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dgdosen

macrumors 68030
Dec 13, 2003
2,772
1,409
Seattle
My biggest next wish would be for the mini to be as bright as an Apple Watch when viewing/using outdoors.

After that, Pro motion

After that, Mac emulation
 

Sheepish-Lord

macrumors 68020
Oct 13, 2021
2,311
4,756
The headphone jack argument is so exhausting. With all the options at various prices why wouldn't someone have at least one pair of wireless earbuds/headphones?

Do people just love the cheapo free Apple earbuds that came paired with phones back in the day? They sound terrible. Additionally, if you were an audiophile you would be using a DAC and not a 3.5mm plug.

Someone buys a $500 iPad Mini, which is already a luxury item, then complains about no headphone jack. Just stop.
 

Traverse

macrumors 604
Mar 11, 2013
7,702
4,472
Here
So I just got an iPad mini from my firm's "Appreciation Hub" because it's either that or golf clubs and I hate the outside. That to say, I got it on a whim with no really usage plan. The only two things I would change if I could:
  • Headphone Jack: I mostly use AirPods and I know it's the modern philosophy that the 3.5mm connector is outdated, but I sure which it still had one so I didn't have to use the USB-C to 3.5mm adaptor on the occasion that I want to use my IEMs or old HD6XX.
  • Display: The think the display is fine and I haven't noticed any scrolling issues in my usage yet. However, coming from the iPhone 13 Pro and the iPad Pro 12.9" the display is just meh. It's not bad by any means, but I would have paid extra for a BTO option with ProMotion and then again for OLED/Mini LED. It's just when you're used to other diplsays and then I pick up this one it's a throwback.
 

HobeSoundDarryl

macrumors G5
The headphone jack argument is so exhausting. With all the options at various prices why wouldn't someone have at least one pair of wireless earbuds/headphones?

Do people just love the cheapo free Apple earbuds that came paired with phones back in the day? They sound terrible. Additionally, if you were an audiophile you would be using a DAC and not a 3.5mm plug.

Someone buys a $500 iPad Mini, which is already a luxury item, then complains about no headphone jack. Just stop.

What's exhausting is ignoring the reality: WIRED IS BETTER if you care about audio QUALITY. Another definition of "luxury" could be in maximizing audio quality... the luxury of being able to listen to the fullest incarnation of music available from Apple... instead of the detail-constrained stream in Bluetooth.

Bluetooth does not have the bandwidth to play Apple's own lossless files to their fullest. Instead, they have to be compressed into a smaller stream to "fit" into bluetooth bandwidth. What does compression do? Throws out musical DETAIL. Can AirPods play full lossless? No. Can AirPods Pro play full lossless? No. Can AirPods Max play full lossless? No. Could $50,000 Bluetooth headphones play full lossless? No. Could $1,000,000 Bluetooth headphones play full lossless? No. Could $1B Bluetooth headphones play full lossless? No. Bluetooth doesn't have the bandwidth for it.

Guess what can play highest quality music to the fullest? OLD Apple tech that still has headphone jacks and/or brand new MBPros in which Apple chose to include a headphone jack... that Apple themselves invested new time to make even better. Apparently Apple believes in 3.5mm enough to invest valuable time working on the jack. Wonder why? Where's your critique of Apple for investing that time on that jack? https://www.macrumors.com/2021/10/18/apple-macbook-pros-headphone-jack-high-impedance/

3.5mm is also ubiquitous. Pretty much ANYTHING that can produce audio- excluding most Apple mobile hardware (SANS Apple laptops) & Apple copycats- will more likely come with a headphone jack than any other way of connecting to it. Where are we in the "forcing the future" nonsense slung when Apple jettisoned it what 5+ years ago? How many airlines have dumped 3.5mm and gone bluetooth "the future" only? How much other audio hardware has dumped 3.5mm for bluetooth only. Surely the pro audio people are all bluetooth by now right? No??? Why are they still wired?

