The iPad mini has landed: Your questions answered

A full review is in the works, but here are answers to several reader questions.

Read the whole story

 

[gypsumfantastic]

The important question for me is: will it fit into my COAT pocket, like my Nexus 7 and Kindle Paperwhite? Because that's the use case for me.

If I send you my coat, will you insert an iPad Mini in it and tell me what happens?

 

[AaronFaby]

Thanks for the information! But you have failed to answer the most important question of all.... Will It Blend?

 

[H2O Rip]

A brief glance over the responses - it appears they all come across as positives (or negating concerns). Certainly good news for potential buyers!

I'm curious, were there any questions or expectations that the device didn't quite meet? i.e. for potential buyers, were there any sticking points where users concerns are indeed well founded?

I actually would be really interested to see Peter and Jacqui do a swap on coverage for a "living with XYZ" followup (i.e. Jacqui takes a surface, Peter an ipad). The difference in writing styles would be neat to see with respect to each product line.

 

[jedivulcan]

How do iPhone apps run on it? Does the 2x scaling run retina assets or older pre-retina assets like the iPad 2 does?

 

[mr_yellow]

thanks Jacqui,

one question: does the keyboard still split screen like on regular sized iPads? If it does, what is the size of the keyboard compared to the iPad splitscreen KB? Same size or scaled smaller like everything else?

 

[TomXP411]

The important question for me is: will it fit into my COAT pocket, like my Nexus 7 and Kindle Paperwhite? Because that's the use case for me.

If I send you my coat, will you insert an iPad Mini in it and tell me what happens?

Hopefully, they don't remember to take the iPad back out before returning that coat...

I have a 7" Galaxy Tab and Nexus 7; both of those fit in my coat pocket. The iPad Mini should also fit, but it would be a tight squeeze...

If you're not sure, you could cut a couple pieces of cardboard box to the size of the Mini (tape them together to get the thickness) and try them in your coat pocket.

 

[Engelsstaub]

I like the idea of an iDevice in this size. I actually considered replacing my iPod Touch with it. That screen res is severely disappointing to me personally. I know one doesn't *need* a so-called retina display on such a device, but Apple themselves set the bar and now failed to live up to their own high standards IMO. Just my opinion...I think I'd rather just pick up a full-size iPad instead since neither will fit into my pockets either

 

[cepage]

Thanks for the info. FYI, the fact that mobile check deposit worked doesn't really tell you anything about document scanning resolution. Mobile check deposit works great on my iPod Touch 4G, which is a significantly crappier camera (and would not be acceptable for document scanning).

 

[Abulia]

How does the loss of a retina display compared to an iPhone 4/5 or iPad 3/4 gen feel? Is it noticeable/bothersome?

 

[eJacqui]

The important question for me is: will it fit into my COAT pocket, like my Nexus 7 and Kindle Paperwhite? Because that's the use case for me.

I'd think if your coat pocket fits a Nexus 7, it's likely it'll also fit an iPad mini. But of course, it depends on the actual size of your coat pockets.

If I send you my coat, will you insert an iPad Mini in it and tell me what happens?

Sure.

 

[eljefeloco]

I'm really trying to not get excited enough to order one, yet write-ups like this are testing my resolve. I don't "need" one, but my wife and I (technically) own an iPad 2, so getting a mini would be a lower cost way for me to have access to all of the apps that my wife has (since prying it out of her hands is tantamount to a suicide attempt).

 

[OmniWrench]

If I send you my coat, will you insert an iPad Mini in it and tell me what happens?

Sure.

It might start stirring claims of bias if Ars tests just one type coat however. The "Pea Coat Technica!!" and "Windbreaker Technica!" crowds can be pretty vicious. Perhaps we should send you several different types of coats for a more complete analysis?

 

[H2O Rip]

If I send you my coat, will you insert an iPad Mini in it and tell me what happens?

Sure.

It might start stirring claims of bias if Ars tests just one type coat however. The "Pea Coat Technica!!" and "Windbreaker Technica!" crowds can be pretty vicious. Perhaps we should send you several different types of coats for a more complete analysis?

This needs to become an Ars video series, not just for idevices!

 

[gypsumfantastic]

Another question: how terrible does the non-retina screen compare to a Nexus 7? An iPad 3?

