the most dumbest comments ive read on this forum.

No i bought it because this is the closest apple product i can currently buy that gets me to what i want, and thats a foldable iphone/ipad mini.

I did do my research. Im still keeping the product despite its flaws, but im saying in the next version...the least they can do is improve the screen!

It doesnt get super bright outside, jelly scrolling is a quality control issue, 120HZ and face id would be very much welcome, all things apple could easily put into the next model, even at a price hike. Its not beyond their capability.

My problem with the unit, is that its good but it could be so much better. They purposely made compromises just to get the cost down which i get, but still, id like to see them improve on ALL of their product lines.

To me it makes no sense what so ever that outside of the budget models, why we still have to use touch ID ON ANYTHING when faceID is avalable.

I still dont get why we cant get that on the macs? This makes no sense what so ever outside of making what is dated technology still appear to be a premium artificially when its not!

Even 120HZ screens. Common...not new technology. Again should be standard across all models. Even much older macs used higher refresh rates (but much lower resolutions).

OLED screens should be far more common then they are now too. Outside of the iphones and i believe the apple watches, no apple product uses that technology when it clearly is the superior technology. It does not have the blooming the microLED tech suffers from (and is the reason why i went with the 11 inch ipad pro m2 over the 12 inch one)

My point im trying to make is apple has access to all of this tech, has had access to it, and still doesnt combine it for current products. Its the carrot at the end of the stick of hopefully future upgrades.

I highly doubt Steve Jobs would aprove of the current lineup espically Ipads.. Theres too many of them and most of them have one compromise over another and theres no real unity across the line in terms of hardware.

I bitch about this stuff because i love apple products despite there flaws, and i want to see them do better and give the coustmer more!

You will never convince me that the current status of the Ipad mini 6 is the best they can do! Its a good start, but could be so much better and i want it to be better!

You should too. Same for every apple product you buy. If im paying for the product i should also be paying for the right to offer improvements on the next version of it, and what i expect as a paying coustmer!
Of course they can do better! but they want to clearly separate what is Pro. You need pro features, go to pro devices. And iPad mini is not a 700 device, is starting 499, 300 less than the 11 Pro. I think is a great value!.

Probably they could fit a Pro device in a 8" enclosure but could be challenging, small body, small battery..is not like I have this tech in this model, lets bring it to the smaller one. Is not that simple!. I totally understand the features they dropped, like 120hz, which probably an ipad mini owner wont notice (unless you have an iPad Pro as well, which is not very common for an average customer)
 

sunking101

macrumors 604
Sep 19, 2013
7,416
2,656
Of course they can do better! but they want to clearly separate what is Pro. You need pro features, go to pro devices. And iPad mini is not a 700 device, is starting 499, 300 less than the 11 Pro. I think is a great value!.

Probably they could fit a Pro device in a 8" enclosure but could be challenging, small body, small battery..is not like I have this tech in this model, lets bring it to the smaller one. Is not that simple!. I totally understand the features they dropped, like 120hz, which probably an ipad mini owner wont notice (unless you have an iPad Pro as well, which is not very common for an average customer)
Great value? My Huawei M1 which cost $249 is a way better 8" tablet. It has a better screen and with zero jelly scroll. It is nippier and has a much better and more responsive keyboard. Not to mention the expandable storage...
Nothing Apple sells is great value!

My Samsung tablets slay the iPad Mini 6. The only thing going for the Mini is the form factor, battery standby life and AppleNews+. The camera is surprisingly decent too. When I pick it up after using my other tablets it feels like a yesteryear device. It feels old tech.
 

sparksd

macrumors G3
Jun 7, 2015
9,041
28,585
Seattle WA
Great value? My Huawei M1 which cost $249 is a way better 8" tablet. It has a better screen and with zero jelly scroll. It is nippier and has a much better and more responsive keyboard. Not to mention the expandable storage...
Nothing Apple sells is great value!

My Samsung tablets slay the iPad Mini 6. The only thing going for the Mini is the form factor, battery standby life and AppleNews+. The camera is surprisingly decent too. When I pick it up after using my other tablets it feels like a yesteryear device. It feels old tech.

The other thing going for it is it isn't Android. I still have 6 Android tablets laying around and I'll take my Mini 6 with its shortcomings over any of those.
 

Yourbigpalal83

macrumors 6502
Original poster
May 22, 2015
270
373
Also i do have the Ipad Pro 11 inch M2. I love it, its a great ipad. I use it as a laptop with an apple magic keyboard. My only wish there was it did HDR content and had an Oled display.

Its just...the mini could be just as great, but they dont do it and its so fustrating!
 

subjonas

macrumors 603
Feb 10, 2014
5,551
5,879
It’s funny—people in MR, including me, are so particular about their devices in ways that most common people seem to care little to nothing about. I find that common people just want a couple things from their devices—to work well at a pretty basic level, have a nice color, and maybe give off a good social image. Oh and maybe be affordable. Otherwise they’re very forgiving. MR people want all the things. Apple dare not leave any out specs or features that are even remotely possible to include.

I’d say when it comes to displays though, I’m much less demanding than many MR users. I don’t really care if my devices have amazing displays, except my TV. It’s the only device I really want to have the best possible display, because any content I really care about I’d only watch on my TV anyway (biggest screen by far, best sound by far, and sits in front of my comfy couch). For me, text and cat videos are fine on any display made in the last five years. Also I only notice Promotion when I compare side by side with non Promotion—so I guess I should consider myself blessed in that regard.
I’m also perfectly fine with Touch ID (I actually prefer it).
I have no experience with Jelly Scroll that I know of.

All very subjective/personal stuff, but that means I don’t really care for a pro iPad Mini. And I don’t think a significant (enough) portion of the market is clamoring for a pro Mini either. By the way, this is different from most people wanting the best possible iPhone. iPhone is much more of a status symbol, therefore many want Pro just because it is the best, even if they don’t know why. But even that demand seems to be waning these days.

What I personally would like though are forward-facing speakers on the Mini. But I’d like that on all my Apple devices, Pros too. I also want the headphone port back since I use my Mini for multitrack music recording which doesn’t work with Bluetooth headphones.

Edit-
A folding iPad Mini might be interesting, only so that I can put it in more pockets and more easily take it around the house. I wouldn’t actually take it out of the house everyday to use as a phone—way too big even when folded. And actually I would probably be more interested in just a slightly smaller iPad Mini rather than folding.
 
Last edited:

eicca

Suspended
Oct 23, 2014
1,773
3,598
Maybe it's time to look at the StarLite 5 Linux tablet. Unless the reviews say it's crap, my iPad Pro will be getting sold to fund a StarLite 5:
 

subjonas

macrumors 603
Feb 10, 2014
5,551
5,879
Maybe it's time to look at the StarLite 5 Linux tablet. Unless the reviews say it's crap, my iPad Pro will be getting sold to fund a StarLite 5:
Interesting tablet, but this thread is about the iPad Mini. A 12.5” tablet isn’t a really relevant comparison.
 
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