Hey guys, whatsup, welcome back to the channel. So today we’re going to be talking about the new
iPad mini which was released this week. Personally this was probably my favourite
update from Apple’s latest September event and probably the product that has had the
biggest upgrade in terms of value for money. I actually had an iPad mini a few years ago
really annoyingly though I actually left it on a plane and never saw it again so
I’m pretty excited to be using one again. It was just by far my favourite tablet
because of the compact form factor, it was basically a more advance Kindle that you
could hold easily in one hand when you’re on the tube or basically when you’re travelling
it’s the perfect size to take with you if you don’t want to carry around the larger iPad Pro.
So what I’ve got here is the Space Grey wifi only base model version with
64GB of storage which starts at $499 or £479. You can also configure this up to 256GB storage
and of course add cellular / data connection as well if you want that. I’ve said this
before on the channel but personally I don’t see the point in paying for
a separate data tariff for your iPad when you can just weather from your smartphone.
Anyway it also comes in 3 new colours Purple, Pink and Starlight with of course the usual Space Grey
that by now we’re very familiar with from apple. I have to say the purple colour does look really
cool but I’m personally not a huge fan of the new pink and starlight colours.
It’s a shame in a way you can’t get the same colours you can for the iPad Air
because there’s a bit more choice with those and they look really cool.
I also kind of wish they gave you the option of having the new Sierra blue colour on the iPhone 13
Pro. Btw if you want to watch my first impressions and unboxing of that then have a look here.
In terms of the unboxing experience it’s actually
pretty simple but as ever with apple it’s always an absolute joy to open.
So in the box you obviously get the iPad itself with the protective paper over it. Just in case
some of you don’t realise this is actually paper and not plastic which is great because it makes
it 100% recyclable which is pretty cool. Also in the box you get the usb-c to usb-c
cable as well as the usual instructions and stickers which match the colour of the device.
And of course as we’ve come to expect now, no power brick in the box.
So let’s just peel this off now so we can have a look.
In terms of the re-design of the mini it’s essentially now got the iPad Pro
squared-off edge design language that we first saw in the iPhone 4.
And I absolutely love the look of it. It’s essentially now a smaller iPad Air which is great.
The size is actually the same as the previous iPad mini but with a larger Liquid Retina display
which is now 8.3 inches compared to the previous 7.1 inches.
The bezel’s around the screen still look quite thick but that’s actually a deliberate choice
from apple so you can still grip the sides of the iPad without touching the screen.
There’s also now Touch ID which is great which sits at the top along with the volume buttons.
And it looks like they’ve done this to make room for the 2nd generation Apple Pencil
which you can just snap onto the side like the pro models, so that’s pretty cool.
On the bottom you’ll notice there’s now a USB-c port instead of lightning which is great. It’s
kind of hard to believe that the lightning port is still around and I really hope at some stage
apple will get rid of it from the iPhones as well. That being said this is only a USB-C port and not
a Thunderbolt port like we have on the pro models or the MacBooks but it’s still a huge improvement.
On the back you’ll notice a new 12MP camera and this is actually the first iPad mini with
a camera bump. And there’s also an updated 12MP ultra wide on the front incase you’re
someone that uses your iPad for filming things. In terms of other features and updates the new
mini actually has the A15 bionic chip which is the same as what’s in the new iPhone 13 so you should
have no issues with speed or the snappiness of the display. It’s actually 40% faster CPU and 80%
faster GPU since the previous iPad mini. Aside from that the iPad mini also now supports
5G if you buy the cellular version and of course also now supports wifi 6.
So guys in summary though I’m a huge fan of this new iPad mini,
it’s been awesome for note taking, watching videos, just having lying around the house,
reading and it’s also been great for gaming. In fact when it comes to gaming I could see this
form factor being an interesting competitor to the new OLED Nintendo Switch when that comes out.
I’ll be doing a video on that soon so stay posted for that.
Overall though, I think this is the most exciting product as part of the September event
and I think it’s going to be a really popular device alongside the iPad Air and the iPad Pro.
One question you might be asking yourself is whether you should be getting one of these
or the iPad Air and to keep things super simple I think ultimately it comes down to
the size that you want and also your budget. If you want something ultra portable with all
the power of apples latest tablets then this is probably a great option for commuting,
travelling or using at home as a smart hub controller in your kitchen.
If you want something a little larger a maybe more reminiscent of a piece of paper then I’d
probably recommend the air or the pro over this. To be honest I kind of wish you could use this
as my car screen because the one in my car sucks, but daly you can’t get CarPlay
on iPads which is kind of annoying. Also at $499 this is now a really good
entry level iPad that has pretty much all the features of the air, so that’s also a really
great price if you’re on a tight budget. So guy’s that’s it for this video.
Remember to watch my iPhone 13 video for my thoughts on that
and also to subscribe to the channel if you enjoyed the video as it really helps me out.
Thanks again for watching and I’ll see you guys next time.