It has NOTHING to do with "cheapo" or clinging to the past. If you want to maximize quality, you need wired. Getting it via Dongle seems a poor option. The DAC in a $10 retail dongle from Apple is almost certainly not as good as the DAC inside every single mobile device Apple makes. Yes, high-quality dongles are also available but there's redundancy there since every Apple mobile device already has a high-quality DAC inside it. You have a high-quality DAC inside every "luxury" mobile device from Apple you have. You just can't directly tap it with any kind of headphones or buds anymore. If you could, you would have the OPTION to hear Apple lossless to its fullest... without needing a "cheapo" or not "cheapo" dongle and the redundancy of carrying around a SECOND DAC when you already have a luxurious one INSIDE.

Those who argue against headphone jack wants by others when including one has no effect on their usage whatsoever are arguing that for what exactly? If Apple put it back in and you never used it, so what? You could still enjoy Apple devices exactly as you do now. Another group of us could get what we want too. Net cost/loss for you? Nothing. Net gain/win for others? Something. That's called win:win. If you EVER found yourself in a spot where the buds were dead and no way to get a quick charge, you would still have an option to get to enjoy some audio. Airlines- for example- will hand out headphones to anyone who needs them. Bluetooth headphones? No. WIRED. If only you had the jack option, you would have a way to listen too.

To those arguing against something they don't use but that reviving- like some useful ports for some on brand new MBpros- would have absolutely no effect on them whatsoever, just stop.
 
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Sheepish-Lord

macrumors 68020
Oct 13, 2021
2,311
4,756
What's exhausting is ignoring the reality: WIRED IS BETTER if you care about audio QUALITY. Another definition of "luxury" could be in maximizing audio quality... the luxury of being able to listen to the fullest incarnation of music available from Apple... instead of the detail-constrained stream in Bluetooth.

Bluetooth does not have the bandwidth to play Apple's own lossless files to their fullest. Instead, they have to be compressed into a smaller stream to "fit" into bluetooth bandwidth. What does compression do? Throws out musical DETAIL. Can AirPods play full lossless? No. Can AirPods Pro play full lossless? No. Can AirPods Max play full lossless? No. Could $50,000 Bluetooth headphones play full lossless? No. Could $1,000,000 Bluetooth headphones play full lossless? No. Could $1B Bluetooth headphones play full lossless? No. Bluetooth doesn't have the bandwidth for it.

Guess what can play highest quality music to the fullest? OLD Apple tech that still has headphone jacks and/or brand new MBPros in which Apple chose to include a headphone jack... that Apple themselves invested new time to make even better. Apparently Apple believes in 3.5mm enough to invest valuable time working on the jack. Wonder why? Where's your critique of Apple for investing that time on that jack?

3.5mm is also ubiquitous. Pretty much ANYTHING that can produce audio- excluding most Apple mobile hardware (SANS Apple laptops) & Apple copycats- will more likely come with a headphone jack than any other way of connecting to it. Where are we in the "forcing the future" nonsense slung when Apple jettisoned it what 5+ years ago? How many airlines have dumped 3.5mm and gone bluetooth "the future" only? How much other audio hardware has dumped 3.5mm for bluetooth only. Surely the pro audio people are all bluetooth by now right? No??? Why are they still wired?

It has NOTHING to do with "cheapo" or clinging to the past. If you want to maximize quality, you need wired. Getting it via Dongle seems a poor option. The DAC in a $10 retail dongle from Apple is almost certainly not as good as the DAC inside every single mobile device Apple makes. Yes, high-quality dongles are also available but there's redundancy there since every Apple mobile device already has a high-quality DAC inside it. You have a high-quality DAC inside every mobile device from Apple you have. You just can't directly tap it with any kind of headphones or buds anymore. If you could, you would have the OPTION to hear Apple lossless to its fullest... without needing a "cheapo" or not "cheapo" dongle and the redundancy of carrying around a SECOND DAC when you already have a great one INSIDE.