 

[nsap]

Please check out the speakers in the full review! How loud are they compared to the iPhone 5 and the 9.7" iPad? And since this is Apple's first stereo iDevice, how does it handle different orientations? For example, if I am in landscape with the speakers facing right, will the sound revert to a mono-style? Or will both "Left" and "Right" channels be playing from the right side of the iPad?

 

[pitmonster]

I'd like to know what the image/screen quality is like.

Being a higher dpi than the iPad 2, is it a realistic alternative to the iPad 3? Or will it always feel inferior?

 

[Eleveneleven]

Please check out the speakers in the full review! How loud are they compared to the iPhone 5 and the 9.7" iPad? And since this is Apple's first stereo iDevice, how does it handle different orientations? For example, if I am in landscape with the speakers facing right, will the sound revert to a mono-style? Or will both "Left" and "Right" channels be playing from the right side of the iPad?

I never understood stereo speakers that close together. Stereo would have made sense if speakers were on opposite sides of the device.

 

[pusher robot]

Please check out the speakers in the full review! How loud are they compared to the iPhone 5 and the 9.7" iPad? And since this is Apple's first stereo iDevice, how does it handle different orientations? For example, if I am in landscape with the speakers facing right, will the sound revert to a mono-style? Or will both "Left" and "Right" channels be playing from the right side of the iPad?

I never understood stereo speakers that close together. Stereo would have made sense if speakers were on opposite sides of the device.

They could be directed outwards, so that you at least get stereo reflection.

 

[ScifiGeek]

The important question for me is: will it fit into my COAT pocket, like my Nexus 7 and Kindle Paperwhite? Because that's the use case for me.

If I send you my coat, will you insert an iPad Mini in it and tell me what happens?

Do you have a DVD/Blu Ray movie in a standard case. They are 135mm wide as is the iPad Mini and the mini is 7mm thick vs 12mm for a Blu Ray case (14mm for DVD case). If the movie case fits, so will a Mini. I tried a Blu Ray case in every jacket/vest I own and it fits in all of them.

Today I was at a local electronics shop, and they had some minis in stock (They only had black Minis and IMO they look kind of drab), and they let me see if it would fit in my jacket pocket and it did as expected from the Blu Ray case test. But I would only want to occasionally carry something that heavy like this. But if you are good with Carrying a Nexus, the Mini is a bit lighter... But IMO neither is an always have with you device.

 

[neil_w]

How do iPhone apps run on it? Does the 2x scaling run retina assets or older pre-retina assets like the iPad 2 does?

Good question. However, unless Apple significantly changed something, I'd expect it to run non-Retina.

When the first iPad came out, I pondered quite a bit why it didn't run Retina in 2x mode. Ultimately, I came up with two reasons:

1) Apps would then need to switch between Retina and non-Retina assets when changing between 2x and 1x mode.
2) Apple wanted to encourage iPad-optimized apps by not making iPhone apps look "too good" on the iPad.

In my own usage, I have found that I never EVER run iPhone apps at 1x, and am annoyed that the button even exists (I bump it accidentally sometimes). On the iPad mini, there would be even less reason to ever run at 1x. And there's certainly no worrying about having enough iPad-optimized apps these days. So IMHO it would make good sense for the mini to run always at 2x, in Retina mode (hell I'd like that on the regular iPad as well). However, I doubt if Apple particularly cares about this issue.

 

[Kevinv]

Drive a car over it! It's a (one-time) tradition!

 

[theJonTech]

I like the idea of an iDevice in this size. I actually considered replacing my iPod Touch with it. That screen res is severely disappointing to me personally. I know one doesn't *need* a so-called retina display on such a device, but Apple themselves set the bar and now failed to live up to their own high standards IMO. Just my opinion...I think I'd rather just pick up a full-size iPad instead since neither will fit into my pockets either

Agreed

Lack of Retina or at least a high PPI killed it for me, full blown iPad 4 though will keep me warm at night

 

[reflex-croft]

The important question for me is: will it fit into my COAT pocket, like my Nexus 7 and Kindle Paperwhite? Because that's the use case for me.

I'd think if your coat pocket fits a Nexus 7, it's likely it'll also fit an iPad mini. But of course, it depends on the actual size of your coat pockets.

