New Ipad mini?

J

JOhnH

Touchdown! Greaser!
Joined
May 20, 2009
Messages
14,192
Location
Florida
Display Name
Display name:
Right Seater
It's often asked if/when Apple may announce a new Ipad Mini.

When is still a mystery, but "if" appears to be YES.
Apple will reportedly release an updated iPad mini and the 11th generation iPad, the latter of which will allow the company to phase out the ninth generation version that still has a home button. The report did not specify the timetable on those releases.
Click to expand...
www.cnbc.com

Apple reportedly plans big overhaul to iPad family to make it less confusing

Apple is working on cleaning up its slate of iPads to make the product options less confusing for customers, according to a Bloomberg report.
www.cnbc.com www.cnbc.com
 
macrumors.com

Should You Buy an iPad mini?​

The iPad mini is Apple's smallest tablet device and the latest model features a slim-bezeled design, the A15 Bionic chip, a USB-C port, Apple and Pencil 2 support.
Introduced in September 2021, the iPad mini is one of the oldest iPads in Apple's lineup and it is approaching the end of its product cycle. Apple does not seem to update the iPad mini regularly, leaving up to two and a half years between upgrades. A new model is expected in March 2024. As the iPad mini is now 18 months old and work on a new model is underway, those who want the latest hardware should wait for a refresh to buy.
We are not expecting major design changes to be introduced with the next iPad mini refresh, and Apple will likely focus on introducing a new chip and perhaps adding other minor tweaks to the camera. For this reason, if you need an iPad mini now and don't care about having the latest technology, now is still an okay time to buy.
 
BillTIZ said:
macrumors.com

Should You Buy an iPad mini?​

The iPad mini is Apple's smallest tablet device and the latest model features a slim-bezeled design, the A15 Bionic chip, a USB-C port, Apple and Pencil 2 support.
Introduced in September 2021, the iPad mini is one of the oldest iPads in Apple's lineup and it is approaching the end of its product cycle. Apple does not seem to update the iPad mini regularly, leaving up to two and a half years between upgrades. A new model is expected in March 2024. As the iPad mini is now 18 months old and work on a new model is underway, those who want the latest hardware should wait for a refresh to buy.
We are not expecting major design changes to be introduced with the next iPad mini refresh, and Apple will likely focus on introducing a new chip and perhaps adding other minor tweaks to the camera. For this reason, if you need an iPad mini now and don't care about having the latest technology, now is still an okay time to buy.
Click to expand...
I'm on an iPad 5 mini and it runs Garmin Pilot flawlessly. I'm sure the current 6 is probably a little better. If I were in the market for an iPad to run Pilot or Foreflight, I'd grab one now instead of waiting.
 
Ted Ricci said:
I'm on an iPad 5 mini and it runs Garmin Pilot flawlessly. I'm sure the current 6 is probably a little better. If I were in the market for an iPad to run Pilot or Foreflight, I'd grab one now instead of waiting.
Click to expand...
I agree. My Ipad mini 5 is doing just fine now. But it's nice to know that there will be a followup if I need a new one in a few years.
 
Running a Mini 6 and it's OK for me for just running ForeFlight and light browsing work, feels a little dated with the scrolling lag sometimes, but overall it's pretty solid as an EFB I think.
 
I bought wife and daughter (my business partners) new iPad Pro 12.9s last week. The Pro models are pretty well matching the Surface Pro for memory and storage options but the Surface storage can be upgraded while the iPad can’t. Not a deal breaker with so much being done in the cloud these days. Anyway, my Mini 6 compares directly to these new iPad Pros for what I use my Mini for. New model? Don’t care. It isn’t an advantage for my applications, and that’s all that matters to me. If you’re doing real computing? The new models rock.

I bought myself a Surface Pro 9 at the same time as the iPads. My reasoning is that the surface plugs into my existing Dell docks with dual monitors. Function for function I can’t see any advantage for the Surface Pro or iPad Pro. iOS vs Windows 11. They both work well. Pick your poison.
 
I've been wondering. I still use a Mini 4 for Foreflight. It works well, but is no longer able to update iOS or Foreflight. I prefer the Mini just because its smaller in the cockpit, and all I use it for is Foreflight.
 
Ted Ricci said:
I'm on an iPad 5 mini and it runs Garmin Pilot flawlessly. I'm sure the current 6 is probably a little better. If I were in the market for an iPad to run Pilot or Foreflight, I'd grab one now instead of waiting.
Click to expand...
I have the mini 6 (upgraded from mini 4) running Garmin Pilot. The performance difference on the 6 vs. the 4 is phenomenal.
 
I have got to replace my 2 old mini 4s. Yup they still work but are somewhat slow nowadays. I think my wife is on her 3rd I pad and I am still using my originals.
 
I'm still using a Mini 3. Sure it can get slow but works well enough for how I use it. I may upgrade if they go to a full display screen to get more viewing area on the same physical size.
 
Pinecone said:
I upgraded from a Mini 2 to 6. :D

HUGE difference. :D
Click to expand...
Your EFB taking 10 minutes to become fully functional every time you started it finally pushed you over the edge, huh? :goofy:
 
I have an iPad Mini 6 mostly for flying use. I have an 11" iPad Pro that I sometimes use for flight planning but more for surfing the web. My wife uses that one for art. We share an Apple Pencil between the scratchpads in flight and art use. Having two iPads that use the same model of Apple Pencil is nice but would not be a dealbreaker if we had to have two different Pencils.

