iPad mini I'm still impressed by how usable iPad mini 2 is in 2024

[iHorseHead]

Hi!
Today I booted up my iPad mini 2 and I'm actually impressed how usable it still is in 2024. Even Pages documents sync and YouTube, Netflix and all the other apps still work perfectly fine. It has a small, nice display and is lightweight.
The only issue is mostly Safari. It's slow and you must have a lot of patience but still, it's pretty usable for media consumption. Even Apple Music works and Apple TV.
And for whatever reason I feel like the battery lasts longer than my current iPad 9th gen's battery, which does not make sense, but I even tested it out and my iPad 9th gen drains faster while watching YouTube (both connected to WiFi). I don't know what's that all about. Anyway, I'm surprised that it's still usable. An android tablet from that year would be most probably an absolute e-waste already.

 

[FeliApple]

This is what I say about it being okay to run older iOS versions. As you experienced, just keep in mind that Safari will struggle and circumvent it (who doesn’t have another device to use a web browser, really), but the rest will be totally okay, especially for content consumption.

And it will continue to be okay. I’m using a 9.7-inch iPad Pro on iOS 12 (the same major version as you if you updated it) to write this and it’s completely usable. There’s no reason for an iPad to be useless for content consumption today, even if it’s a decade old.

People wildly (wildly) overestimate the impact of not having the latest version. Older devices are totally usable if you know how to navigate a couple of issues.

 

[iHorseHead]

This is what I say about it being okay to run older iOS versions. As you experienced, just keep in mind that Safari will struggle and circumvent it (who doesn’t have another device to use a web browser, really), but the rest will be totally okay, especially for content consumption.

And it will continue to be okay. I’m using a 9.7-inch iPad Pro on iOS 12 (the same major version as you if you updated it) to write this and it’s completely usable. There’s no reason for an iPad to be useless for content consumption today, even if it’s a decade old.

People wildly (wildly) overestimate the impact of not having the latest version. Older devices are totally usable if you know how to navigate a couple of issues.

Yeah, I 100% agree. While using my iPad mini 2 I started to think if I made a mistake buying an iPad 9th gen and if I should've waited for longer and saved up money and bought a new iPad mini. The iPad mini 2 is so much more comfortable to use than the 9th gen iPad and my battery also seems to be fine. after 10 years.

I just was in a hurry with upgrading only because of the out of date Safari. It still works but you need a lot of patience. It's on the latest version of iOS. If it weren't for the web browser situation I'd probably still use it as my main tablet. Despite having 1GB of RAM it's still pretty snappy and opens apps quickly (apps like YouTube and Netflix)

 

[FeliApple]

Yeah, I 100% agree. While using my iPad mini 2 I started to think if I made a mistake buying an iPad 9th gen and if I should've waited for longer and saved up money and bought a new iPad mini. The iPad mini 2 is so much more comfortable to use than the 9th gen iPad and my battery also seems to be fine. after 10 years.

I just was in a hurry with upgrading only because of the out of date Safari. It still works but you need a lot of patience. It's on the latest version of iOS. If it weren't for the web browser situation I'd probably still use it as my main tablet. Despite having 1GB of RAM it's still pretty snappy and opens apps quickly (apps like YouTube and Netflix)

Yeah, absolutely, for content consumption it will work perfectly. Streaming apps, YouTube, books on iBooks, etc, it all works.

iOS 12 is a good iOS version, so if you’re enough to either have a device that’s outdated or a device on a decent iOS version, any iPad suffices.

As long as you can circumvent the web browsing issue with its ever-increasing number of websites that stop working, you’re fine really.

I’ve been using outdated iOS devices for over 13 years, and I know that they have a lot of life even if they aren’t the latest. And the good thing is that it will continue working for that, so you’ll be fine.

 

[Isamilis]

This is what I say about it being okay to run older iOS versions. As you experienced, just keep in mind that Safari will struggle and circumvent it (who doesn’t have another device to use a web browser, really), but the rest will be totally okay, especially for content consumption.

And it will continue to be okay. I’m using a 9.7-inch iPad Pro on iOS 12 (the same major version as you if you updated it) to write this and it’s completely usable. There’s no reason for an iPad to be useless for content consumption today, even if it’s a decade old.

People wildly (wildly) overestimate the impact of not having the latest version. Older devices are totally usable if you know how to navigate a couple of issues.

They’re just in a hurry to update the OS due to security reasons (where we *very* rarely see security issues spread widely).

