iPad mini (2021), review: adventures anywhere

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It will be almost nine years since the launch of the first iPad mini (2012), where the last name "mini" came out for the first time from its usual concentration of the Mac and iPod world to finally live in that new generation of brand tablets that just two years earlier had inaugurated the original iPad.

If there is a label that has certainly changed its context throughout all these years, it is that of “mini”. Not because the device that carries it is not a smaller version of the “original”, but because the technology speaks and evolves in each generation together with the users.

In fact, the iPod mini was the most conservative of all these products, possibly because the journey did not last long beyond the arrival of the iPhone and multi-touch technology together with the iPhone OS back in 2007. Much more evident was the Mac mini , a computer designed for those who thought of approaching the Apple world in 2005 but preferred to be cautious to assess whether the platform really offered what they needed. Today, we consider the latest Mac mini M1 almost a small Mac with professional aspirations for its scalability and power.

The iPad mini of 2012 was the opposite of what we are analyzing today: it started from the premise of a purchase similar to that of the Mac mini of 2005, intended for those who could not or did not want to buy the original model. It was more of a gateway, a tasting menu.

But this iPad mini today, without a doubt, is the specialty of the house, the chef's favorite dish.

Exterior design

Three years ago, when the tapered, boxy design of the iPad Pro (2018) was introduced, I began to fantasize about the iPad mini of the future. He shared the idea with Víctor Abarca that a new model with the design of the Pro would be what many users were looking for in the device. Now that I finally have it in my hands and have been able to test it, I can say that the design works perfectly in the mini world.

There's one thing impossible to contain when we first take this iPad mini out of the box, and it's a gasp. I dare you if you buy or open one, don't say a word. I think it's impossible: seeing a mini for the first time and holding it with one hand is still impressive even in today's world, where we are used to the usual miniaturization of technology.

What we have in hand, never better said, is a screen with thinner edges than in the previous generation and made in the image and likeness of its older brother, the iPad Pro. They have not been reduced proportionally to the size of the mini, but in hand and in sight they neither look bigger nor bother. In fact, they practically disappear when we focus on the content.

The thickness is imperceptibly thinner than that of the iPad Pro (0.01 cm less thick), but where it manages to gain prominence as a compact design is in the weight: 297 grams in the model with WiFi and Cellular (the one that I have analyzed) and 6 grams less if we only buy the model with WiFi. In hand, this new iPad mini is imposing, light, it can be held perfectly with one hand with little effort or carried inside coat pockets or the like (for example, in laboratories) only being somewhat bulkier than a phone like the iPhone 13 ProMax, for example.

The texture is what Apple has already accustomed us to, a high-quality material with the smooth roughness of the rear aluminum that accompanies the size so that the iPad mini can be used practically anywhere in the hand. Beyond the power that we will see later, the size and form factor of the new Apple tablet makes it very easy - and above all comfortable - to adapt it to our daily lives as if we were carrying a traditional paper notebook. These days using the iPad mini, I've used it in uses where a larger iPad might have been awkward - or not so natural to use.

I think I have liked the iPad mini since the first generation for the fact that it takes the iPad experience (now complete, especially at the power level) to places where in a traditional model with more inches - and weight - we would not have considered using it . From the traditional reading lying on the sofa holding the device with one hand, the use as a recipe book while we are cooking or taking advantage of that small hole under the monitor as a secondary monitor: Sidecar works perfectly of course in this new iPad that improves wireless connectivity with Wi-Fi 6

We can use this little add-on as a tool panel for our workflow, a previewer, or simply to stay up to date with the latest news while we shop online. Coincidentally, while I was writing this article, the news of the La Palma volcano eruption happened, so I took the opportunity to inform myself while I continued with the revision of the text. These are the most common forms of use - I am convinced that you will find many more - but the important thing about this minimal design is that we are not lazy to take it anywhere.

