iPad mini I WANT to love the iPad Mini 6 but....i just cant! (Why cant i have my Dream Iphone/Ipad?)

[Yourbigpalal83]

Oh Apple, you can be so frustrating at times.

Heres the deal. I currently am rocking the iMac 24 inch M1 baseline, the Iphone 14 pro Max 256 gig, the Apple Watch Ultra and the Ipad Pro 11 inch with magic keyboard and apple pencil 2. Throw in a pair of first gen Home Pods, AirPods Pro 2 and a 4K apple tv, and i am neck deep in the apple eco system.

Recently I've been saving up for the Apple Studio Display, and i finally got enough, but i cant justifie the 1737 dollars US With Tax here in the US. Thats an INSANE amount of money just for a 2nd screen. So i figure, ok...I've been in the Apple Ecosystem for well over a decade, Let me try out the Samsung Galaxy fold 4 which is on sale cause the 5 is about to come out, using it as a tablet/ 2nd phone.

Well..i make the purchase off amazon, it arrives and i spend a good hour with it, before im like...i wana send this thing back! I love the concept of the fold...a phone that opens up into a tablet...its main problem....ANDROID!

No face ID, no access to my movies i bought on itunes, blue bubbles in text, no airplay or airdrop....all the perks of IOS gone...I knew that going in, but i thought i could get past them, but i couldent...so i send back the phone and get the Ipad mini 6 256 celluar...

Cause i want something i can take with me that i can write on that fits in my pocket (Well workvest pocket). I want a device like the fold, but by apple and i figure the Iphone 14 pro max and the Ipad Mini 6 is the closest i am going to get to my dream device...

Well...not close enough apparently. I know its nit picking, but going from a 120HZ screen to a 60 HZ screen is noticable. No HDR on the Mini, and god do i hate the power button fingerprint sensor. Talk about cheeping out.

I love how i can write and draw on it, but its just fustrating i have to wait on apple to combine the two into one product and that wait could still be years in the making.

I dont get for the life of me why apple cant put out a 120HZ FaceID Ipad Mini, even with just an M1 Processor! Even if it was a LCD Screen and not an OLED, id settle, but its so jarring to me going from one to another its like why cant we have this stuff across the board.

Why cant we have an Ipad Mini Pro if we cant have a Folding Iphone? Everyone else now on the market is coming out with foldables, and its fustrating that we have to wait for apple, and they cant even give us a upgrade to the mini in the meantime!

Ugh. Does anyone feel this way? Like i've known for years apple goes at their own pace, but they feel so far behind yet charge premium prices its like i know you can make my dream device...why dont you? The hardware exists in the world...its not like the Apple Vision pro where you have to develop the thing from the ground up!

Apple as a company can be so agervating at times because they make great hardware but it can be even greater and they hold back!

 

[BhaveshUK]

I find the scaling on the iPad Mini a bigger issue. It’s clear iPad OS is being developed with the Mini as a secondary consideration. And the Mini doesn’t seem like a priority for Apple. Hence, I vote with my wallet and am not interested in purchasing one for the above reasons.

Like yourself, I like the idea of an iPhone Fold. But even then, I’d wait a generation or two!

 

[jimmy_uk]

I dont get for the life of me why apple cant put out a 120HZ FaceID Ipad Mini, even with just an M1 Processor! Even if it was a LCD Screen and not an OLED, id settle, but its so jarring to me going from one to another its like why cant we have this stuff across the board.

Of course, they can, but:

1. they didn't need to as this model is a total redesign and return of the Mini after many years - people have purchased just on the back of this.
2. Higher-end features can and will be drip dripped into future models.

A better question would be why Apple put such a poor-quality LCD and screen controller in the Mini 6?!

 

[Surfsalot]

Apple drip feed improvements

 

[sailingHobbit]

I'm with OP on this. TouchID is the main reason I'm torn between getting the mini 6 or the iPad Pro 11" (M1 model). I had an iPad Air with the TouchID power button once and hated it. But the size of the mini is way more convenient as a complementary device for my 13" MacBook Air.
I don't necessarily need ProMotion but would not mind it being present.
But as long as Apple keeps up it's unreasonable inflated prices for the mini in Europe, I won't get one anyway.