Those who argue against headphone jack wants by others when including one has no effect on their usage whatsoever are arguing that for what exactly? If Apple put it back in and you never used it, so what? You could still enjoy Apple devices exactly as you do now. Another group of us could get what we want too. Net cost/loss for you? Nothing. Net gain/win for others? Something. That's called win:win. If you EVER found yourself in a spot where the buds were dead and no way to get a quick charge, you would still have an option to get to enjoy some audio. Airlines- for example- will hand out headphone jacks to anyone who needs them. Bluetooth headphones? No. WIRED. If only you had the jack option.

To those arguing against something they don't use but that- like some useful ports for some on brand new MBpros- reviving would have absolutely no effect on them whatsoever, just stop.
- Very, very few people would be able to tell the difference between lossless and high quality compression especially if not in a completely silent room.

- Anyone who is just carrying around wired earbuds are likely using a cheap pair making any benefit to wired quality gone.

- Very few wired devices have ANC and very few "audiophile" grade headphones have it if any.

- A DAC inside an iPad will never be as good as an external and odds are good you wouldn't be using a 3.5mm connection if you wanted hi-fi quality.

Everyone that complains about a headphone jack screams about lossless and pure sound! The reality is, if you were truly an audiophile you wouldn't be using a 3.5mm headphone jack on an Apple device. And true audiophile headphones are so big and bulky you wouldn't travel anywhere with them. It almost sounds like you don't even have any experience with this type of setup and just want to complain about a headphone jack...on an iPad!
 
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HobeSoundDarryl

macrumors G5
Yeah yeah, the same arguments always follow.

Very, very few people will ever need PRO & MAX. So why bother building such chips? Very few people will ever need better than M1 or A15, so why bother taking either any further? Very few people can see the full detail of 4K vs. 1080p so why put better video cameras in? And before that, very few people can see the difference of 1080p vs. 720p so why put better cameras in?

I bet it all that the Apple DAC inside the "cheap" iPad Mini 6 is as good as if not better than the DAC inside the $10 retail one Apple sells. I'd rather be able to have the OPTION to use it since it is there vs. also carrying this "tail" or always having to hope I have enough charge in AirPods Pro.

None of us can see full 4K resolution on our iPhone or iPad screens... but I'm glad it's possible to shoot in that "overkill" of 4K and preview it there anyway. I'm glad that Apple pushes tech forward that we can't fully see or hear rather than settling for "good enough" on "nobody can tell" rationalizations. Else, iPhone 5 was plenty for all: stop there. iPad 2 was plenty for all stop there. MBpro 2012 was plenty for all. Stop there.

With this particular thing, we simply argue- as usual- WITH what Apple has for sale. We're all for anything Apple puts in that pushes things forward and we're against anything Apple leaves out... even if that means we have to accept "good enough" vs "the best" to embrace our argument: I'll just use the "99% don't need" spin... that fits all Apple decisions.

Meanwhile, with this, Apple just invested tangible time to put an upgraded 3.5mm jack in those brand new MBpros. Where's your argument about the stupidity of Apple for investing time in something that "very very few people will be able to tell the difference" there?

And again, those happy with bluetooth or dongles can still enjoy their usage exactly as they do now. Headphone jacks don't force them to sacrifice the way they like to listen. It simply revives an option for some of us who desire to use that option for WHATEVER reason we have.

As to that last bit (except assuming a stranger's knowledge/ignorance), fair point... but given the option of wired 3.5mm vs. bluetooth, at least there is a chance of hearing better quality than bluetooth with a wired connection. Anyone wanting to TRY to hear max quality can know for certain they are cutting it short due to bluetooth limitations. Conceptually, with both options, the quality hound can pay much more than AirPods Max pricing to chase quality of sound wired headphones. However if Apple rolled out Bluetooth AirPods Max Deluxe Pro for $1B, they would never be able to play more than what can fit into the hard constraint of bluetooth bandwidth.
 
