iPad mini Review
by Anand Lal Shimpi & Vivek Gowri on November 20, 2012 6:10 PM ESTWiFi Performance
The mini uses the same Broadcom BCM4334 WiFi controller as the iPhone 5. The WiFi stack supports dual-band 802.11n as well as fallback to 802.11b/g.
iPad mini WiFi controller - image courtesy iFixit
Since the mini uses the same WiFi stack as the iPhone 5, you get support for 40MHz channels on 5GHz networks (20MHz on 2.4GHz). The maximum PHY rate supported is 72Mbps on 2.4GHz and a whopping 150Mbps on 5GHz.
In terms of actual performance, this works out to be a maximum of just under 100Mbps on a 5GHz network with 40MHz channels. In practice I wasn't able to get higher than 91Mbps, although Brian managed a very nice 95.7Mbps on the iPhone 5 in his tests. On average I pulled nearly 78Mbps on the mini on a 5GHz network. Move down to 2.4GHz and performance is cut roughly in half (peak performance is around 41Mbps).
I didn't have any issues with WiFi reception or performance in my testing of the iPad mini. The only complaint I really have at this point is I would love to see more intelligence when it comes to switching between multiple known APs of varying signal strengths. This is a problem on pretty much all devices I play with, they tend to want to stay on an existing network even if its performance drops significantly and there is another, better performing network that could be jumped to. I feel like some more intelligence in this department (testing nearby networks, looking for an ability to seamlessly switch and get better performance) would help mitigate a lot of the inevitable "hey my WiFi is broken" complaints we often see with a move to a new WiFi stack. You could also argue that we just need better designed WiFi deployments.
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Anand Lal Shimpi - Tuesday, November 20, 2012 - link
That's not exactly true, the iPad mini was launched nearly a month ago, our review of it is very late. In the interim I have published articles on Intel's SSD DC S3700, Microsoft's Surface, the Titan Supercomputer at ORNL and Samsung's Cortex A15 based Chromebook.Take care,
Anand
Alucard291 - Wednesday, November 21, 2012 - link
No offence but you could have just said - "same soc as ipad 2. Same display as ipad 2 except smaller so pixels are slightly denser Its lighter than ipad 2 and has the same form factor but smaller."There I wrote the review for you.
Instead you guys put out this monster - showing tests? Of the same soc? Again?
Well one more review site feels the need to get some apple advertisement revenue.
And I approve how you compared it to mini cooper. Yeah great comparison especially since mini cooper is a car for people who can't afford a decent one but really want to seem cool...
So yeah. What makes this product great is the apple logo on the back. As usual.
Jakers Ugly Brother - Thursday, November 22, 2012 - link
It would be so nice to read one single tech thread without running into a paranoid "Oh noes another site has sold out to Apple" screed like yours.But no, you haters have to spread your sick, sad bile across everything you see.
Thanks for lowering the signal to noise ratio of yet another comment section.
ltcommanderdata - Tuesday, November 20, 2012 - link
Anandtech's Microsoft Surface review was up 3 days before the device was on sale and their Windows RT review was up the day before it shipped. The iPad Mini review comes 18 days after the tablet went on sale and they aren't or haven't yet done an iPad 4 (18+ days) or 5th gen iPod Touch (36+ days) review. From this you conclude that Apple reviews get done right away and Microsoft reviews take forever?Ryan already explained why they aren't doing a massive review for Windows 8 and are doing more focused articles instead, which doesn't seem unreasonable.
blacksamurai30 - Wednesday, November 21, 2012 - link
I don't see the reasoning behind your dissapointment. I've been reading for years (despite my only just making an account haha); they are easily the most informative on the internet. The crew here does stellar indepth reviews for pretty much everything. Don't use your own personal misgivings against Apple in an attempt to discredit the hard work that goes into reviewing these products, or the invaluable service it does for the internet and consumer knowledge.Keep up the good work Anandtech!
Anand Lal Shimpi - Tuesday, November 20, 2012 - link
Wow, honest mistake, let me reshoot that real quick. I shot that before I left for SC12 and didn't catch it in my final assembly of the article today.If anything, the photo I posted is contrary to the point I make in the text above. Things are bigger on the iPad compared to the Nexus 7.
Give me a few and I'll get a better photo up.
Take care,
Anand
Kepe - Tuesday, November 20, 2012 - link
The same thing happened in two pictures. On pages 4 and 11, although that's the same image file.http://images.anandtech.com/reviews/tablets/apple/...
Anand Lal Shimpi - Tuesday, November 20, 2012 - link
Fixed in both places. Thank you!seanleeforever - Tuesday, November 20, 2012 - link
and now you have to update the tags..for example. the last page, ipad mini is actually on the right. i am sure no one would mistaken those two, but still.
Anand Lal Shimpi - Tuesday, November 20, 2012 - link
Fixed. The black mini wasn't mine so I no longer had that for comparison, had to use the white model for this shot - but I hope this better shows the difference. I also exported the full size shots at 2800px wide if you want to get a better, up-close look between the N7 and iPad mini.I included two shots on the display page, but here's a link to all 4 I just took:
http://images.anandtech.com/reviews/tablets/apple/...
http://images.anandtech.com/reviews/tablets/apple/...
http://images.anandtech.com/reviews/tablets/apple/...
http://images.anandtech.com/reviews/tablets/apple/...
Take care,
Anand