I tried it in the car, where it could serve perfectly, for example, as a large-screen GPS. I wanted to test if the typical car mounts would support the weight of the tablet and if it was comfortable to drive with it. To do this, I bought a support that was anchored in the CD input, and although I used it with some caution at first, the truth is that it worked very well. In fact, the weight of this iPad mini is only 59 grams more than an iPhone 13 Pro Max, for example, so it is not unreasonable to use it like that, if we need it.

Biometrics, connectivity and sound updated

This new iPad mini features the same TouchID button as the iPad Air (2020), using the second generation of Secure Enclave to speed up fingerprint decoding. It is tremendously fast (just like the iPad Air that integrates it), and also in the configuration process we are asked to configure the fingerprint in two different positions: with the screen arranged vertically (and the button in the upper right part) and with the horizontal layout (where the button is in the upper left part, if we turn it counterclockwise). This allows us to add two different fingers comfortably from the beginning, with the intention that regardless of how we take our iPad mini, we can always unlock it comfortably. It is especially useful in the mini since being so small, it is very common to move it.

It also brings USB-C to the mini, leaving behind generations with the Lightning connector and for which Apple has opted since this mini is a perfect accessory concentrate. If you remember, in the keynote we even saw how a doctor had connected an ultrasound machine to comfortably consult the visualization of the examination on the iPad mini. This versatility is also useful in external cameras, storage devices, game controllers and in general practically any product on the market that uses the USB-C connection, including monitors.

In monitors, the connection is limited only to mirroring the screen or enlarging the monitor in some certain apps, but since it is not a Thunderbolt 3 port, we cannot anchor several consecutive devices (the difference in bandwidth is 40Gbps in the USB- C with Thunderbolt 3 and 5Gbps on regular USB-C). Even so, it further expands the capabilities of the product and is a good claim for the work that we have to do away from home with it.

The sound, a complicated part in a device as small as this, has been improved as well. I don't hear a radical change from the previous generation of the mini, but there is a clearer sound and more presence (and decidedly more powerful than in an iPhone 13 Pro Max). The best way to test this, aside from the usual Apple Music playlist, is to video chat with it. In my tests, I am surprised by the quality of the call at the sound level that allows me to follow the conversation at all times, and combined with the improvement of the front camera, it makes this small iPad the perfect companion to even have work calls comfortably. wherever we are.

Center Stage comes to the iPad mini and helps the sensation of a round product to telework (or talk to whoever we want) via video conference. The new 12 Max Ultra Wide Angle lens captures a wider frame and focuses using the Neural Engine by intelligently detecting the person - or people - entering the scene. It surprises on the iPad Pro, and on this iPad mini it works perfectly with good image quality and definition.

Your camera and editing tool, all in one

The screen increases from 7.9 "of the previous generation to 8.3" of this new model that slims and normalizes the edges along the entire contour. It has True Tone, which balances the white balance of the screen by adjusting it to the lighting conditions of the room where we are, P3 cinematic color space and an anti-reflective coating so that direct viewing is more accurate.

This new screen has 500 nits of brightness and is comfortable to read in any situation. Outdoors, we can use the iPad mini as long as it does not receive direct light on it, as on any iPad screen that we are already used to. I did the test reading a couple of digital magazines in a sunny outside and although it is not the ideal condition for it, it can be used perfectly and the contrast and quality of the panel help a lot in reading.

An important point of improvement is that this new iPad mini incorporates the 12Mpx wide-angle rear camera that we have already seen in other models, and for the first time, also the two-tone flash to help us in low light situations. This new camera allows you to record 4K video directly with the device, stabilized with the wide-angle camera. The iPad mini with A15 chip offers the versatility of a compact device, with a good camera and portable editing capacity to be able to retouch our videos with iMovie or Lumafusion, in 4K, without problems.

Here I would like to highlight one thing, and that is to highlight the new video encoder that adds much more agility when exporting video, for example in iMovie. This separates video editing processes beyond the GPU and CPU when encoding and decoding video. From this change that Apple has added in this generation, applications such as WhatsApp could also benefit, for example, when compressing a video. This indication tells us that the power of the A15 chip goes far beyond the GPU and the CPU, as it leverages these decoding accelerators.

