Maybe it would, but it would still be a long way short of reading on an iPad mini which has a much more useful aspect ratio for reading books.
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iPad Mini 4 - Worth getting this day in age?
- Thread starter AMTYVLE
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Maybe it would, but it would still be a long way short of reading on an iPad mini which has a much more useful aspect ratio for reading books.
I had not considered the aspect ratio. That will make a huge difference for sure.
Didnt mean "basic" in a derogatory way. I currently use an ipad mini 2! The screen is cracked and the home button doesn't work anymore, but i use it every day. I haven't loaded ios 11 on it yet cause i've heard various opinions on how it really slows it down. And i already notice that its slowing down when using certain apps or doing certain things. I do use it for more than just surfing the web and checking emails. I edit photos & videos and do use it creatively....but i am definitely pushing it. Sure, i could upgrade to a mini 4...but i forsee the same fate in a year for it as i am currently experiencing with my mini 2. Slower speeds and minor hiccups. So yeah, i am waiting. Hoping Apple updates the mini soon. Perhaps even an ipad mini pro! Which would be great, cause i'd really like to use the apple pencil on a mini. If not, then perhaps if they get rid of the bezels in next years iPads as is being rumored....then maybe the 10.5" or 9.7" without bezels will be close to the form factor of the mini which i love so much. Who knows. Point is, i am willing to wait to find out. At least until my mini 2 completely dies(which may not be long!). For me upgrading to the mini 4 which is already 2 years old wouldnt be worth it for me. Perhaps others. Not me.
A couple of things:
- iOS 11 doesn't slow down a device any more than iOS 10 did. I have an iPad Mini 2 on iOS 11 and, if anything I've noticed an improvement over iOS 10 (very slight, but still).
- The iPad Mini 4 is light years ahead of the Mini 2 in terms of performance. If you still use the Mini 2 on iOS 10 and consider it useable, then the Mini 4 will last you. (I know there are those on this site that consider any slight deviation from absolute perfection to mean that it's "unusable" - "OMG! It took a few more milliseconds to open the app and fully render it! I can't wait that long! Useless!")
- The big mistake here is making that direct correlation between tech specs and user experience. Just because the tech specs are not the absolute latest and greatest does not mean that the user experience is in the tank. Is there a risk? Sure - there's a risk for ANY machine you purchase. I'm not saying the Mini 4 is a sure thing, but judging user experience by tech specs leads you down the wrong path.
- I'm finally forced to agree with some of the others on this site that there probably will not be another mini. I love the mini and I would love a Pencil-enabled Mini, but I just don't think it's in the cards. It's probably time to give up hope on this one, as much as I hate to admit it.
"better" is relative. Considering that the greatest attribute of the Mini 4 is its size, no iPad Pro is "better".
I'm still holding out hope for a Mini Plus aka Pencil-enabled Mini. While there is a growing number of people who are resigning themselves to the demise of the Mini, there is a surprising number of people coming out of the woodwork saying that they'd like not only an updated Mini but a pencil-enabled Mini. That surprised me.
Having said that, if there is no updated Mini announced by March 2018, then I'd have to sadly conclude that no additional Mini is forthcoming.
I'm a mini fan as well. Still using my ipad mini 2 despite a cracked screen and broken home button. Been holding out hope of a mini update...either a pro version or a "plus" version that would enable me to use the Apple pencil. When it didn't happen this year, i was bummed. But will wait until March of 2018...perhaps even until WWDC when the next pros might be announced. If it doesn't happen by then, well yeah...even I will lose hope. The mini really is the perfect size. Bigger than the biggest phone making surfing web so much nicer...yet small enough to stick in my cargo pants pocket making it so much more portable than any other ipad.
I will hang on a little longer than March.
Never gelled with the 9.7 and outside of drawing, my 12.9 is barely used.The Mini 4 has a great screen and color gamut, it does almost everything I would like and need right now. Pencil would be perfect. I would probably be just fine with all of Apple’s “Minis” (iPad, Mac Mini and SE.) Hopefully all 3 will see updates in 2018-2019.
If you like long and narrow sized books. Which are practically non-existing. 4:3 screen of iPad Mini is perfect for reading, iPhones not so much.
Below is the iOS compatibility matrix:
http://iossupportmatrix.com
Based on this, looking at when Apple stops providing OS updates to old chips, and since the Mini 4 has an A8 chip, I expect it to support iOS 12 (not sure if that will be done well) but not iOS 13, that would appear in about 21 months. Beyond this, you may not be able to update the OS, hence to install or update many Apps. If you need some Apps (and are not using only the built-in Apps + those you will have installed already), the use of the device may become frustrating beyond this date. So the question is, is this enough use for you ?
