Everyone is WRONG about the NEW iPad mini A17 Pro…
NEW iPad mini A17 Pro…
Let’s break this open - what’s in the box - iPad mini in that faint, faint purple, a cable, and… wait no charger? Oh, That’s right I’m in the UK, so we don’t get one. And everyone will be outraged, I’m sure.
Honestly, I wanted one of these since the last generation launched with this redesign, the slab sides and somehow a bigger display in what certainly feels like a smaller enclosure. Plus, it only weighs about 50g ,more than the iPhone 16 pro Max, which is my new daily driver. And of course, many people will call me daft for having the huge iPhone and tiny iPad combo, but you know what? 6.9” vs 8.3” doesn’t tell the actual story, because, and I can’t say this passionately enough… Aspect ratio is a thing. While the Pro Max actually now has a taller display than the iPad is wide, the iPad mini has almost twice the display area, at 20335 vs 11925 mm2.
In landscape mode, which Apple perhaps finds slightly less ideal than with the other iPads based on the fact its the only one with a FaceTime camera on the short side, it feels like three iPhones side by side for context. And yet, the iPad mini fits in my jacket inside pocket with ease, which you absolutely can’t say for the rest of the range.
And that display seems to be the most controversial part of the new iPad mini. Did Apple fix the Jelly Scroll issue that plagued the last version? Well, reports are mixed. Some say yes, it’s gone, others say it’s definitely still here. Well, I can say, finally without a shadow of a doubt… I couldn’t see it on the last version either. So… Sorry? If it helps I can’t see 120hz refresh rates either, so I guess I’m useless, but, it also means the 60hz display here is fine by me too. And the 500 nits display? Well, we’re past the summer now and it’s been all good by me outside so far, but I’ll let you know next summer. Though I’m in the UK so I’ll have to try not to miss that day for testing.
The one thing that I can’t quite get used to is the placement of the volume buttons being on the short edge along from the Touch ID sensor - it just feels odd, though I see why they did it - Needing the space for an Apple Pencil to dock and because that Apple Pencil is basically the same length as the device itself.
The chip inside is last year’s iPhone 15 Pro powering A17 Pro - a slightly binned version with 1 fewer graphics cores for a total of 5, but those five feel FANTASTIC in iPad mini, I played my first game of COD mobile after installing it and immediately got MVP, so lets just say this thing is in no way lagging behind. Plus, the A17 Pro supports hardware raytracing on the chip, so we’re going to get some great looking games on here - I’m a big fan of games like the XCom series and I’ll be testing out all the Warhammer games for my second channel iCaveGames so if that’s a thing you’re into, hit subscribe both here AND there. Dirty filthy plug I know, but if you don’t ask, you don’t get.
Now I’ve been a proponent for Making iPad iPad again for a long while and I’m certainly not a fan of Apple’s Magic Keyboard, at least from a financial perspective, and they’re also hella heavy, but I do acknowledge that occasionally, people like to type. So I picked up this little folding guy from Amazon for about £20, the tiny little trackpad supports gestures too, although at the moment, I have to hold shift when hitting enter to start a new line. It’s mildly confusing, but I have a feeling there’s some setting I need to switch over and we’ll be fine. I’ve also thrown on a JTech folding folio and a matte screen protector, simply because I prefer that finish on the display and I’m not convinced how much different the Paperlike covers that are always all over YouTube would be.
So my hope is that iPad mini will be enough for when I’m out and about. My new everyday carry, and it turns out that Final Cut for iPad IS supported - even though originally it wouldn’t be, though there’s a couple of features that aren’t included - so I guess we should give that a try too. Let me know anything else you’d like to see me try out with this thing down in the comments, thanks to the Patreons and I’ll see you in the next one!https://www.icavedave.com/riverside
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