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ProgRocker

macrumors regular
Original poster
Apr 24, 2018
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Trying to decide between iPad Mini 7 128 or 256. I'd like to use it among other things to take short vacation videos say 5-10 mins in length more or less. I'm not familiar with Apple formats and how much each will actually take up. How many mg/gb would say one minute take ? And in what format(s), if there are multiple formats available to use. IE MP4,ect.
 
I’ve been getting the iPad mini since the first one in 2012, and I’ve always gotten the 256gb version, which up until now, has always been the highest storage option available for the mini. I just upgraded my iPad mini 5 to the iPad mini 7 and I went with the 256gb version again. As an artist, it is more than enough. My iPad mini is not my main device, it compliments my iPad Pro. So no need to go higher than 256gb. If I ever run out of space for my sketches, photos or videos on the mini(highly unlikely) i can always use icloud or an external SSD to offload some.
 
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I upgraded my 256gb mini 6 to the 256gb mini 7. I also have an 12.9 iPad Pro, which is also 256gb. My iPhone 15PM is my main device which is 512gb and has everything stored on it. I went with the 256gb for my iPads, since they are not my main devices thus will not have everything stored from my iPhone 15PM.
 
I'd like to use it among other things to take short vacation videos... How many mg/gb would say one minute take ?
The iPad can record video up to 4k/60fps. The most efficient video format to use is HEVC which is about 400MB/minute at 4k60. 4k24 is more like 135MB/min.
 
It's always better to have too much storage rather than too little. There's nothing that you can do about the latter after the fact.
 
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Ok, here's a vote for 128 😁

I have 256 on my mini 6, and have almost 200 still free. Can't recall I had the 128 option when I bought it. But as the 5 - that I still have - only had 64 I figured that I needed an upgrade.
Next mini, that will be the 8, I will pick 128 for sure.

If I need more at any occation, I have a mini USB-C disk that can serve as a backup. That's the good thing with USB-C on the mini's now, so why nit take advantage of it.
 
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256Gb every day

Holiday videos require a surprising number of takes if you want to make a good memory.

You want to film in the highest resolution, edit and export in the highest audio, then delete the source files. Don’t skimp on export size, as big as you can makes them more future proof.

All of this takes a good load of memory for processing.
 
Great, thank you for the advice guys ! For those who just bought or are thinking of buying where can I get the best price on a Mini 7 ? Or should I wait for Christmas or January sales ?

Thanks...
 
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This may help. You can find it in Settings > Camera
 
Great, thank you for the advice guys ! For those who just bought or are thinking of buying where can I get the best price on a Mini 7 ? Or should I wait for Christmas or January sales ?

Thanks...

Amazon just had them for $100 off a couple of times over the last few weeks. Costco currently has them for $100 off, but last I checked they were out of 128GB, not sure on 256GB.
 
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Amazon just had them for $100 off a couple of times over the last few weeks. Costco currently has them for $100 off, but last I checked they were out of 128GB, not sure on 256GB.

Costco was already out of 256GB yesterday. Only two colors left in 512GB.
 
Always get the most storage you can afford.
Within reason.

I would say that the better rule of thumb is, if in doubt, go just one tier higher than what you think will be "sufficient". When I bought a Macbook Air earlier this year, even though I think I could be fine with 512 GB, I went for 1TB just for peace of mind. I could afford 2TB (the highest storage available for the MBA) but I knew that it would absolutely be wasted on me.
 
The issue with the storage is icloud optimization.

If you don’t have iCloud, then maxing storage might make sense until some point. Like my spouse has 2tb of videos and no ipad can store it to make sense.

I have 165gb of pics and 240gb of computer data. If i include my ssd, that is 1.5tb of local data.

With iCloud, my memory usage never gets above 70gb so no matter how much storage i am not able to use it.

Now only way to fight iCloud storage optimization is to have 30gb games, local videos downloaded besides your photo app. That requires quite a bit of legwork, otherwise you will end up having 150gb free on your 256gb ipad.
 
The issue with the storage is icloud optimization.

If you don’t have iCloud, then maxing storage might make sense until some point. Like my spouse has 2tb of videos and no ipad can store it to make sense.

I have 165gb of pics and 240gb of computer data. If i include my ssd, that is 1.5tb of local data.

With iCloud, my memory usage never gets above 70gb so no matter how much storage i am not able to use it.

Now only way to fight iCloud storage optimization is to have 30gb games, local videos downloaded besides your photo app. That requires quite a bit of legwork, otherwise you will end up having 150gb free on your 256gb ipad.

OP mentioned he’ll be using it to take vacation videos. If taking a lot of videos, that can fill up storage fast.

iCloud only works when you have good internet connection. I don’t know about the OP but when I’m on trips, I often have very iffy internet. Especially so in remote areas. Sometimes, I won’t be able to offload to iCloud until I’m back home so I would definitely need plenty of local storage in this case.
 
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Sounds like saving vs convenience. I’ll pick convenience any day.

Agree. Unless the bulk of data being offloaded is easy to curate/manage like a movie/video collection it makes less sense to me to rely upon external storage. I've had a bunch of friends/family who purchased iPhones or iPads with minimal storage only to lament about lack of space to do iOS upgrades etc. later on. The advice about getting as much storage as one can afford is good advice IMO.
 
Trying to decide between iPad Mini 7 128 or 256. I'd like to use it among other things to take short vacation videos say 5-10 mins in length more or less. I'm not familiar with Apple formats and how much each will actually take up. How many mg/gb would say one minute take ? And in what format(s), if there are multiple formats available to use. IE MP4,ect.
 
This is not about storage but I don’t know how to post or start a new
IMG_0226.png
when I open a new tab on my iPad I get the above. How do I get rid of these icons that are in gray? And I have additional things I want to add to the accounts folder but don’t know how to do that. I am a senior citizen and not as proficient with technology as I’d like to be. Advance thanks for any help you can give!
 
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