Apple iPad mini with Retina Display: Reviewed
by Anand Lal Shimpi on November 16, 2013 8:00 AM ESTBattery Life
Thanks to the mini’s integrated 23.8Wh battery (and the low idle power of the 28nm A7), the Retina Display’s power consumption is more than offset. Battery life in all of our tests is at worst unchanged from the mini, but at best we’re talking about a 21% increase.
Our web browsing test shows a 10% improvement compared to the original iPad mini. The new mini with Retina Display can even last longer than a 4th generation iPad, and it’s hot on the heels of the iPad Air (I'll be updating this section with LTE and LTE hotspot results).
Video playback is where we see the biggest improvement compared to the original mini. Here the new iPad mini lasts 21% longer on a single charge, once again outlasting even the iPad 4. The iPad Air doesn’t offer any appreciable gain in battery life over the Retina mini.
Our 3D battery life test is the only one where the old mini manages to beat the new Retina model. With a 1.31% margin of victory though, it’s pretty safe to say that for current 3D gaming workloads you’ll see similar battery life out of the Retina mini as the old model. This is also the only test where the iPad Air delivers better battery life on a single charge (~11%).
Apple ships the Retina mini with a 10W USB charger and lightning cable. This appears to be the same charger as what shipped with the 3rd generation iPad (but obviously with a different cable). Using the newer 12W charger from the iPad 4/Air has no impact on charge time as the mini still only draws a maximum of 11.7W at the wall (compared to 13.8W for the iPad Air).
The iPad mini with Retina Display completes a charge from 0 to 100% in a sliver under 4 hours. That’s a little quicker than the iPad Air, and similar to the original mini with its 5W charger.
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Rogess - Saturday, November 16, 2013 - link
Last time I checked China had a population bigger than 1.3 billion. That would account for roughly 18% of the world's population.I agree with your metaphor about luxury cars, however. It's a known fact that you pay premium for an Apple product because it is an luxury item. Often you get the same functionality at a minor price point (just like in the car market). But everyone can decide for themselves if the added bonus like brandname or reliability is worth the price difference.
MarcSP - Saturday, November 16, 2013 - link
I think he ment the rich chinese, not all of them, but yes, it is not so clear, and I would like to konw the source of that info, hehe.sebas4096 - Thursday, December 12, 2013 - link
you only need to check who are the strong buyers: mostly teens but anybody who think apple is like BMW is not ready to discuss like a grown up .BMW builds/design cars in a entire difrent way as mainstream car manufacturers ,justifying the high prices of apple comparing to BMW is insulting cos is a 12year old argument,BMW uses a diffrent technology and materials as well highly trained workers if apple would be doing the same thing the devices would not be manufactured like chicken wings in a chinese factory, i just cant believe somebody older than 20 is using BMW-apple analogy maybe because they dont know what is like to own a bmw, people just buy apple cos is trendy ...products in the same park as BMW dont have the problems as apple period ,neither use deceiving marketing strategies to sell..the antenna problem, scuffgate ,just a joke, apple is the starbucks of gadgets name a problem with defective materials in BMW,audi.. apple will never have the same quality as BMW they will never ship a product being aware is faulty like iphone 5 ,macbooks that crack by itself .rich people just buy it cos they now not many people will get it mostly teens..apple fans will keep dreaming with delusional europeans cars methaphors while they will never have a bmw but they will buy apple BIG LOL
bplewis24 - Saturday, November 16, 2013 - link
I care about quality, which is one of the reasons I buy Android.darkcrayon - Saturday, November 16, 2013 - link
There's a specific "Android" brand that denotes quality?Cptn_Slo - Sunday, November 17, 2013 - link
He must mean samsung,oh wait...
zeagus - Monday, November 18, 2013 - link
HTC stands alone there I think.sebas4096 - Thursday, December 12, 2013 - link
like this" appleinsider.com/articles/12/09/21/some_users_find_scuffs_nicks_on_newly_purchased_iphone_5s , never have seen a bmw with this problem, neither audi or ferrarisorry but scuffgate technology cant be copied only steve knows
zeagus - Monday, November 18, 2013 - link
Hahahhaahaa...RadarTheKat - Monday, November 18, 2013 - link
Plus the mini has a larger display than the Nexus 7. That makes a big difference if you've held them side by side.