iPad Upgrade to Mini 6 or Air 2022? A15 and 4gb vs M1 and 8gb?

[gdourado]

Hello, hope everyone is doing well.
I currently have an iPad mini 5.
I have it since late 2019 and have really enjoyed it.
But as of late, I am no longer happy with the performance.
The iPad doesn’t fell as snappy as it used to and I have plenty of app reloads and tab reloads.
This is making me want to upgrade.
But I am torn between the Mini 6 or an Air 2022. Or even go all out for a Pro m1.
I really enjoy the mini form factor. But at the same time, I fear the a15, and most importantly the 4gb of ram might not cut it from a performance stand point. Mostly in regard to the app and tab reloads, I fear only 1gb extra from my current 3gb of ram might not give that performance boost. Am I thinking this correctly?
How big of a difference does the m1 have in regard to performance?

Thanks!
Cheers!

 

[1BadManVan]

The A15 won't be a limiting factor for awhile but the ram will be. If you're not happy with the mini 5 performance, I would skip the mini 6 and go for the m1 air. M1 is a very overpowered chip in the current state of iPadOS and the 8gb makes it far more future proof. Heck even the A12 isn't really the limiting factor in your use case, its the ram.

I went from a 6th gen base to an 11" M1 pro. I love the pro for the brighter screen and quad speakers as I love streaming Netflix in my kitchen while im cooking etc.

 

[Digitalguy]

Hello, hope everyone is doing well.
I currently have an iPad mini 5.
I have it since late 2019 and have really enjoyed it.
But as of late, I am no longer happy with the performance.
The iPad doesn’t fell as snappy as it used to and I have plenty of app reloads and tab reloads.
This is making me want to upgrade.
But I am torn between the Mini 6 or an Air 2022. Or even go all out for a Pro m1.
I really enjoy the mini form factor. But at the same time, I fear the a15, and most importantly the 4gb of ram might not cut it from a performance stand point. Mostly in regard to the app and tab reloads, I fear only 1gb extra from my current 3gb of ram might not give that performance boost. Am I thinking this correctly?
How big of a difference does the m1 have in regard to performance?

Thanks!
Cheers!

I have the mini 5, but also the M1 and several 4GB iPads. Honestly, CPU-wise the difference between A12 and even M1 is not big, they are both fast, the big difference is reloads, and let me tell you, 4GB fell very much like 3GB on iPadOS 15, it reloads constantly. You'll barely notice an improvement from the mini 5 to the mini 5. If you prefer the mini form factor, just wait next year for the mini 7. I am confident it will have 6GB and I have a 6GB iPad and it's clearly better than 4GB.
If you can't wait till next year, get a M1 air or Pro (but for the pro wait until next month).

 

[rui no onna]

I have the mini 5, but also the M1 and several 4GB iPads. Honestly, CPU-wise the difference between A12 and even M1 is not big, they are both fast, the big difference is reloads, and let me tell you, 4GB fell very much like 3GB on iPadOS 15, it reloads constantly. You'll barely notice an improvement from the mini 5 to the mini 5. If you prefer the mini form factor, just wait next year for the mini 7. I am confident it will have 6GB and I have a 6GB iPad and it's clearly better than 4GB.
If you can't wait till next year, get a M1 air or Pro (but for the pro wait until next month).

Agreed. I have an iPad mini 6 and it reloads a lot. I think one of the webnovel apps I use probably has a memory leak so that one also crashes after a hundred pages or so.

I use the mini 6 as my big iPhone though so right now, I willingly live with the limitations. As soon as a mini with more RAM is released though, I plan on upgrading asap. I’m hoping for 8GB though.

 

[Technerd108]

It depends on your budget and use case. If you use your iPad for streaming and browsing and a few games here and there and don't want to spend laptop money then I think the iPad air 5th gen is a great choice but for it to be a great choice the 64gb is the only one that makes sense.

If you have the budget and feel 64gb is too low then I would certainly get the iPad Pro. There is not a big difference in cost between the 256gb 5th gen air and the IPP and the IPP has a lot of features that I would consider better like the promotion screen and quad speakers.

If you have a lower budget then the base model air 5 is a great choice. I have seen it on sale for $549 or $559 and during the holidays the price might even drop lower. If Apple announces a new IPP for 2022 then you might wait until it is released and buy the 2021 version at a discount.

I would avoid the mini unless you really like the form factor. The M1 and 8gb ram is an amazing combo on an iPad!

 

[azpekt]

Yeah, I too have Mini6 - and RAM is definitely a limiting factor. So I'm waiting for what October brings.

 

[rui no onna]

It depends on your budget and use case. If you use your iPad for streaming and browsing and a few games here and there and don't want to spend laptop money then I think the iPad air 5th gen is a great choice but for it to be a great choice the 64gb is the only one that makes sense.

