The iPad Mini Resurrected

Thoughts on Apple’s latest, decidedly retro device

I’ve been pretty critical of Apple of late. At a high level, I see a company sort of flailing about as they try to come to terms with the end of the iPhone growth era — with no single new product in line to take up the mantle. Instead, it’s: services, services, services, services. And, we’ll see! But this dramatic shift in focus has seemingly led to some negative side effects. Namely, it seems like Apple is slipping at the edges in ways they haven’t before. Obviously, part of this — probably even a big part — is the scale at which they now operate. But still, I look at the company these days and I don’t see the same attention to detail and craftsmanship across the board that many of us have grown accustomed to over the years.

That’s why the new iPad mini is a sight for sore eyes.

The original iPad mini was launched in what seems to be a different era for Apple. Sure, it was a mere six and a half years ago, but the company was firing on all cylinders. And the iPad mini was, in many peoples’ eyes, the pinnacle of tablets. In the intervening years, this has seemingly proven true, at least to some of us. I’ve long been vocal about my love for the device, but as the entire iPad line came back to Earth, Apple stance around the iPad mini appeared to be shifting from…