Apple unveiled a line of products at their recent event, ranging from the expected iPhones 13 series, the new Watch Series 7, an upgrade to the original iPad, and of course, the iPad Mini (2021). This is the sixth generation of the iPad Mini, and it has evolved over the years to be more than just a smaller version of the original iPad. The iPad family itself has expanded well and beyond, catering to professionals, to everyday content consumers to those who need all of that, but in a compact form factor you can take along. That is what makes the iPad Mini so special.
The biggest change comes to the screen of the new iPad Mini. Older models had great quality screens, but they still held on the old thick-bezel design, which looked odd, but also used a lot of space. The new iPad has shrunken bezels, and more rounded corners. It looks great, but you also get a large 8.3-inch display in a compact form factor. It is easy to carry around in your bag, or in your hands covered in a sleeve. The display is a True Tone, P3-compliant Liquid Retina one, that makes everything from videos, pictures and even text look sharp and detailed. Colour rendition has always been a strong point with iPads and that continues with the new iPad Mini. The display has a peak brightness of 500 nits, which should be enough for indoors no doubt, but also outdoors. The display is complemented by a pair of stereo speakers that make watching movies, TV shows or listening to music or a podcast, a fun activity.
Every new iPad gets a faster processor, and this time, it is the iPad Mini that gets the new and much faster A15 Bionic chip. It is great, since it is the same processor used in a range of other premium Apple offerings. It is perfect whether you are sketching, multi-tasking across apps, or gaming, or video editing. It is all possible on this compact device. Apple claims this 6-core processor is 40 per cent faster at CPU performance, and twice as fast with machine learning tasks. The 5-core graphics processor onboard is 80 per cent faster, so when you are working with apps that mimic the real world, brushes in a painting app behave like the real thing.
We do not typically use iPads for shooting photos, but it has a 12MP rear camera with Focus Pixels that let you capture surprisingly good photos when you need it. This could be used for just photos at a party, or for capturing documents. It even shoots Smart HDR 3, and it has a True Tone flash for when the lighting conditions are far from ideal. The camera you are more likely to use is the front-facing one. It is handy for selfies but more importantly for video calls. It has a 12MP sensor too, but it supports Centre Stage from the more premium iPads. The camera tracks you, ensuring you are always at the centre of the frame. This is great when you are giving presentations or educating a crowd in front of the camera. It is a game-changer, and it is here on the iPad Mini now. The iPad Mini also shoots 4K videos up to 60 fps, so you can use it as a portable video shooting and editing device.
The other improvements come in the form of the Apple Pencil (2nd generation) support, which latches on to the iPad. It even charges wirelessly. The Pencil is handy, if you want to take notes, but also to use with the range of sketching and painting apps available on the Apple ecosystem. There is more flexibility added to the iPad Mini. It now ships with a Type-C USB port which can be used for charging, but more importantly to attach a wide range of adapters and peripherals that were previously out of reach.
There are other interesting bits too, such as the fingerprint scanner that is built into the power button of the iPad Mini. It is great because you can unlock your device in moments, and it can be handy in unlocking web sites as apps as you go. Wi-Fi 6, one of the latest Wi-Fi standards is present so you can enjoy flawless playback from your favourite media streaming services. You can also opt for the 4G LTE version of the iPad Mini that lets you enjoy that same kind of performance, on the move. The other options you get are for storage. The basic model comes with 64GB of onboard space, while the higher-end variant has 256GB. If you are going to be using the iPad for a set number of apps for a specific task, the 64GB model should suffice but realistically, for complete freedom, the 256GB might be the preferred one.
The new iPad Mini also comes in four fresh new colours, Space Grey, Pink, Purple, and Starlight. The device runs iPadOS, a platform with a range of features and improvements, tailored specifically for this form factor. The new 2021 Apple iPad Mini (6th generation) is an exciting new tablet for all kinds of users. It is already available for pre-order so you can book yours here at reliancedigital.in if you want a prompt delivery, and you could also head over to your nearest Reliance Digital store.
