iPad mini iPad Mini 6

[F-Stop]

Love my iPad Mini 6…use it all the time, especially when my iPad Pro has run out of juice The portability is fantastic and always take it with me when travelling and on holiday.
If a new updated version is released I expect I would get one…especially if it has Face ID! As previously mentioned in many posts above, it may be prudent to hold off from buying one in the near future…unless you simply can’t wait for any future announcements that is.

 

[stocklen]

Ive had a weird epiphany. One I never thought id have.

Ive always been the 12.9 'bigger is better' iPad user. I have the m1 iPad Pro with expensive Magic Keyboard etc. I have more or less kept up to date with the pro although didnt see the point of the M2 version this time.

However, more as a curiosity and because I had some vouchers to spend, I got the mini 6 about 2 Years ago. The main reason being that it's my 'sofa' iPad and is perforable to the iPhone for viewing websites etc. Before that, I would use the iPad Pro with its keyboard - a heavy solution for sure but still nice enough but it did feel like you had a full on laptop to grapple with.

Over the last 3 years ive found myself using the Pro less and less and now its hardly every used - to the point where I really should think about selling it.

On the other hand, the mini is used a lot. Ive taken it away when travelling and to me its a really good and useful machine.

Now, back to the point, im certainly expecting an upgrade on the mini in the near future.... and THAT is the upgrade I'll be interested in and not the pros or airs etc etc.

That said, Given the mini's price point I really feel that it should come with the pro res display and faceID. To me, the current mini is a strange beast as it is really is an iPad Air mini.
I would love to see them take the mini and make it more an 'iPad Pro mini' with at least an M1 chip.

Given how 'old' the mini currently is then it should really be top of the list for an update at Apple now - so we will see what they come up with. At the very least get rid of the jelly scroll screen and allow it to use stage manager.

 

[Crow_Servo]

I know a lot of people here have suggested that Apple gives the next Mini an M1 chip, but that doesn’t make sense to me. I know the M1 is a powerful chip and would make the Mini more capable than before, but it isn’t the latest chip.

The Mini has gotten the latest chip since at least the Mini 5 (an early 2019 release with a 2018 chip - A12). The Mini 6 got the A15 right when the A15 was introduced. If a Mini 7 was announced this month, I would expect either an A17 or M2. Anything older would not fit with the Mini’s place in the iPad lineup.

If the Mini 7 receives an M1 chip roughly 18 months after the Air 5, I would not be very impressed with that decision. Would it be a bad device? No, I’d still recommend it, as the M1 will be supported for years, but I would hope they’d upgrade it again sooner next time, since it would soon be the only device Apple sells with an M1 chip anymore (assuming the M1 iMac ever gets upgraded).

Either way, if a Mini 7 is coming soon, I’d wait, since it’ll get nice little spec bump.

 

[rui no onna]

I know a lot of people here have suggested that Apple gives the next Mini an M1 chip, but that doesn’t make sense to me. I know the M1 is a powerful chip and would make the Mini more capable than before, but it isn’t the latest chip.

The Mini has gotten the latest chip since at least the Mini 5 (an early 2019 release with a 2018 chip - A12). The Mini 6 got the A15 right when the A15 was introduced. If a Mini 7 was announced this month, I would expect either an A17 or M2. Anything older would not fit with the Mini’s place in the iPad lineup.

If the Mini 7 receives an M1 chip roughly 18 months after the Air 5, I would not be very impressed with that decision. Would it be a bad device? No, I’d still recommend it, as the M1 will be supported for years, but I would hope they’d upgrade it again sooner next time, since it would soon be the only device Apple sells with an M1 chip anymore (assuming the M1 iMac ever gets upgraded).

Either way, if a Mini 7 is coming soon, I’d wait, since it’ll get nice little spec bump.

Is the yield on A17 (Pro) high enough to accommodate the iPad mini though? As it is, the 15 Pros have delayed shipment.

Also, when the iPad mini 6 got A15, both iPhone 13 and 13 Pro also had A15. The mid-range iPhone getting a chip that‘s one year behind started with the 14.

I reckon A16 and A17 are both feasible for the mini 7. I dunno about M-series chipset. That seems like it might be too power hungry and hot for the iPad mini’s smaller battery and chassis.

 

[prospervic]

I love my iPad mini 6 - it's fast, has a sharp screen, and is incredibly fast. That said, as soon as an M1 [or better yet, M2] iPad mini is released, I am jumping on that for one very specialized reason - Final Cut Pro requires an M1 or newer CPU. As someone who uses FCP on my Mac, it has been very, very challenging to use another video editing app on the mini while out on trail for months at a time. While an iPad mini certainly isn't a 2-display Mac setup, the learning curve for me, will be quite a bit easier since I've been using FCP since before the FCP X days. Combined with a light external SSD drive, the mini can be a very powerful, and light, mobile editing platform.

Can’t say I see Apple, putting an M series chip on the iPad mini anytime soon (but I could be wrong). I’d be more interested in an upgrade to liquid retina display. The colors on the current one look dull compared to the pro models.
As for Final Cut Pro, I imagine that would look really cramped with tiny elements on the iPad mini screen. In any event, Luma Fusion is already available for the iPad mini and works really well.