If I send you my coat, will you insert an iPad Mini in it and tell me what happens?

Sure.

Thanks for this, after the idiotfest(which I was unfortunatly a part of) in the last thread. That said, a Nexus7 is not a good comparison since its actually significantly smaller than the Mini(15mm to be precise). Even if someone's pocket is 135mm wide, it would preclude the use of any sort of a case with the Mini most likely.

 

[Walt French]

Thanks for the information! But you have failed to answer the most important question of all.... Will It Blend?

I think that depends on the strength of your blender's blades.

 

[LoneBagel]

How does it sound? Do the dual speakers improve the sound quality and overall volume level by even a few dB?

 

[Walt French]

Thanks for the info. FYI, the fact that mobile check deposit worked doesn't really tell you anything about document scanning resolution. Mobile check deposit works great on my iPod Touch 4G, which is a significantly crappier camera (and would not be acceptable for document scanning).

I don't know what's actually out there, but a mathematically-adept developer could create an app that'd overlay multiple photos (similar to the wide-angle photo stitching, but guided by the geometry of a larger photo with correlations to zoomed-in images); that could generate a very high-resolution, undistorted image — the equivalent, say, of a 600 dpi scan, if it were desired.

 

[Walt French]

Please check out the speakers in the full review! How loud are they compared to the iPhone 5 and the 9.7" iPad? And since this is Apple's first stereo iDevice, how does it handle different orientations? For example, if I am in landscape with the speakers facing right, will the sound revert to a mono-style? Or will both "Left" and "Right" channels be playing from the right side of the iPad?

I never understood stereo speakers that close together. Stereo would have made sense if speakers were on opposite sides of the device.

Almost all material and audio chips are stereo, so the only saving for mono is the final amp and speaker. And the speakers on these things are so microscopically tiny that I think it's probably a Good Deal to have two, just for better low/midrange volume.

 

[Galatian]

I checked it out in the store today (but waiting for the cellular version). I think the think most people are forgetting is that the ppi actually did increase compared to the iPad 2. They had all 3 iPad models at display and from the time playing with them I could not discern the lower ppi count of the mini compared to the 4, but what was obvious is the increased sharpness of the mini compared to the 2!

Then again I wear glasses...

 

[carlisimo]

The important question for me is: will it fit into my COAT pocket, like my Nexus 7 and Kindle Paperwhite? Because that's the use case for me.

If I send you my coat, will you insert an iPad Mini in it and tell me what happens?

7.87" x 5.30" x 0.28" x 0.68lbs - iPad mini
7.81" x 4.72" x 0.41" x 0.75lbs - Nexus 7
6.70" x 4.60" x 0.36" x 0.49lbs - Kindle Paperwhite

It's slightly over half an inch wider. That could be enough to ruin it for you.

 

[kometen]

How about reading or watching movies in bed? I tried to cut my micro-sim-card with a scissor when I got my iphone but it didn't work. So I did some reading and tweeting in bed on my ipad2 since neither iphones worked, but it's slightly to big.

 

[ScifiGeek]

I checked it out in the store today (but waiting for the cellular version). I think the think most people are forgetting is that the ppi actually did increase compared to the iPad 2. They had all 3 iPad models at display and from the time playing with them I could not discern the lower ppi count of the mini compared to the 4, but what was obvious is the increased sharpness of the mini compared to the 2!

I checked out the Mini (not yet on display) and iPad 3 that was on display. Using both at 18-24" there was not much difference.

But if you hold them 12" from you (probably wouldn't with full size iPad, but would with Mini for ebook reading).

At that distance I saw no pixels on the iPad 3, but they were quite evident on the mini and the fonts were weaker.

IMO the lower DPI isn't the end of the world, it is better than iPad 2, but held close is obviously no match for the iPads Retina display.

 

[reflex-croft]

I checked it out in the store today (but waiting for the cellular version). I think the think most people are forgetting is that the ppi actually did increase compared to the iPad 2. They had all 3 iPad models at display and from the time playing with them I could not discern the lower ppi count of the mini compared to the 4, but what was obvious is the increased sharpness of the mini compared to the 2!

I checked out the Mini (not yet on display) and iPad 3 that was on display. Using both at 18-24" there was not much difference.