 

[Digitalguy]

I use my mini 2 almost every day. Mainly for playing music via a bluetooth speaker. Mine is on iOS 10, so I can use old apps that stopped working after the move to 64bit with IOS 11. I also have my old games on it.
Battery drain is extremely low.
This iPad will probably outlast my M1 pro because it's not use as general purpose iPad (Safari is unusable) but for a specific use that will not change. And with no drain, battery can really last forever.
I have a mini 5 too but that one is on 16 and it drains much more... But can do things that the mini 2 can't

 

[Digitalguy]

They’re just in a hurry to update the OS due to security reasons (where we *very* rarely see security issues spread widely).

Unfortunately ignorance by most people about security on mobile devices makes a lot of devices ewaste when they could have more life left...

 

[Isamilis]

Unfortunately ignorance by most people about security on mobile devices makes a lot of devices ewaste when they could have more life left...

Evidence? That’s probably not Apple. I have few iPhones (mine and my children) which become unusable after iOS update. They’re finally sold or just kept in the drawer.

 

[Digitalguy]

Yeah, absolutely, for content consumption it will work perfectly. Streaming apps, YouTube, books on iBooks, etc, it all works.

iOS 12 is a good iOS version, so if you’re enough to either have a device that’s outdated or a device on a decent iOS version, any iPad suffices.

As long as you can circumvent the web browsing issue with its ever-increasing number of websites that stop working, you’re fine really.

I’ve been using outdated iOS devices for over 13 years, and I know that they have a lot of life even if they aren’t the latest. And the good thing is that it will continue working for that, so you’ll be fine.

I do agree that outdated devices can have a lot of life left.
As you know, contrary to you, I make a distinction between older devices (2016-2018 and earler) and newer ones. I think it's a good idea NOT to update older iOS devices till the end (personally I would stop at iOS 10 for older devices and iPadOS 13 for less old ones. As for newer ones (let's say from 2nd gen pro), I think they can be updated till the end to benefit from newer features, but also can be useful for much longer after the end of software support (another thing where we differ is that you think that battery is destroyed by updates and I don't, my 2018 pro has excellent battery life, not great standy time but that's a different issue and for me the new features (from IOS 12 to 17) are far more important that some standby time).

 

[Digitalguy]

Evidence? That’s probably not Apple. I have few iPhones (mine and my children) which become unusable after iOS update. They’re finally sold or just kept in the drawer.

They became unusable because they where updated too much, and one of the reasons why peopel update devices too much is security... Hope what I said is now clearer.

 

[iHorseHead]

I use my mini 2 almost every day. Mainly for playing music via a bluetooth speaker. Mine is on iOS 10, so I can use old apps that stopped working after the move to 64bit with IOS 11. I also have my old games on it.
Battery drain is extremely low.
This iPad will probably outlast my M1 pro because it's not use as general purpose iPad (Safari is unusable) but for a specific use that will not change. And with no drain, battery can really last forever.
I have a mini 5 too but that one is on 16 and it drains much more... But can do things that the mini 2 can't

By the way, I found out that RedApp browser is very fast and usable. It loads stuff way faster than Safari.

 

[FeliApple]

I do agree that outdated devices can have a lot of life left.
As you know, contrary to you, I make a distinction between older devices (2016-2018 and earler) and newer ones. I think it's a good idea NOT to update older iOS devices till the end (personally I would stop at iOS 10 for older devices and iPadOS 13 for less old ones. As for newer ones (let's say from 2nd gen pro), I think they can be updated till the end to benefit from newer features, but also can be useful for much longer after the end of software support (another thing where we differ is that you think that battery is destroyed by updates and I don't, my 2018 pro has excellent battery life, not great standy time but that's a different issue and for me the new features (from IOS 12 to 17) are far more important that some standby time).

We won’t agree on newer devices and updates and I accept that.

I only harshly criticise those who recommend updating because I think they’re maliciously misleading, but with their own devices, people can really do whatever they want. I have nothing to say against somebody who updates because they value what they bring and, like you said, prefer that over battery (and sometimes performance) degradation.

But you see, it’s interesting, because people who either buy new devices all the time selling the old ones or update all the time just assume that because a device is outdated by two major versions it’s useless, and that couldn’t be further from the truth. People like you, people like OP and like me who have actually tried older devices on older iOS versions know that claim is garbage, but like I complained earlier, that won’t stop them from misleading other users with “it doesn’t get security updates so you shouldn’t use it on iOS 15”.

Do you want to know how many devices I have (that I use regularly)? 5. How many of those are on iOS 16 or newer? 0. So I should throw everything away then? It’s just ridiculous.

