The Wonderful iPad Mini Once Again Pops Up Its Sporadic Head

There’s something I find endearing about the iPad mini. Perhaps it’s the fact that Apple seemingly almost killed it at one point. Or that they’ve unquestionably neglected it at times over the years. And yet it remains. Getting brought up to speed, quite literally, with its iPad brethren every so often. And this is again one of those years, thankfully.

Honestly, I think I just like the form factor. People used to joke that the original iPad was “just a big iPhone” but the iPad mini has always been more of “just a small iPad”. But this year, with the new iPad Pro-meets-iPhone flat-sided design, it does actually feel sort of like a hybrid for the first time. Yes, it’s an iPad mini, but it sort of reminds me of a massive iPhone, at least in hand.

I actually didn’t love when the iPad Pro went with the flat sided design. I love that look and feel for the iPhone, as it’s nice to grip. But for the larger iPads, which you often hold with two hands, it felt a bit worse than the older curved side variety, in my opinion. I still believe that to be true with the big guy. But with this smaller version, the flat sides work well, I think. In part, again, because it’s pretty easy to hold the iPad mini with one hand.

And when you do, with your fingers gripping the sides of the device and not overlapping the bezels, this is really something to behold. Because again, it looks sort of like a giant iPhone, but with no notch. It’s just a single, consistent, beautiful screen. Goodnight, sweet Home Button prince.¹

The new iPad mini looks like what you’d think the Kindle would look like were it designed in 2021. Sure, it’s not e-ink. But it’s basically the perfect size for a book. Perhaps that’s what I love about the device so much. It’s basically the ideal reading machine. Be it a book, the web, Matter,² or even — shudder — email.

Could the bezels be thinner? Sure. But if they were, it would be harder to hold when you are putting your palm and thumb on the side of the screen. Are the volume buttons at the top of the device awkward? Yes. I often have to think about which is which when going volume-up or down. But it makes room for the Apple Pencil 2 which is basically the perfect size for this device as well.³

Because Apple doesn’t update the iPad mini each year, the gains in speed are also actually noticeable (unlike say, with year-to-year updates for the iPhone). As are the gains in battery life, since my last iPad mini has a two-plus year old battery now which has degraded with time.

In our era of COVID and face masks, I love having Touch ID instead of FaceID. But I also honestly keep forgetting to use it since it’s up top on the power button (something borrowed from the most recent iPad Air). It also feels like Apple clearly knew this would be an issue as they put a bit of UI in iPad OS to showcase where Touch ID is — unfortunately, this UI also covers up the battery life indicator when in portrait mode so you have to unlock the device to see if you need to charge it. It’s a little thing, but it irks me. Still, I’d take it on the iPhone too if I could get it.

Speaking of COVID and face masks, another thing I love about the iPad mini is that it fits perfectly into many a jacket pocket when going out and about. That hasn’t mattered for the past 18 months or so perhaps, but it’s starting to matter again. This is the perfect iPad for adventuring back out into the world.

Yes, yes, it has 5G too. I remain dramatically underwhelmed by the technology. If it’s any faster, I never notice it. USB-C you will!

There’s not much else to say, really. I’ve loved the iPad mini from day one. Apple nearly killed it, but mercifully keeps updating it at a seemingly random cadence, so I’m delighted whenever a new one graces us with its presence. Yes, the camera is better now too, and while holding up the iPad mini isn’t nearly as obnoxious as holding up an iPad regular in public, it’s still ill-advised. And yes, the better camera brings a camera bump to the mini for the first time, but we also now have a wrap-around case to protect it.

Speaking of, the one thing there is not, which had been (loosely) rumored: a keyboard case. I would have loved one, but yes, it would have been a tight fit. Apple showcases the Logitech Keys-to-Go, which I’ve long been a fan of as a super lightweight option. Time to bust it out again.

¹ That last generation of iPad mini was likely the last time I will have had a Home Button in regular usage.

² One of GV’s new investments, and an app already now my most-used reading service. But don’t just take my word for it!

³ One nit with the last model of iPad mini is that it only allowed for Apple Pencil 1 usage — that changes now. Another nit fixed from the last time: tap-to-wake the screen is now here as well on the iPad mini.