Alongside the release of its newest iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, Apple also revealed the newest member of the iPad mini family, the iPad mini 4. There were reviews about the device proving that the American tech giant has brought the newest generation of iPad mini to a whole next level after last year's version flopped.
According to an article made by Macworld, the iPad mini 4 has a lot more to offer to the owners of older iPad models as it's a much better upgrade to the iPad mini 2. At first glance iPad mini 4 looks like the iPad mini 3 and iPad mini 2 but then the mini 4 measures 8 inches tall, 0.13 inches taller than the iPad mini 3 and 0.05 inches thinner. The new iPad has the same width as its predecessor, but 0.08 pounds lighter.
As for its display, it may also look the same as before but upon closer inspection, the iPad mini 4 has better overall image quality. The display is still a 7.9-inch, 2048-by-1536-pixel resolution, LED backlit display, but Apple now uses laminated displays with anti-reflective coating that results a better color saturation that make viewing photos on the iPad mini 4 a richer experience.
Furthermore, The Verge added that the iPad mini 4 is pushed along by Apple's 64-bit A8 processor, which is definitely an upgrade from last year but not quite as powerful as the Air 2. Apple Inc. claims that the new chip delivers speed gains of up to 30 percent, and sure, apps definitely open faster. The mini 4 has 2GB of RAM inside which makes the apps less likely to unexpectedly restart when users multitasks. Also, Safari won't need to reload the tabs so often anymore. Graphics performance has also jumped by 60 percent, and it's impossible to find any current iOS game that slows down this iPad in any obvious way.
The iPad mini 4's battery holds true to the 10-hour figure that Apple promises. Wi-Fi speeds have also been boosted. The Apple SIM is back and offers nice carrier flexibility, but Verizon customers will still need a separate SIM card to get on the network.
As for iOS 9, the iPad mini 4 is fully capable of split-screen multitasking just like the iPad Air 2. And lastly, iPad mini 4 is now up with 8 megapixel rear-facing camera and 1.2-megapixel FaceTime HD camera up front has also been upgraded to perform a bit better in low light.
Additionally, Engadget cited the pros and cons of the iPad mini 4. For the positive side, the newest iPad mini has a vibrant screen, the iOS 9 is great for multitasking, the device has a solid performance and it has a respectable battery life.
Meanwhile its negative sides are: the rotation lock switch is gone, the mini 4 is still less powerful than the iPad Air 2 and lastly, its base model only has 16 GB of storage.
With these specifications and features the iPad mini 4 has moved to another level compared to the previous members of iPad mini family. But then, many still believes that the upgrade brought by the newest iPad mini cannot conquer the features and specs that iPad Air 2 carries.
What do you think?
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