Like OP demonstrated and you said, they are and they will continue to be useful.

 

[Shirasaki]

People wildly (wildly) overestimate the impact of not having the latest version

Most will say “using older version of iOS would expose you to tons of security holes” etc etc. However, user was, is and will continue to be the weakest link in the security chain. As for new features, we have long since passed the time when new features were exciting and wanting to try out on early. Back in the iOS 9 time of the iOS beta (I started beta testing as back as iOS 8.4 when the revamped music app, the best stock music app ever, was being tested), Apple kept releasing new features that were interesting and wanted to get the hands on. Nowadays, not so much.

 

[Digitalguy]

Most will say “using older version of iOS would expose you to tons of security holes” etc etc. However, user was, is and will continue to be the weakest link in the security chain. As for new features, we have long since passed the time when new features were exciting and wanting to try out on early. Back in the iOS 9 time of the iOS beta (I started beta testing as back as iOS 8.4 when the revamped music app, the best stock music app ever, was being tested), Apple kept releasing new features that were interesting and wanted to get the hands on. Nowadays, not so much.

You seem to agree about security, so I am curious why is you reaction to my comment about security being the main reason why people either update their device even when it would be better on an older version of IOS or stop using it because it cannot be updated anymore...

 

[*~Kim~*]

I would normally not update more than one major OS version past that it originally came with - but I was forced to accept 17 for a newly launched building society app.

As Mini 6 only has 4GB RAM, I’ll probably switch to the Android version of apps rather than go any further.

I’d never thought of looking in the app store for another browser before I read this and have now done so having been told by another society that they no longer support Safari. Saves firing the laptop up.

 

[Isamilis]

I would normally not update more than one major OS version past that it originally came with

I tried this and found difficult in practice. The hardware was so good and stay much longer than annual iOS update (some apps need newer iOS version). What I did was, I checked some reviews (usually iApplebyte) when new minor version released, check its performance compared to previous versions. If the new one is much better than before (which is rare, but happened few times) I will update the OS. Other than that, I would just stay in existing version. My M1 iPP is just updated to 17.4.1 after last update on 16.3 as I need some features on stage manager and AirPods).

Edit: sometimes simple way to check whether the new version is stable and good is by looking at MR forum. It’s not always true but can be used for indicative. If the version is stable and good, the thread has only few pages, compared to problematic versions which took > 20 pages.

 

[Shirasaki]

You seem to agree about security, so I am curious why is you reaction to my comment about security being the main reason why people either update their device even when it would be better on an older version of IOS or stop using it because it cannot be updated anymore...

If you read between the lines, I don’t agree with incessantly keeping the operating system software up to date just for the odd chance of bad things happening at the cost of the usability of the device, or render it so useless that it’s only ewaste worthy. Instead, what I support is updating to the software version Most suitable for the device. In apples case, it would be the next two major versions of iOS IMO.
On the other side, users must be vigilant And follow common security practices.

 

[FeliApple]

If you read between the lines, I don’t agree with incessantly keeping the operating system software up to date just for the odd chance of bad things happening at the cost of the usability of the device, or render it so useless that it’s only ewaste worthy. Instead, what I support is updating to the software version Most suitable for the device. In apples case, it would be the next two major versions of iOS IMO.
On the other side, users must be vigilant And follow common security practices.

This is a little funny honestly. Because let’s take what they say to the extreme: they say you should update always, due to security. “What happens when the device is unsupported?”, you ask. They say “Well, then you should upgrade”.

So they render millions of devices useless just for theoretical security, and not only that, but they recommend updating throughout the device’s entire lifespan, which renders devices useless anyway, and far quicker than if they were kept on the original iOS version.

It’s such an absolutely stupid and pointless stance that I cannot respect it.

So they leave you with two options: update all the time, obliterating the device in the process and turning it into “e-waste” (Or so they ridiculously claim), or don’t update, which turns the device into “e-waste” immediately.

From my perspective? Not only is the security argument without merit, but if it’s going to be “e-waste” anyway I might as well keep it on the best possible iOS version. What do they care? It will be e-waste anyway.

“But iOS 15 is security-supported”. No it isn’t. They don’t provide all security updates. And you have to be consistent. If a device is either “fully secure” or it isn’t, then you can’t claim partial support is good. An iPhone 15 on iOS 17.2? e-waste. You have to be consistent in your beliefs, otherwise they’re pointless, and when you apply their arguments, the whole thing crumbles immediately.

