Marvellous mini
Nearly a decade since its 2012 debut, the iPad mini gets its first significant hardware redesign.
The iPad mini recently received its most significant visual redesign at the California Streaming Apple Event on September 14, 2021. Featuring new chips, ports, cameras, and an entirely new case design, this iPad mini looks starkly different from any iPad mini Apple has released since 2012. I've had over a week to play around with the device and wanted this entry to serve as my initial impressions and thoughts on Apple’s pint-sized iPad.
I was expecting the iPad mini to get an update in 2021 and had determined that I would likely purchase it whenever it was announced. What I was not expecting was to see it updated at this event! There were rumours of a redesign for 2021, but I hadn't read anything that suggested the mini would drop in mid-September. The mini's surprise release rekindled the delight unspoiled announcements can bring, a rare treat in an ecosystem regularly flooded with leaks & speculation.
This is the 6th iteration of the iPad mini since it debuted back in 2012. Unlike many of Apple's other products, the mini has had a very irregular update cycle of late, with updates last seen in 2019 & 2015.
12:22 - September 14, 2021
Not more than three minutes after the Apple Event ended had I made my way through the checkout process and had secured a launch day Starlight iPad mini with Dark Cherry Folio. I was over the moon. More than any other product or service announced, this was the highlight of the event!
09:21 - September 24, 2021
The week sluggishly rolled by, but September 24 finally arrived. But at 09:21, I could hear the unmistakable rumble of the UPS truck pulling up to my home (Apple fans have an ear for these things). Package secured, plastic wrap removed, the lid lifted, and... "ooOOOOOoo!" That's right, my first impression of the iPad mini was an audible sound of delight. I was smitten!
After the 'ooOOOOOoo.'
I was immediately enamoured with the iPad mini's diminutive form. I have a certain association for what an 'iPad' is & does, and holding one this small & distilled, imagining all the possibilities for this device, was very exciting. A few notable features stood out within the first few minutes of use:
Size: Although the top and bottom bezels have been significantly reduced, this iPad is volumetrically very similar to the outgoing 5th generation iPad mini, and features only 7% more pixels than its predecessor. But looking at this mini, I would've sworn it was substantially smaller and that the screen was significantly larger. This effect was achieved by Apple carefully playing with the product's dimensions:
Unifying the width of the bezels around the mini
Increasing the height of the display, and
Narrowing the width of the display ever so slightly
A comparison of a Silver iPad Pro under the Starlight iPad mini.
Starlight: I chose the Starlight colour for my mini, which was one of the new colours Apple introduced in place of their traditional silver across many of their products this year. While some reviews spoke about this colour being silver mixed with a gold or champagne hue, that description exaggerates the hue to my eye. On its own, it registers as a warm silver colour, and it's only when juxtaposed against a silver iPad that the warm yellow tones are expressed. Before receiving the iPad, I was beginning to get concerned that it would look too 'goldish,' but once I laid eyes on it, I found my concerns were unfounded. It's a beautiful colour. If Apple plans to transition their product lineup to this new colour, ala "Starlight is the new Silver," it has my enthusiastic support.
Day to Day mini
Much like the original iPad was introduced intending to be better at the tasks it does than either an iPhone or a Mac, in my case, the iPad mini needed to serve a distinct purpose amongst my regular-sized iPad, iPhone, and Mac, without one device cannibalizing the other.
eReader
The most obvious justification I could give for the iPad mini was to serve dutifully as an eReader. In August of 2020, I wrote about transitioning from the iPad to a Kindle for an easier reading, worry-free experience. That experiment hasn't panned out the way I was hoping, and my use of the Kindle as a reading device hasn't lived up to the expectations I had for it. By no means was it a bad device, I just found that my reading breakdown continues to be 75% newspapers/long-form articles, 25% eBooks, and that ratio didn't allow the Kindle to get as much use as it deserved. Transitioning back to the iPad mini will keep me on a device that more naturally fits my reading habits at the moment. I currently use News+ and Reeder and average to get through 3-10 articles a day, so anything more portable and compact for that purpose is welcomed.
Tip: One of the features I relished about the Kindle was it's concentrated reading experience. My own self-discipline be damned, I set up a Reading Focus in iOS 15 to help limit apps like twitter and Instagram and to curtail the notifications I receive.
Home Hub
Another use case of the iPad mini is as a mini home hub, very much akin to a Nest Hub or Echo Show. This can include tasks as varied as finding the exact album you want to AirPlay to the HomePod, checking the forecast, viewing reminders, and running Home automations without invoking Siri. These have always been regular uses of my iPad, but are made more convenient with the minis smaller form factor. If Apple ever decides to venture into the home hub marketplace and create an iPad mini-sized display + integrated speaker (at a reasonable cost), I think they could have a real winner on their hands.
Gaming
Another use case for the mini has been as a device for casual gaming. My iPad Air can feel too big, the iPhone too small, but the mini feels just right holding for extended periods and playing casual games.
A Few More Observations
More Inviting
Dieter Bohn pointed out in his review that holding the iPad naturally positions the user into a more inviting pose than if they were hunched over a phone. I agree with his assessment and see it as a significant social benefit of the mini: using a device in contexts when I want to give the impression that I am open to the world around me.
Display
I will concede that the spacing between the vertical bezel and the icons is a bit ridiculous on the new iPad mini, resulting in the home screen where the icons look oddly compressed compared to any other iPad.
I'm also happy that I either haven't noticed or appear to have avoided the current jelly scrolling issue with my iPad mini. There was the briefest of moments when I thought about recording my screen in slow motion to see if my panel produced the effect, but I felt that it would be better to live in ignorance; why make something an issue when it wasn't something I had noticed to begin with. Your mileage will vary, but this seems like a minor/non-issue for most users and use cases.
90% Consumption
Over a week into using the iPad mini, it has adopted the the role as my goto consumption device. Reading? mini. Doom scrolling? mini. Checking Mail, weather, sports scores, or Messages? mini. I haven't been using the iPad mini for much content creation, and I doubt I will. It'll do in a pinch, but once it comes to composing or interacting more heavily with content, my preferences shift towards using my larger devices.
In Sum
The iPad mini was an exercise of conspicuous consumption. I didn't need it. Nevertheless, I am really enjoying my purchase and imagine years of use from the device. It's a powerful and pocketable device that enhances and makes more convenient many of my day-to-day routines. And as an iPad, it gives me access to the most powerful tablet apps in the most compact package (knowing I could use this mini to work in Lumafusion or Affinity Photo is pretty sweet).
If you're considering this iPad, think carefully about how you hope it'll enhance your workflow. If this tablet isn’t well integrated into your day-to-day routine, it risks the potential of being underused if you’re intentions for this device is not thoughtfully plotted out. But if you do that little bit of legwork, you'll end up with a device that'll bring you a lot of joy and convenience for years to come.
