The iPad Mini Deserves ProMotion
Apple perfected the smallest iPad at the time, but it needs some “refreshing.”
I have been getting a small uptick of traffic on my iPad Mini 6 review I wrote almost two years ago and decided to reread it myself. I forgot how much I loved the device, especially since it was a sidekick to the iPhone Mini that I was also using at the time.
Not only did the iPad Mini become my everything device outside of my MacBook Air, but I also made it my Stoic Journal since I was reading The Daily Stoic every day then, and utilized the great Apple Pencil Gen 2 to journal about it daily.
iPad Mini 6
Apple’s smallest tablet gets a refresh.techuisite.com
I ultimately sold the iPad Mini, and as I look back, was for poor reasons. I was asking too much of the iPad Mini and tried making it not only a great tablet but trying to force it also to be an on-the-go writing machine. Apple doesn’t sell a Magic Keyboard for the iPad Mini, which is probably the right call. Trying to create a setup for writing on the Mini became frustrating.
My Samsung Galaxy S6 Lite is just a tablet for me. The iPad Pro 10.5-inch also became mostly just a tablet for me too. I was asking too much of the Mini instead of just letting it shine where it does best. As a consumption device and writing tool, the iPad Mini really is at its best; pushing it to do more is just unfair.
Using an iPad Mini as a Stoic Journal
Providing focus and joy every time I journal.techuisite.com
This is all to say that if you embrace what the iPad Mini offers first and foremost, a great tablet, it is hard to think of things that Apple needs to do to improve it. Because I love technology and am selfish when it comes to certain features, I can, and am about to, talk about the things that can be improved, but the iPad Mini 6, in my opinion, is close to a perfect tablet.
iPad Mini Improvement Wishlist
These are things that I believe can take the pretty much perfect iPad Mini to a whole new level of greatness. Some of these things I really wish Apple does, and some of them are more of a wish, but not really necessary for the iPad Mini to continue to shine:
- ProMotion
- Thinner bezels
- Liquid Retina XDR
- 4K Front Camera
- More color options
The first three items on the wish list are display improvements. Selfishly, that has always been the most important area for me when it comes to my gadgets. I think a Liquid Retina XDR upgrade would be a huge stretch for the iPad Mini since only the Pro Display XDR, MacBook Pro 14 and 16-inch, and iPad Pro 12.9-inch currently have it.
Also, making the bezels thinner would add another screen size to the list that Apple and third-party Apps need to support. I don’t think the current bezels are that large, but we should always be pushing toward the future of all screen displays. As I write this, a Dynamic Island or notch would be one way also to make more of a display, but I don’t feel are necessary for the Mini.
The one thing that will make me very disappointed in Apple if they do not implement it in the next iPad Mini is ProMotion. I know that the iPad Air, and both iPad-iPads don’t have ProMotion, but the iPad Mini needs it. It is such a great device to be used for consumption, and having a higher refresh rate will improve the experience of the device immensely.
ProMotion is something that may address the jelly scrolling issue that exists on the iPad Mini as well. Whether or not Apple adds these display upgrades, I do think they need to make the display better. I never found Jelly scrolling an issue for me, but it is an indication that the display isn’t the best quality, and I think Apple needs to address it for the next upgrade.
The iPad Mini is also a great FaceTime device, and being able to record or use 1080p for the front camera is more than usable, but 4K should be the standard now. We live in a world of fast internet and device that have high resolution screens, I would like to see a more improved resolution for all cameras on all my devices.
I prefer silver and black or gray for my tech. I like having a more simple safe color to start then covering it with stickers or colored cases or skins to make it more unique. That doesn’t mean that having different color options shouldn’t be available. The iPad Mini should share the same color options as the iPad Air.
Again, none of these things are necessary to keep the iPad Mini a near-perfect tablet. The size, functionality, iPadOS, and support for the Apple Pencil 2nd Gen make this a great secondary device for your setup. I really hope Apple at least adds ProMotion to the 7th Generation because that is the one thing that will make the iPad Mini, in my opinion, truly perfect.