 

[Shirasaki]

This is a little funny honestly. Because let’s take what they say to the extreme: they say you should update always, due to security. “What happens when the device is unsupported?”, you ask. They say “Well, then you should upgrade”.

So they render millions of devices useless just for theoretical security, and not only that, but they recommend updating throughout the device’s entire lifespan, which renders devices useless anyway, and far quicker than if they were kept on the original iOS version.

It’s such an absolutely stupid and pointless stance that I cannot respect it.

So they leave you with two options: update all the time, obliterating the device in the process and turning it into “e-waste” (Or so they ridiculously claim), or don’t update, which turns the device into “e-waste” immediately.

From my perspective? Not only is the security argument without merit, but if it’s going to be “e-waste” anyway I might as well keep it on the best possible iOS version. What do they care? It will be e-waste anyway.

“But iOS 15 is security-supported”. No it isn’t. They don’t provide all security updates. And you have to be consistent. If a device is either “fully secure” or it isn’t, then you can’t claim partial support is good. An iPhone 15 on iOS 17.2? e-waste. You have to be consistent in your beliefs, otherwise they’re pointless, and when you apply their arguments, the whole thing crumbles immediately.

This is exactly why I have serious trouble with similar ridiculous claims and blank statements like “you are not updating to the latest iOS version or using the latest iOS version? You are endangering yourself and everyone around you by doing so” or similar, as if purchasing new iOS devices every 5 years or so is a duty, not a choice.
Meanwhile, companies like Apple gradually and more or less deliberately, render older devices useless. I get it, new devices can handle new features while old devices might not. But then just leave new features out of old devices. But no. People want new features their devices may not be able to run well, and companies conspicuously leave out features that otherwise would be there. It’s a total mess.

 

[FeliApple]

This is exactly why I have serious trouble with similar ridiculous claims and blank statements like “you are not updating to the latest iOS version or using the latest iOS version? You are endangering yourself and everyone around you by doing so” or similar, as if purchasing new iOS devices every 5 years or so is a duty, not a choice.
Meanwhile, companies like Apple gradually and more or less deliberately, render older devices useless. I get it, new devices can handle new features while old devices might not. But then just leave new features out of old devices. But no. People want new features their devices may not be able to run well, and companies conspicuously leave out features that otherwise would be there. It’s a total mess.

Yeah, like you said, sadly, buying new devices is not a choice. You can do everything right, you can keep an iOS device perfectly working on its original iOS version, and there will be a moment in which the device cannot do what you need it to do. This happens to almost everyone.

And you have no choice. The device can have a million hours of SOT, impeccable performance, everything can be amazing... and you still need to buy one, sorry.

This is on Apple for restricting support (as newer versions of xCode restrict iOS versions), and it is on developers, who don’t care and just pointlessly remove support. In fact, I’d say the bulk of the fault lies on developers.

We simply aren’t enough. Not enough of us stay behind. So they see the numbers: “0.02% Run iOS 10. Fine then, remove support”. There’s nothing we can do because the mass just keeps updating.

Hence, it’s a cycle: some users stay behind because their previous device was obliterated. They lose support of things they need. They update. Their device is obliterated. They upgrade. They stay behind because their previous device was obliterated, and so on.

Either iOS updates obliterate your device, or lack of support does.

The former is on Apple, the latter is on developers as well. Users? There’s nothing they can do.

 

[Digitalguy]

If you read between the lines, I don’t agree with incessantly keeping the operating system software up to date just for the odd chance of bad things happening at the cost of the usability of the device, or render it so useless that it’s only ewaste worthy. Instead, what I support is updating to the software version Most suitable for the device. In apples case, it would be the next two major versions of iOS IMO.
On the other side, users must be vigilant And follow common security practices.

I think we have a very similar vision, but I believe my post "Unfortunately ignorance by most people about security on mobile devices makes a lot of devices ewaste when they could have more life left..." was misuderstood by several people before I provided additional explation below (I have should have explained my point better in the first place).

 

[Digitalguy]

This is a little funny honestly. Because let’s take what they say to the extreme: they say you should update always, due to security. “What happens when the device is unsupported?”, you ask. They say “Well, then you should upgrade”.

So they render millions of devices useless just for theoretical security, and not only that, but they recommend updating throughout the device’s entire lifespan, which renders devices useless anyway, and far quicker than if they were kept on the original iOS version.

It’s such an absolutely stupid and pointless stance that I cannot respect it.

So they leave you with two options: update all the time, obliterating the device in the process and turning it into “e-waste” (Or so they ridiculously claim), or don’t update, which turns the device into “e-waste” immediately.

