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Is it a good idea to buy the aging iPad Mini 2 for heavy gaming?

Grimrocker01

Grimrocker01

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 25, 2016
5
3
I know the iPad Mini 2 is almost 3 years old, but is it still worth buying one? Please consider that I can't stretch my budget to accommodate a Mini 4 or Air 2; so the Mini 2 is the only iPad within my reach.

I intend to use it mostly for:

1. Online video streaming
2. Lotta browsing
3. Lotta gaming

So is the Mini 2 capable of handling these tasks as good as a Mini 4? Or does the extra 1 gig of RAM truly make a difference here (when compared to Mini 4). I read that the extra gb of RAM really doesn't do much for gaming, and only affects Multi tasking. If that is the truth, I really don't mind.

Experts, please help me!!!
 
1. Yes you can do that no problem.
2. Forget about browsing with only 1GB of RAM, it'll be a pain.
3. You can do that aswell, the A7 chip is still perfectly capable of running any game you throw at it.
 
Wow! You made that very simple! But is it really? People say the Mini 2 doesn't scale well with iOS 9, and who knows if it will even support iOS 10.

And... is there really a mysterious Mini 5 in the offing? Considering that, Apple may retire Mini 2 and cut down the cost of Mini 4, which is good news for me.

Any thoughts on these?
 
Grimrocker01 said:
Wow! You made that very simple! But is it really? People say the Mini 2 doesn't scale well with iOS 9, and who knows if it will even support iOS 10.

And... is there really a mysterious Mini 5 in the offing? Considering that, Apple may retire Mini 2 and cut down the cost of Mini 4, which is good news for me.

Any thoughts on these?
Click to expand...
Yep I'm serious with my answer.

About : 1. Online video streaming, you can do that on basically any iPad, it doesn't even require a powerful one so the mini 2 is good enough.

About : 2. Lotta browsing, well you can of course browse on the iPad mini 2 like any other iPad but the 1GB of RAM is really not enough to handle more than 2 tabs, you will get constant reloading and web browsing in general won't be as fluid and enjoyable as a 2GB of RAM iPad.

About : 3. Lotta gaming, the iPad mini 2 is still very powerful and won't have any trouble running any game you throw at it. Of course you won't have the beautiful graphics of a more recent iPad but you most likely won't notice a difference unless you have them running side by side.

Now about iOS, it is almost a hundred percent sure that it will run iOS 10. There is absolutely no reason for Apple to drop this device considering that the company is known for its legacy support and that the iPad mini 2 is only 2,5 years old (iPad 2 is 5 years old and still supported with the latest iOS version).

About iOS 9, I don't have an iPad mini 2 so I can't confirm you anything but from the reports and the few devices I have seen running this version, it's not as buttery smooth as it was on iOS 7 and iOS 8 but it will do the job.

And finally, about the iPad mini 5, we don't have a single information about it and seeing that Apple released an iPad mini 3 with the same specs as the iPad mini 2 (except for Touch ID) and that the iPad mini 4 launched in 2015 with an already one year old chip (the A8), I would not expect an iPad mini 5 this year. Apple seems to care less and less about the iPad mini lineup and focus more on the bigger iPads these days but who knows, they might surprise us like they often do.

Anyway, long post but I hope I helped you in making your purchase decision. ;)
 
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Grimrocker01 said:
These guys seem to echo what your saying -http://www.cultofmac.com/389000/ipad-mini-2-value/

What do the other forum members have to add?
Click to expand...

Whats the price of the mini 2 that you are looking at getting. If it is Apples price of $269, for 16gb, I have a better deal for you if you have a Walmart in your area. Currently Walmart has the iPad Air for $249 on clearance and I think it is a good deal. It says pickup only so you should be able to order it online and pick it up at a Walmart near you or call your local Walmart and see if they have it in stock. I think it is a deal because it is $20 less than the mini 2 and you are getting a lot more screen real estate for the value. You said that you would do online video streaming and a bigger screen would be nicer than the mini when watching videos on youtube, etc. The iPad Air has the same internals as the mini 2 but may be a tad bit slower (not much) because of the extra pixels it has to push to the bigger screen. Gaming would also be better because of the bigger screen and I think the speakers might be better than the mini 2 but I am not 100 percent sure on this. Web browsing would be exactly the same as the Mini 2 like iOSUser7 mentioned. I think you should look into this and see if you can pick one up.

