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The 6th generation iPad mini is here, and after spending some time with it, it's clear that it's a super cool, extremely compact device for the most casual of use cases. The A15 processor and 5G speeds make it capable of doing so much more, but the size makes it much more of a fun, free-time device.
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What's going on everybody, Ian here for Cult of Mac
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Now I've had an iPad mini around the house ever since the first generation and it's always
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been a device that I've treated a little bit different than every other iPad I've owned
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Now this is the 6th generation iPad mini, which borrows a bunch of design cues and design
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trends from the iPad Pro and iPad Air that came before it, but it's no less niche of
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a product to use, which is kind of why it's amazing. Let's take a look
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Now the iPad mini this time around comes in four colors, Space Gray, Starlight, Purple
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and Pink. Now for me, I chose the purple option because I think the iPad mini is kind of a fun device
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and Space Gray and Starlight, which is basically silver, don't scream fun
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Now this purple and the pink aren't all that colorful either and I would love to see Apple
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really play into the saturation and color within the mini lineup and within their iPad
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lineup in general, but that's probably too much to ask. So purple is what I went with because I don't know, it seemed right
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Now as far as connectivity goes, I opted for the cellular model, which is what I've done
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on all of my iPads over the last few years because it's very freeing to know that I can
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go out and do things and have connectivity if I need it on my iPad and it's easy enough
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to turn on and turn off when I don't need it. On top of that, having 5G on the iPad mini means that I can download things even quicker
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so I don't need as much storage on the device, but if it's something that you might not find
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yourself needing, you can save $150 and just get the Wi-Fi only model
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Now, like I said, as far as storage goes, I opted for 64 gigs on this because I don't
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need that much storage on an iPad mini. The things I'm using it for are mostly streaming and reading content and looking at things
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on the web, not working with large files. Now fortunately, there is a USB-C port on the bottom and again, on top of that, you
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have cellular connectivity so if I need to download something from the cloud or I simply
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want to connect an external drive or something to my iPad mini, it's super easy to connect
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something up, access the files, work with them real quick, and then put them back where they need to go without having to spend the extra $150 on the upgraded 256 storage
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Truthfully though, I really don't anticipate needing to spend a lot of time dealing with large files on my iPad mini
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The whole idea of the iPad mini specifically is that it's not a workhorse getting worked
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on device. It's a more casual, sit back, relax, read or watch something on the device type of thing
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Now, that doesn't mean the iPad mini can't do those things because it more than can
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The A15 inside of it is wicked fast and you can get those things done
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It's just not built for those things. In reality, the way I use the iPad mini is when I'm sitting on the couch and I want to
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look something up quick while watching TV or I want to scroll through social media
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check some email, and things like that. It's not a device that I'm using for really heavy workloads
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Now, all of those things can obviously be done on other iPads, but what makes them so
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great on the mini is the fact that it is so small, so compact, so easy to hold
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By sitting back on the couch, you can easily just kind of one hand navigate the iPad mini
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If you're in portrait mode, you can basically thumb type on it so you don't have to get
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all uncomfortable tapping through on a bigger keyboard. On top of that, the iPad mini 6 is actually a little bit smaller than previous iPad minis
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making it even more handheld, while the screen has actually grown nearly half an inch
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Now, obviously that increase in screen size is thanks to the slimmed down bezels on the
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front, as well as moving the home button from the chin of the device up into the power button
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very similar to the iPad Air, allowing for a larger screen with an overall smaller footprint
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Another great thing about the 6th generation iPad mini is the fact that it now supports the 2nd generation Apple Pencil
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This is huge because it means that the pencil is always with you and convenient right there
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on the side of your device when you're out and about. And thanks to advancements in iPadOS 14 and iPadOS 15, using the Apple Pencil with iPad
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is actually really, really convenient now, because you can do things like use Scribble
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to enter things on the device, or use Quick Note by simply pulling up from the bottom
3:57
corner to quickly jot down notes while you're out and about. And because the iPad mini is so small, so compact, so lightweight, you can easily hold
4:05
it with one hand while you're writing or drawing with the other, which is something that's way less comfortable and way less doable on the larger iPads