 

[Crow_Servo]

Is the yield on A17 (Pro) high enough to accommodate the iPad mini though? As it is, the 15 Pros have delayed shipment.

Also, when the iPad mini 6 got A15, both iPhone 13 and 13 Pro also had A15. The mid-range iPhone getting a chip that‘s one year behind started with the 14.

I reckon A16 and A17 are both feasible for the mini 7. I dunno about M-series chipset. That seems like it might be too power hungry and hot for the iPad mini’s smaller battery and chassis.

The reports/rumors have said the A17 is in short supply, so I don’t expect there to be enough to go around right now.

For that possible reason, I wouldn’t want Apple to release a Mini 7 until they can give it the A17, which I would expect to be early next year.

 

[MBAir2010]

has anyone drawn comics or anything creative on the iPad mini?

I use a iPad 10 gen with the first pencil which is perfect.
except for bicycle traveling were im afraid that might break.

thanks in advance!

 

[thelookingglass]

has anyone drawn comics or anything creative on the iPad mini?

I use a iPad 10 gen with the first pencil which is perfect.
except for bicycle traveling were im afraid that might break.

thanks in advance!

There are YouTube videos showing this. Seems like it works well for art.

 

[MBAir2010]

There are YouTube videos showing this. Seems like it works well for art.

Thanks, for the reply, though i try to avoid you tube as much as possible.

my concern is the size large enough to draw upon.

 

[geta]

Is the yield on A17 (Pro) high enough to accommodate the iPad mini though? As it is, the 15 Pros have delayed shipment.

Also, when the iPad mini 6 got A15, both iPhone 13 and 13 Pro also had A15. The mid-range iPhone getting a chip that‘s one year behind started with the 14.

I reckon A16 and A17 are both feasible for the mini 7. I dunno about M-series chipset. That seems like it might be too power hungry and hot for the iPad mini’s smaller battery and chassis.

The correct A15 is powerful enough for the Mini, so whatever CPU series (A or M) will come next will be fine. The only thing they need to add is more memory, 8GB RAM would be perfect. And 128GB storage for the base model would be nice to have.

As for FaceID, dont care if they’ll add it as a second option for ppl that must have it, but not instead of TouchID.

 

[Digitalguy]

The correct A15 is powerful enough for the Mini, so whatever CPU series (A or M) will come next will be fine. The only thing they need to add is more memory, 8GB RAM would be perfect. And 128GB storage for the base model would be nice to have.

As for FaceID, dont care if they’ll add it as a second option for ppl that must have it, but not instead of TouchID.

Yeah, iPad mini does not need any more power, they had to downclock the A15 a bit because of the small size, so M series is never coming to the mini, and A15 is more than enough for that kind of device. But the point of the upgrade is RAM. A16 has 6GB RAM, A17 pro has 8, so any upgrade would be more than welcome because of that, because the weak spot of the mini (other than the display) is RAM, not CPU/GPU power

 

[ofarlig]

Yeah, iPad mini does not need any more power, they had to downclock the A15 a bit because of the small size, so M series is never coming to the mini, and A15 is more than enough for that kind of device. But the point of the upgrade is RAM. A16 has 6GB RAM, A17 pro has 8, so any upgrade would be more than welcome because of that, because the weak spot of the mini (other than the display) is RAM, not CPU/GPU power

It need M series because Apple have decided that M series is needed for stage manager on an external display.

 

[Digitalguy]

It need M series because Apple have decided that M series is needed for stage manager on an external display.

That's one of the reasons why it will never get it... iPad mini is not made for stage manager as it has no official keyboard and Apple will do whatever they can to avoid it having Stage Manager

 

[ofarlig]

That's one of the reasons why it will never get it... iPad mini is not made for stage manager as it has no official keyboard and Apple will do whatever they can to avoid it having Stage Manager

Yeah maybe, but I’m hoping for them to release a keyboard for it so who knows. I might have to go over the android and the Fold to get external display support if Apple is unwilling to do it.

 

[Rafterman]

Yeah maybe, but I’m hoping for them to release a keyboard for it so who knows. I might have to go over the android and the Fold to get external display support if Apple is unwilling to do it.

I doubt there will ever be an offical Apple keyboard for the Mini. I have an 11 inch iPad Pro, and the keyboard is pretty crampt as it is. I got a third party keyboard for the Mini 5 back in the day (it turned the Mini into a clamshell computer, kind of nice actually), but it was a miserable typing experience.

 

[Digitalguy]

Yeah maybe, but I’m hoping for them to release a keyboard for it so who knows. I might have to go over the android and the Fold to get external display support if Apple is unwilling to do it.

Apple will never make a keyboard for the mini. For now your best option is a third party one, and there are some decent ones. Having said that while Apple will not change the mini fundamentally, at some point they will introduce a foldable iPhone and that you will cost $2000 and have stage manager and what not. But it may still take a couple of years...