 

[StaceyMJ86]

I have an iPad Mini 6 and love it. I bought it to read my kindle books, the size for browsing social media, etc and because it would be easy for me to transport it outside the house. I have a iPad Pro 12.9 2nd generation, and its use is different from the mini 6. I’ve had it since May 2023, and I haven’t had any issues with it. Even if Apple were to release the Mini 7, this year or next year, I’m not tempted to upgrade since I’m perfectly fine with the Mini 6 and Touch ID. No matter what angle I’m holding my iPad at, I’m able to access TouchID with no issues.

 

[wmadan]

I'm with OP on this. TouchID is the main reason I'm torn between getting the mini 6 or the iPad Pro 11" (M1 model). I had an iPad Air with the TouchID power button once and hated it. But the size of the mini is way more convenient as a complementary device for my 13" MacBook Air.
I don't necessarily need ProMotion but would not mind it being present.
But as long as Apple keeps up it's unreasonable inflated prices for the mini in Europe, I won't get one anyway.

Face ID would work great on the iPad Mini because it isn't an issue to pick it up so the camera can tell it's you. I didn't like Face ID on the iPad Pro 11. I found I used my password a lot of the time.

 

[ThunderSkunk]

I too ultimately found the mini 6 to be unusable and wrote a big list of its many shortcomings as a result of Apples new design philosophy of cost engineering everything into the ground. Maybe its fine for sitting still on a couch indoors, but its size made the mini a truly mobile device, which 1-5 did reasonably well, but the 6 team didn't even consider in their spree of nickel & diming hardware and features out of it. I stocked up on mini 5’s. Peak ipad.

“There is nothing in this world that some man can‘t find a way to make a little cheaper and a little worse.”

 

[darngooddesign]

If you switched to a regular iPhone the screen change wouldn’t be jarring. 🤣

 

[darngooddesign]

…Like yourself, I like the idea of an iPhone Fold. But even then, I’d wait a generation or two!

If the people who want a folding iPhone are going to wait a generation or two, what exactly is Apple’s incentive to make one?

 

[sparksd]

I have an iPad Mini 6 and love it. I bought it to read my kindle books, the size for browsing social media, etc and because it would be easy for me to transport it outside the house. I have a iPad Pro 12.9 2nd generation, and its use is different from the mini 6. I’ve had it since May 2023, and I haven’t had any issues with it. Even if Apple were to release the Mini 7, this year or next year, I’m not tempted to upgrade since I’m perfectly fine with the Mini 6.

Same sentiments here with M1 12.9, cellular Mini 6, & 14 Pro Max.

 

[jdb8167]

I like my iPad mini 6 but I would jump on an iPad mini pro in a second.

• Faster SoC
• 8 GB RAM
• OLED with 120 Hz refresh
• 4 speakers for stereo in both landscape and portrait
• I don’t care about Face ID but if they could fit it in then fine
• Better cameras
• Magic Keyboard connection

I’d pay $1199 for cellular/512 GB no questions asked.

 

[Ludatyk]

I like my iPad mini 6 but I would jump on an iPad mini pro in a second.

• Faster SoC
• 8 GB RAM
• OLED with 120 Hz refresh
• 4 speakers for stereo in both landscape and portrait
• I don’t care about Face ID but if they could fit it in then fine
• Better cameras
• Magic Keyboard connection

I’d pay $1199 for cellular/512 GB no questions asked.

Apple would priced that higher than what you expect. I'm thinking the starting price will be 1k (and maybe its the 128gb storage)... so, for a cellular/512GB model that would be north of 2k for that.

 

[jdb8167]

Apple would priced that higher than what you expect. I'm thinking the starting price will be 1k (and maybe its the 128gb storage)... so, for a cellular/512GB model that would be north of 2k for that.

Nah. The iPad Pro 11” is $1299 for cellular 512GB. Even the 12.9” cellular 512GB is only $1599.

 

[Ludatyk]

Nah. The iPad Pro 11” is $1299 for cellular 512GB. Even the 12.9” cellular 512GB is only $1599.

Yeah, but you mention an OLED screen. The current prices for iPad Pros are without an OLED screen... we don't know how Apple is going to charge consumers for it, but rumors are that its going to be huge increase.

 

[jdb8167]

Yeah, but you mention an OLED screen. The current prices for iPad Pros are without an OLED screen... we don't know how Apple is going to charge consumers for it, but rumors are that its going to be huge increase.

It’s a small 8.3” OLED. It isn’t going to be that expensive.