From my perspective? Not only is the security argument without merit, but if it’s going to be “e-waste” anyway I might as well keep it on the best possible iOS version. What do they care? It will be e-waste anyway.

“But iOS 15 is security-supported”. No it isn’t. They don’t provide all security updates. And you have to be consistent. If a device is either “fully secure” or it isn’t, then you can’t claim partial support is good. An iPhone 15 on iOS 17.2? e-waste. You have to be consistent in your beliefs, otherwise they’re pointless, and when you apply their arguments, the whole thing crumbles immediately.

Lots of good points, including the idea that the fact that Apple provides some very partial security updates to older devices changes nothing. Again we are not in full agreement on the fact that updates always oblitarate devices (it was absolultey true for older devices, and I would say and 4GB RAM device or lower has had an impact, but for newer devices and devices with more RAM the impact of updates is much less in any, including in standby time, which was never good for devices born with iPadOS...), but we can definitely agree on the fact that a device can be useful for years with and older OS version (whether it's the last one or the one chosen by the user). App support will progressively get worse, but at least as a secondary device the iPad can live for many years more

 

[FeliApple]

Lots of good points, including the idea that the fact that Apple provides some very partial security updates to older devices changes nothing. Again we are not in full agreement on the fact that updates always oblitarate devices (it was absolultey true for older devices, and I would say and 4GB RAM device or lower has had an impact, but for newer devices and devices with more RAM the impact of updates is much less in any, including in standby time, which was never good for devices born with iPadOS...), but we can definitely agree on the fact that a device can be useful for years with and older OS version (whether it's the last one or the one chosen by the user). App support will progressively get worse, but at least as a secondary device the iPad can live for many years more

Interestingly, the usefulness of an older device (regardless of which iOS version it has) depends on the user. A user who uses an iPad for content consumption won’t have issues. They use Netflix, they read books on iBooks, they use YouTube, they have music on Apple Music or Spotify or another app, and they like to have a couple of documents and read some PDFs on Pages.

OP said it themselves: the only issue is web browsing. You must accept that. Web browsing will deteriorate, and there’s nothing you can do. Just circumvent it. It’s not that everything stops working (I am writing this on a device that runs iOS 12 and I’m writing it just fine), but some websites will. Do you have a more compatible iPhone? Do you have a computer? If you do, is it so difficult to use something else for the websites that don’t work? (Which are some, but it’s not like 99% of the web is unreachable).

Otherwise, if you have a set of apps you use that is compatible with this usage pattern, the device will be useful for a long time. Batteries on iPads don’t even deteriorate if the iOS version is decent, so that’s not a problem. How many times have you heard of people using updated 32-bit iPads and saying “it’s slow, but battery life is surprisingly decent”? It happens a lot because they are decent. Even if they are well over 10-years-old. You’ve seen this yourself with your Mini 2. Do you really expect battery life to ever worsen? I don’t think it will. It’s the nature of an efficient iPad on an efficient iOS version, it will last until you get tired of it. It’s just like my 9.7-inch iPad Pro on iOS 12. I saw that battery life drop after Apple forced it out of iOS 9, but it’s been fine since then. Not as good, but still decent. I can deal with 10-11 hours of use. It’s not 14, but I can charge it.

Content consumption is typically not heavy use anyway. You can even have a couple of games and they may work, too, for those who like to play.

I think the impact of having older devices is ballooned into something that isn’t true by “security” obsessives and those who just don’t run older iOS versions so they just assume that a device that’s three iOS versions behind is completely useless.

 

[Jackbequickly]

Yep I got two iPad Pros and the Mini. It lives on the nightstand next to my bed. Excellent device but I still prefer FaceID.

 

[rkuo]

Hi!
Today I booted up my iPad mini 2 and I'm actually impressed how usable it still is in 2024. Even Pages documents sync and YouTube, Netflix and all the other apps still work perfectly fine. It has a small, nice display and is lightweight.
The only issue is mostly Safari. It's slow and you must have a lot of patience but still, it's pretty usable for media consumption. Even Apple Music works and Apple TV.
And for whatever reason I feel like the battery lasts longer than my current iPad 9th gen's battery, which does not make sense, but I even tested it out and my iPad 9th gen drains faster while watching YouTube (both connected to WiFi). I don't know what's that all about. Anyway, I'm surprised that it's still usable. An android tablet from that year would be most probably an absolute e-waste already.

Oof I had kind of a hard time using it when it was new. 1GB RAM!