Apple iPad mini with Retina Display: Reviewed
by Anand Lal Shimpi on November 16, 2013 8:00 AM ESTThe Display
The big story behind the new iPad mini is of course its 7.85-inch Retina Display. We’re talking about the same 2048 x 1536 resolution as the iPad Air, but in a much smaller form factor. The result is the highest pixel density of any Apple display ships today, tying with the iPhone 5S. The impact on the overall experience is pretty significant. Text is obviously a lot sharper, but even graphics are a lot nicer to look at on the new Retina Display. The gains aren't quite as obvious as they were on the larger iPad, but after living with the Retina mini for a while I can't easily go back to the previous version.
iPad mini (left) vs. iPad mini with Retina Display (right)
I ran Marco Arment's image retention test on the Retina mini and didn't see even the slightest degree of image retention. My old, non-Retina iPad mini on the other hand exhibited image retention. I suspect Apple is multi-sourcing its displays here, which could obviously contribute to varied behavior. At least on the two minis I have, image retention isn't an issue.
In the conclusion of my iPad Air review I wrote about the new mini as finally being a no-compromises smaller iPad. Much like my assertions last year of a Retina mini not being in the cards, it turns out that I was wrong on this point as well. Although display resolution is no longer a concern on the mini, color gamut hasn’t changed between the old and new minis. A quick look at our gamut test gives us an idea of what’s going on:
The iPad mini with Retina Display has the same color gamut as the standard iPad mini, which is narrower than the iPad Air and less than the sRGB coverage we normally look for. The biggest issue here is that there are other smaller tablets in this price range that do offer sRGB coverage (e.g. Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HDX 8.9).
I suspect the justification here is Apple likely views the bigger iPad as being a better fit for photographers/those who care about color reproduction, but it’s a shame that this is a tradeoff that exists between the two iPads especially given how good Apple is about sRGB coverage in nearly all of its other displays.
One of the simplest visual tests is to use one of iOS 7’s more colorful wallpapers and compare the Retina mini and iPad Air side by side:
Pay attention to the color of the red triangles in the lower left
From left to right: iPad Air, iPad mini with Retina Display, iPad mini
The difference is small but apparent, particularly if you’re used to panels with full sRGB coverage like the iPad Air or any of the rMBPs/iMacs. The biggest deviations are in reds/blues and magenta in between as you can tell from the CIE chart above.
Within its gamut coverage, the mini’s panel is fairly accurate. A look at our GMB checker test shows performance competitive with the Nexus 7 and not far off the 4th generation iPad. Grayscale reproduction is also quite good. The display looks really good otherwise, but you don’t get the same visual punch you do on the iPad Air.
Compared to the previous generation mini we’re obviously talking about a much better panel. But for those of you on the fence between the mini and Air, the Air does still hold a display advantage.
Black levels are competitive and contrast ratio stays fixed at around 800:1 regardless of whether we’re talking about max brightness or the 200 nits we run all of our battery life tests at. Max brightness is down a bit compared to the iPad Air.
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R0H1T - Sunday, November 17, 2013 - link
Too bad Apple fanbois need to be spoon-fed by this site & dozens like this one in order for'em to make an informed decision "to buy or not to buy" the latest iToy out in the market ):akdj - Sunday, November 17, 2013 - link
Sadly DBags like you wade though the review, 178 replies, and take the time to spew such drivel ONLY because your mother said "Hell No I'm not buying you one!! Get out. Get a job...buy one YOURSELF!"News. Flash. R0H1T....the iPad is no 'toy'. You certainly reveal your 12 maybe 13 year old age by calling it such. What was only a decade ago, even five years ago available only in lap or desktop form with two hours of batter life and spinning hard drives with less than a quarter the resolution has now become ubiquitous. Common place....and in many cases the ONLY computer many people need. Go on....feed you spider. Someday you'll be able to have one too
Grow. Up.
reggjoo1 - Sunday, November 17, 2013 - link
Let me get this out of the way, I think apple makes great tablets, but I won't leave android for ios. The Ipad mini, sounds great, and advances the game, hardware, and performance wise. I like android over ios, because you can make your device, your device. I can adjust how the memory performs, set permissions for my apps, change the look, and feel to my liking, etc.. Even if I see someone with the same model, brand, I know my android, is uniquely my own, you can't do that with apple, I like a os setup just for me, and look the way i want. Give apple it's props, but it's just not for me. In a few months, someone will come out with something anyway, I like the competition in mobile.tytung - Monday, November 18, 2013 - link
Easy, just jailbreak it, or wait until there's a jailbreak.hlovatt - Sunday, November 17, 2013 - link
Great review and amazingly quick after the device went on sale, it really must take a lot of time and effort to so comprehensively test a device. Great work.Pity that the iHater brigade are posting on AnandTech, the comments used to be so much more insightful. Rather than saying that Anand is biased for pointing out that 'a Nexus 7 isn't as good but is cheaper', it would benefit people who want to buy an Android tablet to say great product this is what I want for the next iteration of the Nexus. Competition is good, don't kill it.
Another alternative is that these people are paid to post negative comments on all good Apple reviews. If they are paid negative comments I hope they get found out and kicked off. That way we can all enjoy our geeking out without the painfully biased comments.
psyside1 - Sunday, November 17, 2013 - link
So this is why Nexus 5 review is not yet done, now its all clear.hlovatt - Sunday, November 17, 2013 - link
I think you are demonstrating that you are a one eyed iHater, e.g. in this very forum people are asking where reviews of the Apple MacBook Pro are. Does that make the site Dell biased? No, AnandTech have finite resources and such quality reviews take time so they unfortunately can't do everything and have to prioritise. Presumably they also rely on supply of product to review, they couldn't possibly afford to purchase everything they review.psyside1 - Sunday, November 17, 2013 - link
They cant afford? LOL!!!!!beggerking@yahoo.com - Monday, November 18, 2013 - link
exactly! i was wondering why Nexus 5 was not up while the the AIr went up the same day it was released.chubbypanda - Tuesday, November 19, 2013 - link
I'm afraid it's Brian, not Anand, who's working on Nexus 5 review.