(I am not entering the discussion of the format ---I personally love the format of the Mini, but would need it to support the pen)
http://iossupportmatrix.com
Based on this, looking at when Apple stops providing OS updates to old chips, and since the Mini 4 has an A8 chip, I expect it to support iOS 12 (not sure if that will be done well) but not iOS 13, that would appear in about 21 months. Beyond this, you may not be able to update the OS, hence to install or update many Apps. If you need some Apps (and are not using only the built-in Apps + those you will have installed already), the use of the device may become frustrating beyond this date. So the question is, is this enough use for you ?
(I am not entering the discussion of the format ---I personally love the format of the Mini, but would need it to support the pen)
Personally, i think ALL ipads should work with the Apple pencil. I don't think it should be a "pro" only accessory. Seriously, it's a stylus! There are many third party batt operated/bluetooth stylus' that mimic the Apple pencil yet still work with older non pro ipads. So it's kinda annoying Apple doesn't make the Apple pencil compatible for all ipad users.
First of all, NONE of the 3rd party styli are anything even close to the Apple Pencil (if they were, we wouldn’t care if Apple made a Pencil-enabled Mini).
Second, the compatibility is a factor of the screen - it’s not just a software compatibility. The Pros have additional sensors beneath the screen that detect smaller touch points than non-pros.
Third, the whole reason for the “Pro” category is the Apple Pencil (there are other improvements, but the Pencil is the main differentiator).
This is absolutely not true. There are MANY apple pencil like devices out there. Dozens of youtube videos compare them to the apple pencil. Apple made a choice to make the Apple pencil exclusive to the expensive pro ipads. Even if the apple pencil would work better on a faster pro model, it could still totally work for most people on their non pro ipads. Apple chose to block that ability. I get the reasoning. But i would argue that an apple pencil shouldnt be exclusive to an expensive "pro" Ipad. There are many people with non pro ipads that would happily buy the apple pencil to write and sketch with. Apple is basically shutting these people out, and losing out on extra revenue. Sure, you could argue that its calculated to get people to upgrade and buy the more expensive pro ipad...but its not because the apple pencil cant work on non pro ipads. It could. Apple just chose to make it not.
As someone who has spent close to the amount of a new iPad on non-Apple Pencil styli, I can tell you it’s ABSOLUTELY true. The 3rd party styli are toys compared to the Apple Pencil - even the expensive ones.
Yup this. You can spend $$$ trying various styli and none come close to the Apple Pencil's performance and accuracy.
Of course the Apple pencil is better. BUT...the issue here is that Apple is purposely shutting out their own customers who don't own an ipad pro from using their product. Its NOT because the Apple pencil wont work with the non ipad pros...we all know that it easily COULD. The point is, that Apple has BLOCKED the ability for the apple pencil to work with non pros. I think this is what many apple users have an issue with. They would love to buy the apple pencil...but dont want to have to shell out booku dinero to do so! Simple as that. The battery operated/bluetooth pens out there like the ones from Adonit can work with non ipad pros. Apple is losing out here. These apple users would gladly prefer to buy an apple pencil for their non ipad pros, but can't. This is a dileberate choice Apple has made to exclude their own users.
[doublepost=1512490774][/doublepost]And before anyone says anything, of COURSE the Apple pencil would work better on a pro ipad than a non pro ipad. Duh. The pros have a 120hz refresh rate. THAT is why you should have to shell out the $$ for an ipad pro. Not forcing non ipad users who want to use the apple pencil to upgrade their ipads! Apple could easily allow the apple pencil to work on non pro ipads for those that would like to take notes or do some light sketching. I really think Apple is missing an oportunity here.
The 2015 Pro 12.9 and 2016 Pro 9.7 both have 60Hz displays. While 120Hz reduces latency, even at 60Hz, the Apple Pencil works much better compared to other styli. As @bensisko mentioned, there are additional sensors on the touchscreen of the Pros which is a huge part of why the Apple Pencil works so well.
I expect if Apple did allow the use of the $99 Apple Pencil on a regular iPad, the result wouldn't be any better compared to the countless $5-10 non-branded styli and that would just end up hurting their brand image.
I truly hope Apple bring us an iPad mini 5 with an A10 processor. I don't care for pencil support, but 3 gigs of RAM would be nice along with the iphone 7 front/rear cameras.
Personally, I'd wait for the updated cheaper iPad 9.7 next year. I get the appeal of the size of the mini, but I am not sure it is going to stick around by all reports.
If the next iOS is not supported, that does not mean that you can´t use suddenly many apps. Sure, slowly some apps will demand the new iOS version, but in most cases you can just stay on the older, even download the old app version, for a long time. Our iPad mini 1 is on 9.3.5 and still supports all apps that are on it. Our iPad 2 is on 7.1.2 and there are only a few apps I wanted to install that demanded Ios 8 or higher. So, you can use the device quite a few years after the last possible iOS update. iPad mini 4 will be fully usable until 2020, I expect, an be mostly usable much longer.
iOS 12 may not support the Mini 2, but it will well support the Mini 4. Even iOS 13 (barring some HUGE change) will support the Mini 4.