But if you hold them 12" from you (probably wouldn't with full size iPad, but would with Mini for ebook reading).

At that distance I saw no pixels on the iPad 3, but they were quite evident on the mini and the fonts were weaker.

IMO the lower DPI isn't the end of the world, it is better than iPad 2, but held close is obviously no match for the iPads Retina display.

End of the world? No. But difficult to settle for considering there are cheaper tablets in that space that offer retina or higher class displays. Mini makes perfect sense for those who have heavily bought into the iOS ecosystem, however.

 

[insecto]

I checked it out in the store today (but waiting for the cellular version). I think the think most people are forgetting is that the ppi actually did increase compared to the iPad 2. They had all 3 iPad models at display and from the time playing with them I could not discern the lower ppi count of the mini compared to the 4, but what was obvious is the increased sharpness of the mini compared to the 2!

I checked out the Mini (not yet on display) and iPad 3 that was on display. Using both at 18-24" there was not much difference.

But if you hold them 12" from you (probably wouldn't with full size iPad, but would with Mini for ebook reading).

At that distance I saw no pixels on the iPad 3, but they were quite evident on the mini and the fonts were weaker.

IMO the lower DPI isn't the end of the world, it is better than iPad 2, but held close is obviously no match for the iPads Retina display.

End of the world? No. But difficult to settle for considering there are cheaper tablets in that space that offer retina or higher class displays. Mini makes perfect sense for those who have heavily bought into the iOS ecosystem, however.

This describes me but the lack of Retina is annoying me more than I thought it would. Gotta see how it fares as an e-reader tonight in bed. May have to return it and hold out for the next revision.

Wish I had a Nexus 7 to compare directly with.

 

[Jelly_beans_are_cool]

What about digital magazine and comic book reading through Zinio (or equivalent) and Comixology. Are you able to read 1-full page without pinch and zooming comfortably? I have read that the iPad mini is surprisingly good in comic book which is the primary use that I seek and playing iPad only games.

 

[Galatian]

On a completely other note: The iPad mini fits perfectly into a white coat pocket. This is actually the first white Apple product I'm getting solely for this reason. It just looks more "hygienic" then the black one in a white coat. It will be off much better use in med school then the normal iPad has been (which I already sold couple of months ago).

 

[Lonyo]

Is it a one hand device?
My Galaxy Tab 2 is barely a 1 hand device and I have large hands.
The iPad Mini is larger (slightly) and most people's hands are smaller. Is it really a one hand device?

 

[ScifiGeek]

On a completely other note: The iPad mini fits perfectly into a white coat pocket. This is actually the first white Apple product I'm getting solely for this reason. It just looks more "hygienic" then the black one in a white coat. It will be off much better use in med school then the normal iPad has been (which I already sold couple of months ago).

http://appleinsider.com/articles/12/11/ ... -ipad-mini

"One in three of those physicians said they are planning to purchase an iPad mini due to its convenient small size.

With a height of 7.87 inches and a width of just 5.3 inches, the iPad mini also passed what Epocrates called the "lab coat test."

 

[stewski]

The important question for me is: will it fit into my COAT pocket, like my Nexus 7 and Kindle Paperwhite? Because that's the use case for me.

If I send you my coat, will you insert an iPad Mini in it and tell me what happens?

Do you have a DVD/Blu Ray movie in a standard case. They are 135mm wide as is the iPad Mini and the mini is 7mm thick vs 12mm for a Blu Ray case (14mm for DVD case). If the movie case fits, so will a Mini. I tried a Blu Ray case in every jacket/vest I own and it fits in all of them.

Today I was at a local electronics shop, and they had some minis in stock (They only had black Minis and IMO they look kind of drab), and they let me see if it would fit in my jacket pocket and it did as expected from the Blu Ray case test. But I would only want to occasionally carry something that heavy like this. But if you are good with Carrying a Nexus, the Mini is a bit lighter... But IMO neither is an always have with you device.

Odd you've not called out Jacqui for being an obvious Apple troll for suggesting the device will not fit in her pockets.

http://meincmagazine.com/gadgets/2012/10/ ... mments-bar

Not that I'm bitter for effectively being called a liar, a troll and spreading FUD by you.