Apple iPad mini with Retina Display: Reviewed
by Anand Lal Shimpi on November 16, 2013 8:00 AM ESTFinal Words
When I concluded our iPad Air review I assumed the iPad mini with Retina Display was a true no-compromise, smaller alternative to the iPad Air. In many senses that’s true. Wireless connectivity is identical between the models, battery life is pretty much the same as well. Peak performance is close and you no longer have to accept a lower resolution display. Last year’s iPad mini was easy to recommend, and this year’s is even easier. To my surprise however, the iPad Air continues to hold some advantages that may resonate well with some users.
The biggest in my eyes is the iPad Air’s wider gamut display with full sRGB coverage. The mini’s Retina Display is good, the Air’s is just better. There’s also more thermal headroom on the iPad Air, which can come in handy if you’re doing compute intensive work on it. If neither of those things matters to you, then the decision becomes one of usage model and portability. I believe the iPad Air does a better job of approximating a primary computing device, particularly in its ability to give you a reasonable sized virtual keyboard to work on. The iPad mini on the other hand is substantially more portable. Although the iPad Air is light enough to come along with me more than any prior iPad, the mini’s form factor makes it even more likely that’ll I’ll bring it with me (the best tablet is the one you have with you?).
As much as I prefer the iPad Air’s display and as much as I love having more performance, I’d probably lean towards the mini personally. The lower weight and smaller form factor are just tough to give up. Apple could’ve made the decision a lot easier by giving the mini true display parity with the Air though.
The mini with Retina Display sits at an interesting point in Apple's iPad lineup. Priced at $399, the higher-end mini is priced identically to the iPad 2 - which Apple continues to sell. I honestly can't see a situation outside of having poor vision where I'd recommend the iPad 2 over the iPad mini with Retina Display.
If you're on the fence about upgrading from an older iPad (or even the first gen mini), the iPad mini with Retina Display is a tempting target. Compared to virtually all previous iPads you're going to notice a substantial increase in performance thanks to Apple's A7 SoC. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that the performance improvement over the previous generation mini (featuring Apple's A5) can be just as noticeable of an uprade as the display. The new mini is a leap forward in performance compared to its predecessor.
While Apple has the 10-inch tablet market more or less locked up with the iPad Air, the mini faces stiff competition. The biggest comes from Google with the $229 2013 Nexus 7. You get an incredibly affordable device and a display with full sRGB gamut. What the mini offers is a faster SoC, a wider display (a Nexus 8 would be nice) and of course, iOS. I’ve heard varying opinions on iOS vs. Android when talking about tablet or smartphone use. Some users prefer Android on one and iOS on the other, vice versa or find themselves exclusively in one camp. This one is best left up to personal preference. At $229 the Nexus 7 is a great option. If you prefer iOS however, the iPad mini with Retina Display is quite nice. The price hike vs. the standard mini can be a tough pill to swallow, but the A7 and display are definitely worth it.
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allanwood - Sunday, November 17, 2013 - link
I just checked the iPad Mini w/ Retina at the store yesterday, and it doesn't have a bonded display, just like the first mini.The easiest way to check for a space between the LCD and cover glass is to look at a reflection of a light in the screen at an angle. If you see a strong reflection and a weaker one, it has a gap. One strong reflection means it doesn't.
Spoony - Monday, November 18, 2013 - link
I am quite sure that the original Mini had optically bonded glass and panel. Multiple technical publications including this one I believe have stated that the originally Mini is that way. Additionally, my limited in-person experience with the Mini have definitely shown it to be bonded.allanwood - Monday, November 18, 2013 - link
Nope. This is from DisplayMate:"The Kindle Fire HD and and Nexus 7 both have their Cover Glass bonded directly to the LCD so there is no Air Gap like on the iPad mini, which has 3 widely separated reflections. The lack of an Air Gap helps to reduce the Reflectance for Ambient Light."
versesuvius - Saturday, November 16, 2013 - link
Apple is the company of few products and huge resources, with a brand name to boot (as in it will be bought no matter what). There are other companies with the same level or resources but they make many products. Samsung produces hundreds, perhaps thousands of individual products. Hundreds of phones. Apple produces one at a time. Nothing wrong with that, but while there is nothing that Samsung can learn from Apple, smaller companies could learn a lot from Apple. The way technology is advancing and getting cheap to the point of irrelevance, those companies could sink deadly bites into Apple, to the benefit of all around the world.KPOM - Saturday, November 16, 2013 - link
Nice review as always. Thanks for confirming our suspicions about the color gamut. I have both the Air and retina mini right now and noticed a difference. I think I'll still keep the mini and return the Air, though. The portability trounces the display difference for me.I have noticed that both the Air and the Retina Mini seem twitchy with my Sprint Aircard (Sierra Wireless 803s). It is somewhat moot for me as I bought the LTE versions, but I noticed this behavior with two different iPad Airs and the retina mini. It struggles to connect in the first place, and frequently disconnects. I did not notice this at all with the previous mini, and when I tested it with the iPhone 5s it seemed to work fine. I suspect an incompatibility somewhere as both an extended chat session and Genius Bar trip couldn't resolve the issue (we tried numerous different rested and setting changes). I haven't tried it with the wifi-only version, but I'm curious if this is a larger issue and/or something that can be resolved through firmware. I also noticed the Air had a harder time than my PC at connecting to a hotel wifi network but it eventually did (I'll experiment with the mini next week). I haven't noticed any issues connecting to Apple Airport-driven wifi networks but still need to test it with non-Apple routers.
KPOM - Saturday, November 16, 2013 - link
Are there other reasons why Apple might have chosen a lower gamut display? Does it impact battery life or is it cheaper to produce? Or is it just one more reason to try to up sell the pricier Air model?Aenean144 - Saturday, November 16, 2013 - link
Yield would be my bet.Morawka - Saturday, November 16, 2013 - link
i'm guessing nobody could make this panel but sharp, since they own IGZO tech. Then again,color could be off because the glue is still wet lol......nunomoreira10 - Saturday, November 16, 2013 - link
The gamut is generally depended on the leds used in the baclight.higher gamut leds are less eficient and more expensive then lower gamut leds, so its a trade-off between battery life and quality.
Morawka - Saturday, November 16, 2013 - link
What do you know? anand doing another apple review.