 

[Digitalguy]

I doubt there will ever be an offical Apple keyboard for the Mini. I have an 11 inch iPad Pro, and the keyboard is pretty crampt as it is. I got a third party keyboard for the Mini 5 back in the day (it turned the Mini into a clamshell computer, kind of nice actually), but it was a miserable typing experience.

I tried almost every keyboard for the mini 5 and while the logitech (originally made for the mini 4) was just terrible, the brydge one was not bad and I could do some serious typing on that (and it's a 100 times better than using the software keyboard). With the 11" pro I type just like on regular pc. It feels cramped when you move from a full keyboard to that, but you adjust to it in 5 minutes and then it's no longer cramped and feels great, at least to me.

 

[Rafterman]

I tried almost every keyboard for the mini 5 and while the logitech (originally made for the mini 4) was just terrible, the brydge one was not bad and I could do some serious typing on that (and it's a 100 times better than using the software keyboard). With the 11" pro I type just like on regular pc. It feels cramped when you move from a full keyboard to that, but you adjust to it in 5 minutes and then it's no longer cramped and feels great, at least to me.

On the 11, the regular keys are OK. It's the shift, caps lock, enter and tab keys that get squished.

 

[Digitalguy]

On the 11, the regular keys are OK. It's the shift, caps lock, enter and tab keys that get squished.

Again, I quickly adjust to it... feels bad only when switching from a full keyboard

 

[ofarlig]

Apple will never make a keyboard for the mini. For now your best option is a third party one, and there are some decent ones. Having said that while Apple will not change the mini fundamentally, at some point they will introduce a foldable iPhone and that you will cost $2000 and have stage manager and what not. But it may still take a couple of years...

We will see, problem is I need a Swedish keyboard and no good third party ones exist. I’m still holding out hope that the sketchy rumours of them introducing one is true although it seems unlikely.

And yeah I do agree that Apple will make a foldable at some point, I might be too bored to wait for it though and already switched to an Android foldable by then. Been contemplating it for a while now since Apple doesn’t even sell a good small tablet let alone one that can fit in my pocket.

 

[Digitalguy]

We will see, problem is I need a Swedish keyboard and no good third party ones exist. I’m still holding out hope that the sketchy rumours of them introducing one is true although it seems unlikely.

And yeah I do agree that Apple will make a foldable at some point, I might be too bored to wait for it though and already switched to an Android foldable by then. Been contemplating it for a while now since Apple doesn’t even sell a good small tablet let alone one that can fit in my pocket.

There is no third party Swiss keyboard either (other than the terrible Logitech one) for the mini. What I did is used stickers on the key to turn it into a Swiss one. Having said that the problem with the foldable is that there is no hardware keyboard either... While I'll probably move to a foldable after at some point (currently on a Samsung S23), that won't be a "laptop replacement" as I was trying to do with the mini 5. At this point the smallest option for me is either my Surface go 2 LTE or my 11" cellullar iPad pro with Magic Keyboard...

 

[ofarlig]

There is no third party Swiss keyboard either (other than the terrible Logitech one) for the mini. What I did is used stickers on the key to turn it into a Swiss one. Having said that the problem with the foldable is that there is no hardware keyboard either... While I'll probably move to a foldable after at some point (currently on a Samsung S23), that won't be a "laptop replacement" as I was trying to do with the mini 5. At this point the smallest option for me is either my Surface go 2 LTE or my 11" cellullar iPad pro with Magic Keyboard...

Yeah, I am not really looking for a laptop replacement in a Mini or a foldable. I want a premium tablet that I can plug into a monitor and run proper full screen apps from and with apple that seems to be paired with a keyboard.

A foldable just makes it available at all times and most of them have a proper screen which the current Mini lacks.

 

[Digitalguy]

Yeah, I am not really looking for a laptop replacement in a Mini or a foldable. I want a premium tablet that I can plug into a monitor and run proper full screen apps from and with apple that seems to be paired with a keyboard.

A foldable just makes it available at all times and most of them have a proper screen which the current Mini lacks.

Ok so you are looking for a mini tablet that can be a desktop when connected to a monitor. Not the same use case, I use my Windows desktop at home and only need a portable device when on the go...

 

[ofarlig]

Ok so you are looking for a mini tablet that can be a desktop when connected to a monitor. Not the same use case, I use my Windows desktop at home and only need a portable device when on the go...

At home I use my desktop but it would be nice to be able to go to the office and connect to the virtual environments at the docking stations with something small instead of having to lug my windows work laptop with my every time I go to the office.

 

[Digitalguy]

At home I use my desktop but it would be nice to be able to go to the office and connect to the virtual environments at the docking stations with something small instead of having to lug my windows work laptop with my every time I go to the office.

I see, different situations. I don't have a monitor at work (there are computers but you cannot plug your devices into the monitors), so I need to bring my own laptop anyway, which anyway is extremely light (Thinpad nano, under 1kg), actually lighter than the 11" pro + magic keyboard and not much heavier than even a mini ipad with brydge keyboard (so I kind of abandoned that setup). But sure if you have a monitor something like Dex makes sense for you