If you have an iPad Mini you are happy with now, then wait for the next generation to come out or yours to get frustratingly old to you before you upgrade. If you don't have an iPad Mini already, though, they are the way to go for use in the cockpit. That advice goes double if you yoke-mount it on the pilot yoke. I don't do that anymore but I did for a while in the Arrow and the Mini form factor didn't block fuel and engine gauges the way the standard size iPad did.
 
I guarantee a new one is coming out*


*Because I bought a new one last week.
 
My iPad mini "program" has been to skip a model when upgrading (Went from 3 to a 5 last time, for example). I've skipped the 6, so I guess I'm due for a new one in March 2024...I have to admit, I rarely see any difference in models...they never seem any faster/better to me. :dunno:
 
The 6’s screen is a big improvement over earlier models. The newest chips don’t do much for simple apps like GP and Foreflight. My Garmin Pilot with all Alaska charts loaded consumes 576 megs, so big storage capacity in a mini is a waste of money for me.

For full size iPads you can get up to 32gigs of RAM and 2TB of storage. It stands to reason the new Mini will use that model. Consumers like to buy more computer than they need.
 
Stewartb said:
Consumers like to buy more computer than they need.
Click to expand...
You say that like it's a bad (or dumb) thing.

I do it all the time, especially with systems that cannot be upgraded after purchase. I hope to keep my computer systems for as long as possible and I never know what my "needs" will be in a few year from now.
 
Processors get outdated. RAM and storage can usually be upgraded, but these days while my 512gig iPhone is 2/3 full, my work laptops don’t use 150gig. I think my computing requirements are pretty typical. Most of my work is done on apps in the cloud. My new Surface is the same as my wife’s iPad Pro. 16gig RAM and 256gig storage. They’ll work fine until the next big processor advancement comes.
 
Stewartb said:
... They’ll work fine until the next big processor advancement comes.
Click to expand...

huh - they'll break when a new processor is released?

what happens? do they get processor envy?
 
Country Flier said:
My iPad mini "program" has been to skip a model when upgrading (Went from 3 to a 5 last time, for example). I've skipped the 6, so I guess I'm due for a new one in March 2024...I have to admit, I rarely see any difference in models...they never seem any faster/better to me. :dunno:
Click to expand...

Same here, my main complaint with my mini 5 is I should have gotten more storage, 64GB isn't cutting it anymore. I pretty much offloaded everything in order to have enough storage for foreflight to install the monthly updates. Now and then it seems to slow down and not be as snappy/responsive as I'd like. Holding out for the 7.
 
Bob Noel said:
huh - they'll break when a new processor is released?

what happens? do they get processor envy?
Click to expand...
Sarcasm without offering a shred of information. The illusion of intelligence. Well done, Poser.
 
EFB apps are not simple, once you use dynamic maps, ADSB, etc they’re pretty CPU intensive and I found the mini 4 unable to keep up.
If dedicated to be an EFB, 64GB is probably enough unless you install all charts or fly internationally.
The current version is good enough, the next version will have a better camera and a faster processor, but sometimes there’s issues with new devices, like I heard the newest iPhones have overheating issues.
I haven’t heard any complaints about the current one so I probably would just buy it instead of waiting a year.
 
I just got a mini-6. I'm not an Apple fan, but my android 8" is getting low on battery life and I am not interested in the bloatware of Samsung and other android minis. I have a learning curve going, but I find the android apps much easier to use than those of the iPad mini. My computer time is mostly on the desktop PC, but I read a lot on the mini format. I don't use it so much in the airplane but did subscribe to Foreflight to check it out. I have Dynon SkyView in the cockpit and don't find myself using the Foreflight to any extent at all. Didn't use WingX, either, on the android.
Maybe when I learn the iPad mini-6 better I'll like it more, but for right now I like the android better.
 
Stewartb said:
Sarcasm without offering a shred of information. The illusion of intelligence. Well done, Poser.
Click to expand...

Do you really need to be educated that processors don't break when a new version is released?
 
Country Flier said:
My iPad mini "program" has been to skip a model when upgrading (Went from 3 to a 5 last time, for example). I've skipped the 6, so I guess I'm due for a new one in March 2024...I have to admit, I rarely see any difference in models...they never seem any faster/better to me. :dunno:
Click to expand...

Many years ago I discovered that a new computer does not seem any faster. Even with more than doubling performance. But to really compare, after a couple of weeks with the new computer/iPad, go back and try using the old one. It will seem VERY slow.
 
I upgraded from mini 4 to mini 5 to mini 6. The performance upgrade from 4 to 5 was more noticeable than the 5 to the 6. However, the screen size increase of the mini 6 is a big upgrade in my opinion. It has made using a pen stylus easier. I often leave my paper knee board behind on shorter flights and just use the ipad mini 6.
Upgraded the first time because I broke the mini 4. The mini 5 kept getting used by my daughter or wife. So I bought the mini 6 just for flying.
 
Where is the best place to buy a mini 6. Someone posted a place that sells refurbished models Any leads?
 
I’ve bought refurbished iPad Minis from Amazon with success. Their vendors and QA are apparently controlled to some standard.
 
cowman said:
Same here, my main complaint with my mini 5 is I should have gotten more storage, 64GB isn't cutting it anymore. I pretty much offloaded everything in order to have enough storage for foreflight to install the monthly updates. Now and then it seems to slow down and not be as snappy/responsive as I'd like. Holding out for the 7.
Click to expand...
Same...64gb and pretty much only foreflight with nothing else, yet I still run out of memory...I also like the cell service ipads, so maybe last time I thought I'd save money with a lower memory...won't make that mistake again.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top