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F-Stop

macrumors regular
Nov 10, 2011
169
289
The 'Sunny' South Coast UK
Those who argue against headphone jack wants by others when including one has no effect on their usage whatsoever are arguing that for what exactly? If Apple put it back in and you never used it, so what? You could still enjoy Apple devices exactly as you do now. Another group of us could get what we want too. Net cost/loss for you? Nothing. Net gain/win for others? Something. That's called win:win. If you EVER found yourself in a spot where the buds were dead and no way to get a quick charge, you would still have an option to get to enjoy some audio. Airlines- for example- will hand out headphones to anyone who needs them. Bluetooth headphones? No. WIRED. If only you had the jack option, you would have a way to listen too.

To those arguing against something they don't use but that reviving- like some useful ports for some on brand new MBpros- would have absolutely no effect on them whatsoever, just stop.
….a good point, very well made ? ( just saying)

Anyways, for me I think the following amendments would have made the £479 (here in the UK ??) price for the base model more acceptable:

1) Base storage size of 128Gb…. 64Gb for this device, especially considering 4K video capabilities, is simply not sufficient. The only saving grace here is the inclusion of usb-c so at least I can attach my T5 ssd drives.

2) No camera bump… I want my device to lay flush on a surface without the need to fit a smart folio cover to obtain this.

3) Pro motion / 120Htz … I do like the smoothness of my 11” Pro iPad.

4) Slightly bigger screen to give true 16:9 video in landscape orientation.

5) Even smaller and equally sized bezels.

6) Better iPad OS integration… the icon spacing and borders are just wrong.

If we had got the above I would be an extremely happy bunny ?

Cheers,

Andy :cool:
 
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mashinhead

macrumors 68030
Oct 7, 2003
2,979
951
The only improvement I would ask for is a promotion display.


and if you got that promotion display you’d be sitting here writing:

The only improvement I would ask for is a larger battery.

and if you got that larger battery you’d be sitting here writing:

The only improvement I would ask for is that it was a bit lighter and thinner.

And now we’re back to square one.
 

Loge

macrumors 68030
Jun 24, 2004
2,825
1,310
England
Touch ID doesn't work as well in the new position. Face ID would have been much better.

I would have preferred them stick with the old aspect ratio. Still waiting for some apps to update - NFL GamePass, I'm looking at you!
 

1rottenapple

macrumors 601
Apr 21, 2004
4,709
2,724
Extra bright screen. Other than that I’m perfectly happy with the size. Oh maybe have it have a cooler processor where it doesn’t warm up but apple seems to have trouble these days managing thermal on their phones too.
 

calstanford

Suspended
Nov 25, 2014
1,419
4,306
Hong Kong
The screen is ****. No way around it. It's not just the jello scroll but every animation is slooooow and stuttery on this thing. Just opening an app looks so weird when it seems to run in 15fps (perceived)
 

NoelWalker

macrumors regular
Oct 4, 2021
167
408
If there were an 128GB storage option I would have bought it with cellular in no time. I don’t store huge amount of photos or files on my ipad, yet 64GB won’t be enough for me as I kinda wanna download a movie or two onto my ipad, try out different games and have my favourite playlist downloaded. Getting the 64GB models means I need to constantly offload my stuff. Also I can’t even use a quarter of 256GB on my current iPad and the price tag on this new mini is basically a big NO for me.
 

geta

macrumors 68000
May 18, 2010
1,526
1,267
The Moon
I can't get used to the Touch ID. I keep swiping up to open it up. Keep forgetting. Also, it's nowhere near as fast as Face ID in my opinion.

Touch ID doesn't work as well in the new position. Face ID would have been much better.
Prefer Touch ID over Face ID, and it works perfectly in the new position, even better then the old home button version.
Wish they also have it in iPhones instead of Face ID, or at least give the option to chose between the two.
 
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turbineseaplane

macrumors P6
Mar 19, 2008
15,252
32,867
A way better screen.

Had a reason to be at Best Buy again yesterday and the Mini screens (despite my love for my Mini5) are really starting to lag in comparison to the other larger iPads and certainly when you compare them to the latest phone and now MacBook Pro screens.

The refresh rate, the color pop, the clarity, the density -- the newer screens really make the Mini screens look "meh" in comparison.

Hopefully a Mini 7 will bump that up big time.
 
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