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The iPad mini now also packs a pair of upgraded cameras. On the back, now a 12 megapixel shooter, similar to that of the iPad Air, and on the front
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an upgraded 12 megapixel ultra-wide camera, which supports center stage, which means you
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can actually move around when you're on a FaceTime call or something like that, which
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makes this really great for doing those FaceTime calls or Zoom calls, because it's small enough
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that even though the camera, in landscape at least, is way off to the side and you're
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kind of looking to the side, center stage helps correct that and make it look like you're
4:41
really making eye contact with the person you're talking to. Another thing I really liked about the iPad lineup in general over the last few years
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but specifically this iPad mini, is the fact that iPad OS across the entire lineup is the same
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It's not one of those things where like, oh, this device can't do split screen or slide over
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They all do the same things, all those same capabilities. So again, while this is not necessarily a workhorse device, knowing that I can do the
5:06
things on my big 12.9 inch iPad Pro, knowing that I can switch down to the iPad mini and
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do those same things, albeit a little more cramped, is a really welcome feature and something
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that I think makes the iPad mini a really compelling device. Now, it is worth mentioning, like I said, that some of those tasks are a lot more challenging
5:22
on the iPad mini. That's because split screen and portrait mode ends up with two very tall, very skinny apps
5:28
and split screen and landscape ends up with more appropriately sized apps, but when the
5:33
keyboard slides up, you don't have a lot of room to see your actual screen
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Now, this can be solved by getting a Bluetooth keyboard or the Apple Pencil for text entry
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but it's just one of those things to consider that if you're going to do much heavy work
5:45
on an iPad, or this is your only iPad, it's probably not the best if you're going to have
5:50
to use it to get work done with any regularity. Another possible drawback to the iPad mini that is worth considering is the size of the
5:56
on-screen elements. I know I've seen a lot of people talk about this, but the idea is basically that with
6:01
the iPad mini, because you have the entirety of iPad OS that exists on a 12.9-inch iPad
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scaled down to the screen, things like app icons and text are a bit smaller on the iPad mini
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Now, for me, it's not been a big deal. I can bump up the text size if I need to
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It's really easy to add the text control in Control Center, so you can adjust system-wide
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fonts right there within Control Center, but it's just something worth considering in the
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iPad mini is that if you have trouble seeing things or not the greatest eyesight, the iPad
6:30
mini may end up compressing things too much. And I also have a feeling that iPad OS over the next couple of updates will probably improve
6:36
readability quite a bit on here as they refine the OS just a little bit to make it more mini-friendly
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Now, as to whether or not you should get an iPad mini, it really comes down to what you
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think you're going to use your iPad for. Now, if you used iPads before and you want an iPad to get work done, you know you're
6:52
buying the iPad Pro. If you want an iPad that's maybe kind of a do-everything iPad, the iPad Air is also
7:00
a really good option as well as the $329 base iPad with no modifier, which is a great device
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as long as you're okay having kind of that older design with the Home button at the bottom
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and some of those little limitations. Now, if what you're looking for is something that's ultra-portable, something that's super
7:17
handheld, something you can hold in one hand, something you can sit back and read on for
7:21
hours, the iPad mini is an absolutely fantastic choice, if not the only right choice
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Now, again, I wish there were more fun colors because, again, something that I'm going to sit back and read and carry around with me, I'd love to have a little more personality
7:33
with, but the iPad mini is just in a class of its own as far as what you're going to
7:38
do with it and how you're going to use it. Basically, unlike the other iPads in the lineup, the iPad mini is the kind of device that frees
7:45
you from feeling like, I have to do work with this thing to use it right
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The iPad mini is not that. It's a consuming device. It's something that I love to use to sit back, to watch movies, to doodle on, to surf the
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web or surf social media on. It's a great device for those things
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And the iPad mini starts at $499, again, $150 extra to upgrade the storage capacity and
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then another $150 on top of that to add cellular to the device, which can make it a very pricey
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option, especially when the iPad Air starts at $599, only $100 more for that same 64 gig
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storage capacity. But again, if you want ultra portability or something that's super compact and easy to
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carry around, the iPad mini certainly takes the cake in that department
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Ultimately, the iPad mini is a fantastic device if it fits into what you want to use your
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iPad for. And I highly recommend checking one out if you think it might be something that works
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for you. Let me know what you guys think in the comments down below. While you're down there, be sure to give the video a thumbs up, subscribe to the channel
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if you're not already. I apologize. I haven't posted a lot of this kind of stuff lately, but I'm working on getting back at it
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Until next time, I'm Ian for Cultiv Mac. I'll catch you in the next one
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