Lol, my Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 with RTX 3050, 8GB RAM and 256GB SSD cost $549. That one’s actually good for 1080p medium with modern AAA games. 😛

I consider the iPad Air to be in laptop pricing territory.

 

[Technerd108]

Lol, my Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 with RTX 3050, 8GB RAM and 256GB SSD cost $549. That one’s actually good for 1080p medium with modern AAA games. 😛

I consider the iPad Air to be in laptop pricing territory.

I agree but I was able to get a discount/incentive that priced it considerably lower.

But between the mini at $499 and the air at $549 I consider the extra ram, M1 chip and larger screen worth it.

I totally get what you are saying but I am comparing a M1 MBA base model which is on sale usually around $799 and not a windows or Android device.

 

[Digitalguy]

Agreed. I have an iPad mini 6 and it reloads a lot. I think one of the webnovel apps I use probably has a memory leak so that one also crashes after a hundred pages or so.

I use the mini 6 as my big iPhone though so right now, I willingly live with the limitations. As soon as a mini with more RAM is released though, I plan on upgrading asap. I’m hoping for 8GB though.

I am ok with the mini 5 limitations too, I even prefer the form factor. I don't use it much but I wouldn't want to be without it (I use it everyday but only a few minutes a day, not hours like my 12.9).
Personally I won't be upgrading the mini until the battery becomes an issue or it develops some other issues (like my 9.7, which I retired after it developed a screen issue) which hopefully should not happen before the end of the decade. I don't think I'll update it beyond iPadOS 15, I wouldn't like it to have more reloads or even become slower.
I guess by the time I need a new mini 8GB will be there 100%

 

[Username-already-in-use]

Hello, hope everyone is doing well.
I currently have an iPad mini 5.
I have it since late 2019 and have really enjoyed it.
But as of late, I am no longer happy with the performance.
The iPad doesn’t fell as snappy as it used to and I have plenty of app reloads and tab reloads.
This is making me want to upgrade.
But I am torn between the Mini 6 or an Air 2022. Or even go all out for a Pro m1.
I really enjoy the mini form factor. But at the same time, I fear the a15, and most importantly the 4gb of ram might not cut it from a performance stand point. Mostly in regard to the app and tab reloads, I fear only 1gb extra from my current 3gb of ram might not give that performance boost. Am I thinking this correctly?
How big of a difference does the m1 have in regard to performance?

Thanks!
Cheers!

The Mini 6 has great CPU and GPU performance. If you want lots of app and tabs open without reloads, you probably need to look at an M1 machine and its minimum 8GB RAM.

So you’re probably looking at either:
- M1 Air 64GB
- M1 Air 256GB
- M1 Pro 128GB

 

[rui no onna]

The Mini 6 has great CPU and GPU performance. If you want lots of app and tabs open without reloads, you probably need to look at an M1 machine and its minimum 8GB RAM.

So you’re probably looking at either:
- M1 Air 64GB
- M1 Air 256GB
- M1 Pro 128GB

Neither 8GB nor 16GB RAM eliminates reloads entirely. However, it does greatly reduce them.

On 4GB RAM and lower iPads, I could be typing a post on reddit, then open a new tab to search for info or a link I want to add to the post and then when I go back to the reddit tab, the post would be lost.

Mind, this only became an issue on 4GB starting on iPadOS 13 (exacerbated in 15). On iOS 12, 4GB was pretty good.

While there are still a few reloads on 16GB, I’ve never had it on tabs I’m actively switching between. Usually, reloads only happen on tabs that have been left in the background for a long time.

 

[Username-already-in-use]

Neither 8GB nor 16GB RAM eliminates reloads entirely. However, it does greatly reduce them.

Yes they are greatly reduced. Reloads are so rare on my 16GB M1 Pro that when I get one it’s a novelty: ”oh wow, a reload”.

 

[Digitalguy]

Neither 8GB nor 16GB RAM eliminates reloads entirely. However, it does greatly reduce them.

On 4GB RAM and lower iPads, I could be typing a post on reddit, then open a new tab to search for info or a link I want to add to the post and then when I go back to the reddit tab, the post would be lost.

Mind, this only became an issue on 4GB starting on iPadOS 13 (exacerbated in 15). On iOS 12, 4GB was pretty good.

While there are still a few reloads on 16GB, I’ve never had it on tabs I’m actively switching between. Usually, reloads only happen on tabs that have been left in the background for a long time.

The reason for reloads "on tabs that have been left in the background for a long time" is that "optimization" does not only eject stuff from RAM due to how much is in RAM, but because of battery life. Thing that stay in RAM consume battery and at some point, contrary to a desktop OS, a mobile OS will clean them from RAM. On iPadOS there is no way of stopping this. Samsung instead gives you the option to exclude some apps from optimization (some people call this "peg to RAM").

 

[VaruLV]

If Air isn't too big for you since you mentioned Mini, then M1 8GB all the way.