 

[darngooddesign]

Nah. The iPad Pro 11” is $1299 for cellular 512GB. Even the 12.9” cellular 512GB is only $1599.

The 11" is LED. MiniLED was $100 more than LED, and the OLED Apple plans on using is supposed to have a several hundred dollar price increase over MiniLED.

I think an LED iPad Pro 8.5" at that spec will be $999, and $1299+ for the OLED version.

 

[Ludatyk]

It’s a small 8.3” OLED. It isn’t going to be that expensive.

I like the way you phrased it... "that expensive."

Lets look at it this way... iPhone 8 was $699 when it was released back in 2017 while the iPhone X was $1k that same year. A $300 increase... granted, it had a new design. But majority of the cost came from that OLED screen.

 

[jdb8167]

I like the way you phrased it... "that expensive."

Lets look at it this way... iPhone 8 was $699 when it was released back in 2017 while the iPhone X was $1k that same year. A $300 increase... granted, it had a new design. But majority of the cost came from that OLED screen.

OLED is significantly cheaper in 2023 than in 2017.

 

[darngooddesign]

I like the way you phrased it... "that expensive."

Lets look at it this way... iPhone 8 was $699 when it was released back in 2017 while the iPhone X was $1k that same year. A $300 increase... granted, it had a new design. But majority of the cost came from that OLED screen.

While the X was 300 more expensive, its components did not cost apple 300 more. OLED was more expensive but there were a lot of things which were more expensive than on the 8 like more RAM, a better back camera, a second back camera, Face ID array, a larger screen, and a screen with the notch cut out is more expensive than the same sized non-notch screen, and a much larger battery.

I suppose if someone wanted to they could google the bill of materials of both phones to see how much more expensive the X's OLED screen was compared to 8's LED.

 

[gpat]

There would be a place for an iPad "Mini Pro" with no-compromise cameras, I'm talking about multiple telephotos, 1" sensors, tech you can't fit on a smartphone no matter how big it is, putting it on equal footing with dedicated camera equipment.
It would be a killer production device for vloggers and creators that could make their content on the fly from a single device. The quintessential creativity machine that only Apple could make.
It would also steal a lot of marketshare from the iPhone Pro Max which is used for the exact same purpose.
It would need to be at least $999 for that, and probably wouldn't sell very much.
It would be quite a gamble strategy-wise, and as we know, the current Apple doesn't like gambling, otherwise the iPad would've evolved into a very different device.

 

[sunking101]

I like my iPad mini 6 but I would jump on an iPad mini pro in a second.

• Faster SoC
• 8 GB RAM
• OLED with 120 Hz refresh
• 4 speakers for stereo in both landscape and portrait
• I don’t care about Face ID but if they could fit it in then fine
• Better cameras
• Magic Keyboard connection

I’d pay $1199 for cellular/512 GB no questions asked.

You're only asking for a keeping up with the times update. Put your wallet away. Apple should be delivering this for no more than $100 more than the current model costs.

 

[Pezimak]

I have a high suspicion due to the hugely increased power efficiency, you’ll see the M3 chip appear in the iPad Mini, not sure about what else it will get though. Would be nice to see a Pro Motion screen in it. But they may think that’s too close to the iPhone then?

 

[sunking101]

I have a high suspicion due to the hugely increased power efficiency, you’ll see the M3 chip appear in the iPad Mini, not sure about what else it will get though. Would be nice to see a Pro Motion screen in it. But they may think that’s too close to the iPhone then?

Meh, 120Hz is unnecessary for most folk. They falsely assume that 60Hz is the reason for jelly scroll and all manner of ills when in fact the Mini6 just has a horribly cheap panel. All Apple need to do is put a decent display on the Mini7, a processor upgrade, more RAM and up the base storage from a paltry 64GB - in other words just a refresh. Add $50 to the price and away we go.

 

[The Game 161]

yeah it's a tough one as I do enjoy my mini 6 but the overall screen Quailty, 60hz and the way the device scales the Home Screen is quite bad in comparison to other devices. it's why I had the fold 4 as my mini replacement and hindsight I wish I had to kept that and not got the mini. it was more to be within the apple ecosystem.

all my devices I have all have 120HZ apart from my iMac and mini 6. and for me it is very noticeable. even my MacBook Pro is 120hz. iMac it's not really a factor like it is on the mini.