Also your mention of iOS updates, In my opinion the Air and mini 2 will get iOS 10. I believe that the iPad 4 and up, iPad mini 2 and up, iPod touch 6, and iPhone 5 and up will all get iOS 10. I believe that iOS 11 or 12 will be the final versions for the mini 2 and Air. In my opinion iOS 11 will be purely 64 bit and will support all devices with a minimum of the A7 processor.
 
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Thanks for your thoughts Jerhen and iOSUser 7.

@Jerhen - I had thoughts of the same, but then I realized I don't need a bigger tablet. I feel the 7.9-inch Mini 2 is just perfect for being portable and one hand use; so I wouldn't lean towards the iPad Air or Air 2.

The only thing scaring me is what iOSUser 7 said - about the Mini 2 only being able to support 2-tabbed browsing. What if I install Chrome browser, will that help?

I really need some Mini 2 owners to come up and give me their opinions.
 
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Grimrocker01 said:
The only thing scaring me is what iOSUser 7 said - about the Mini 2 only being able to support 2-tabbed browsing. What if I install Chrome browser, will that help?
Click to expand...

I never had the mini2, but I had Air1, Air2, and now the 12.9 Pro. So that's 1GB, 2GB and 4GB RAM, respectively. And as the RAM increases, the amount of tabs the device can hold does increase. But since I have pretty fast internet connections, waiting for pages to reload wasn't a problem. The only problem I had was when I wanted to jump between two tabs while trying to input something into one of the tabs, like for example when I'm writing a forum post, and want to find a link to put into the post. That was the only time I found the lack of RAM on the Air1 annoying, as jumping to another tab would cause the other page to refresh, and I would lose my half written post. So if you need to switch back and forth between several tabs while trying to fill out a form or write a post, the lack of RAM in mini2 would be a problem. If not, and you are just reading webpages, then it depends on if your internet connection is fast or not.
 
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Grimrocker01 said:
Thanks for your thoughts Jerhen and iOSUser 7.

@Jerhen - I had thoughts of the same, but then I realized I don't need a bigger tablet. I feel the 7.9-inch Mini 2 is just perfect for being portable and one hand use; so I wouldn't lean towards the iPad Air or Air 2.

The only thing scaring me is what iOSUser 7 said - about the Mini 2 only being able to support 2-tabbed browsing. What if I install Chrome browser, will that help?

I really need some Mini 2 owners to come up and give me their opinions.
Click to expand...
I have a Mini 3 which is the same as a Mini 2 except with Touch ID. Browsing works fine. Yes, pages reload, but this really just isn't as big a problem as some seem to think it is. Chrome won't make a difference as all the iOS browsers use the same Webkit underneath as Safari does.
 
If you're going to pay $269 with tax. Just search eBay for a used mini 4. Their values have plummeted. In fact I have one that I'll be selling soon and I'll be letting it go for around $300.
 
I had a Mini 4 and my girlfriend has a Mini 2. If you can get a great deal on the Mini 2 it's still a very capable device. I did not notice a significantly better browsing experience on the 4 compared to the 2. Yes, if you have a bunch of tabs open you're going to get reloading, but it's still a very snappy, capable tablet. We were all browsing with 1GB of RAM on our iPhones until last fall.
 
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DavidLynch said:
We were all browsing with 1GB of RAM on our iPhones until last fall.
Click to expand...
But we were also all complaining about how the iPhone 6 should have got 2GB of RAM in the first place and how it would be a deal breaker if Apple did not introduced them for the iPhone 6s.
 
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I personally think the build quality of the iPad Mini 2 is not as good as the iPad Mini 4, you can easily press the screen and the LCD panel behind the glass giving that squashed rainbow effect more easily on the Mini 2 then the Mini 4.

If it was me, I think they WILL launch an iPad Mini 5 this year, it will just be a spec bump, so you can wait to see what happens or buy now, if you are buying now though I would see if you can get a deal on the Mini 4, keep an eye on the Apple refurb store, buy second hand.
 
