Summary
iPad mini 3 | Is it too little this time around?
Apple’s smaller tablet has been a resounding success since it first appeared in 2012. The Retina display and A7 processor on last year’s iPad mini lifted it from being the poor relation to the 9.7-inch iPad to being its equal in almost all but screen size.
This year’s update – the iPad mini 3 – doesn’t match its bigger brother in the same way. It comes with the same A7 processor as its predecessor, not the impressive A8X the iPad Air 2 packs.
The iPad Air 2 is thinner than the iPad mini 3 (on the right)
In fact it’s by and large the same tablet as last year's Retina mini. The dimensions are exactly the same 200 x 134.7 x 7.5mm, the screen is the same 2048 x 1536 resolution, and the rear and front cameras are still 5-megapixel and 1.2-megapixel respectively. See we weren’t joking – it’s practically the same tablet. The iPad mini 2 is still terrific, so it’s not quite the end of the world and there is one new, important addition – Touch ID.
Shopping made easy
Touch ID is a sensor that enables you to easily unlock your iPad by using your fingerprint – we saw it first on the iPhone 5S.
The brilliance of Touch ID doesn’t transfer quite as well to the iPad as it does to the smaller iPhones. You use your phone at regular short intervals rather than for long periods at a time, so quick unlocking is more important. Also, because your phone is always with you it’s more likely you’ll lose it. Most iPads stay at home and are used for long stretches at a time, so there’s less locking and unlocking involved. Still we’re not really complaining – unlocking with Touch ID is slick and we’re glad to see it on the iPad mini 3.
Now that Apple Pay has come along, though, Touch ID makes a lot more sense on an iPad. Apple Pay lets you make purchases easily – just by touching your finger to the sensor under the home button. Retailers have clamoured to join up to Apple Pay, and with good reason. Eliminating steps that make consumers drop out of the purchase funnel is a key aim of all online retailers and one of the big blockers is having to input credit card and delivery details. Online shops spend countless hours and a great deal of money refining this process, but nothing is quite as slick as Apple Pay. It makes the iPad mini 3 and iPad Air 2 the world’s most technologically advanced shopping carts.
As far as we know, the NFC chip Apple introduced on the new iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus and Apple Watch is not included in the iPad mini 3. It makes sense. Apple's NFC is limited to touch-and-pay and the iPad is too big and too clunky to be used as such a device. No big loss there.
Of course you get iOS 8 with the iPad mini 3. It looks almost identical to iOS 7 but has added a load of new features. I won’t go into too much detail now – if you want to everything about it, read our comprehensive iOS 8 review.
So not much has changed and neither has the price. It's one of the most expensive 8-inch tablets you can buy. Prices start at $399/£319 for the 16GB version and go up, hitting £399 for the 64GB model and an eye-watering £479 for the 128GB one. As always with Apple products you'll need to decide the storage you want up front – there’s no option for expansion later. You’ll need to cough up an extra $130/£100 if you want 4G connectivity, too.
You can still buy both the iPad mini 2 and original iPad mini, though. The 16GB iPad mini 2 now costs $299/£239 while the original has dropped in price to $249/£199. It’s odd that Apple has decided to retain the first mini, as the mini 2 is well worth the extra outlay – it is much, much better.
We have left one other difference out -- the iPad mini 3 is available in champagne gold, as well as in grey and silver options.
iPad mini 3: Early Verdict
Frankly we’re disappointed. The iPad mini 3 is exactly the same product at exactly the same price (barring the larger storage options) as last year, with the sole new aspect being the addition of Touch ID. It’s not enough and we’d save the money and opt for the iPad mini 2 unless you desperately need 64 or 128GB of storage. But then, if you do, you should probably look towards the iPad Air 2 – you’re getting a lot more tablet for the money.
With the impressive Nexus 9 recently announced, we can’t help but feel that Apple may have underestimated the mid-size tablet competition. The iPad mini 3’s saving grace may be the strength and depth of the iPad App Store, but it’s a risky tactic to rely on that alone.
Source fromhttp://www.trustedreviews.com
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