The A15 chip and the great improvement in battery

The long-awaited A15 chip comes to iPad mini as a natural evolution of the A14. It is still manufactured at 5 nanometers, with almost 15 billion transistors. It features 6 CPU cores and 5 graphics cores, as well as the traditional 16-core Neural Engine AI engine. On a day-to-day basis, the A15 chip is more than capable of everyday tasks and performs with ease in video or photo editing, being particularly fast in these last two tasks (especially if we compare it with the previous generation, whose power was not comparable to the contemporary processor).

At the gaming level, the iPad mini looks spectacular. From games with not too much graphic load like Contra Returns or the latest Castlevania: Grimoire of Souls from Apple Arcade, which play fantastic even at this size - and more if we connect a controller from any console you have at home.

If we try something more demanding, like NBA2K21, the graphic efficiency looks spectacular on the screen: the reflections of the court, the movements of the players, the ambient sound with the new speaker system... The screen also gains prominence due to the quality of the contrast and it makes it attractive to play games like these anywhere. Personally, I'm surprised that Apple doesn't exploit this part of Arcade further with some triple-A game of its own that turns a device like the mini into a full Nintendo Switch (with nuances). Of course, for power and screen quality, it will not be. The Geekbench results place it above the iPhone 12 of the previous generation, highlighting above all its multi-core performance:

In what I have noticed a huge improvement is in the performance of the battery, exceeding (I think for the first time since I analyzed the brand's iPads) the expectations of Apple itself - marked in about 10 theoretical hours of navigation and regular use. However, these are the results of my own tests - which were somewhat more ambitious:

As you can see, more than 13 hours and 40 minutes working with the screen on (with the brightness between 50% and 60%), with a very slight battery wear curve and allowing it to be used practically throughout the day. Of course, with notifications and everything activated (Bluetooth, WiFi)... I was even testing a 5G card simultaneously. This was unthinkable in other generations, especially taking into account the diversity of applications that distributed the load, to put you in context I mark those used in percentage with respect to total use (those below 3% are not indicated to abbreviate ):

It also does so in a very contained way in terms of heat: barely reaching 34º after being in operation for more than 13 hours and passing this Geekbench, so it won't bother us if we hold it in hand doing any of these tasks:

If we do extensive use of video editing, or use it most of the time for 3D games, the battery range can vary, but they are still very good numbers considering that we have less space for the physical battery on the device. This makes me think that the increase in it in the new iPhone 13 has also been driven by the A15 itself and the house brand hardware and software optimization, which in this iPad mini shines more than ever.

Inseparable iPad mini

For those of you who like the concept of the iPad mini, you will love this generation: it has been reinforced in all the points we needed to bring it up to par with the current generation of Apple devices, and once again becomes an inseparable companion of our day to day. It's not for everyone though: if you need a bigger canvas - to draw, view detailed maps or plans, or for any other reason - my advice is to go for an iPad Air.

In concept, this iPad mini is a state-of-the-art iPad Air brought up to date with the addition of minimal size, making it comfortable and practical for certain uses where traditional iPads may not be as natural to use. In addition, the models start at 64Gb and go up to 256Gb (starting at €549 for the base model), in four shades: space gray, pink, purple (the model in this analysis) and star white (a "washed" white that is quite smooth).

If you are looking for a discreet iPad, comfortable to transport but that does not compromise power, the iPad mini is the perfect answer, and even more so now that it is fully compatible with the Apple Pencil 2. From the screen to piloting drones (as some readers suggested in the direct on Twitch in the follow-up to the Apple Event) or as a web viewer, video or photo editor, iPad mini can be your perfect companion on adventures - anywhere.

2021 Apple iPad mini (8.3-inch with Wi-Fi, 64GB) - Pink (6th generation)

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