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The price gap between the mini 2 and air 2 is too small in my opinion. The extra $$ for the gains of the Air 2 is worth it. The difference are pretty significant.

And if you're looking used, even better. Grab a mini 4 or air 2.
 
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Newtons Apple said:
Well great for you, being around such complicated friends, but like another said we were all browsing with less that 1GB of RAM for years and years on iPads and iPhones and we all survived. 2GB is nice but is not do or die except for "some";)
Click to expand...

Very true. Most of the tens of millions of iOS devices in active service right now have less than 2GB of RAM. It's not that big a deal for many, if not most, people.
 
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All I can tell you is,I own a Mini 2 that I bought 1.5 years ago,it is now painfull to browse web with it.streaming is fine,but it's low RAM and aging CPU definitely are not upto smooth,pleasant web browsing anymore.
do not listen to fools saying 1GB is fine,it is no longer fine,that's the reason why Apple finally decided to go with 2GB..with 1GB you will suffer.

AVOID.
 
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ColdShadow said:
All I can tell you is,I own a Mini 2 that I bought 1.5 years ago,it is now painfull to browse web with it.streaming is fine,but it's low RAM and aging CPU definitely are not upto smooth,pleasant web browsing anymore.
do not listen to fools saying 1GB is fine,it is no longer fine,that's the reason why Apple finally decided to go with 2GB..with 1GB you will suffer.

AVOID.
Click to expand...
That's what I was trying to explain. I mean if OP would have said "sometimes browsing" or "light browsing" then the mini 2 is more than okay but the fact that he said "lotta browsing" make me think that the iPad mini 2 will be a frustrating browsing experience for him because of that 1GB of RAM. I had the iPad Air 1 before (same specs as the iPad mini 2) and I know how browsing on it was a painful experience.

Video streaming and gaming are perfectly fine for the iPad mini 2 though.
 
ColdShadow said:
All I can tell you is,I own a Mini 2 that I bought 1.5 years ago,it is now painfull to browse web with it.streaming is fine,but it's low RAM and aging CPU definitely are not upto smooth,pleasant web browsing anymore.
do not listen to fools saying 1GB is fine,it is no longer fine,that's the reason why Apple finally decided to go with 2GB..with 1GB you will suffer.

AVOID.
Click to expand...

According to you then most iPads are useless and can no longer be used. LOL!
 
Grimrocker01 said:
Thanks for your thoughts Jerhen and iOSUser 7.

@Jerhen - I had thoughts of the same, but then I realized I don't need a bigger tablet. I feel the 7.9-inch Mini 2 is just perfect for being portable and one hand use; so I wouldn't lean towards the iPad Air or Air 2.

The only thing scaring me is what iOSUser 7 said - about the Mini 2 only being able to support 2-tabbed browsing. What if I install Chrome browser, will that help?

I really need some Mini 2 owners to come up and give me their opinions.
Click to expand...

I'm a 10h/day mini 2 user.
1- You're jocking right? Even the ipad 1 could do that!
2- 3 browsers, 10 tabs each, NO PROBLEM
(may have to reload old tabs above ~5 open pages though)
3- IOS9 latest beta, runs the most demanding games smoothly!

My opinion : best ipad experience ever for amazing price. Buy it already! ;)
 
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iOSUser7 said:
2. Forget about browsing with only 1GB of RAM, it'll be a pain.
Click to expand...

2.1 Forget about nonsensical comments made by strangers on the internet.

Browsing with a mini 2 will work just fine, albeit not as quickly as with a newer iPad.
 
Newtons Apple said:
According to you then most iPads are useless and can no longer be used. LOL!
Click to expand...
They are in use and "useable"..but thats about it..I don't remember saying they all became obsolete all the sudden.
however they are all slow if they run the latest versions of iOS.
They dont deliver a robust,smooth and fast -as they should- anymore.
I don't know why you resist,get over it,1GB in this day and age means poor performance and slow experience.it is very evident whike browsing the web..I have multiple devices and my iPad Mini 2 with just 1 GB is now real pain to use,so slow and annoying not to mention the horrible reloads in safari.thats the reason Apple themselves switched to 2GB on all their devices.
if you don't see slowdown,that simply means you havent used a proper,fast device yet.
 
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