Introduction
Rejoice iPad mini fans, the smallest Apple tablet has just gotten its biggest upgrade to date! There is so much new stuff - a larger screen in a smaller body, the latest A15 Bionic chip with 5G, new cameras, new USB-C port, new Touch ID, and oh, a brand-new design, of course. Meet the sixth gen iPad mini!
It's been two and a half years since the last iPad mini and nine years since the first one, but the wait was totally worth it! For the first time since the original, the iPad mini has changed its shape and display size. The recent Apple iPhones and iPad Pro tablets are the inspiration behind the new design - it adopts the same flat sides and flat frames.
The screen has a new aspect ratio of 3:2 and a longer diagonal of 8.3-inch. And it is now a Liquid Retina unit with wide-color support, yet another first for the mini. It also comes with True Tone and the usual oleophobic coating on top of its tempered glass.
The Apple A15 Bionic chip from the latest iPhone 13 series powers the iPad mini, too. It's a massive jump over the previous A12 Bionic and should make the iPad mini one of the most powerful slates on the market right now.
There are all new cameras on this mini, too. The front one is a 12MP ultrawide camera with a 14mm f/2.4 lens that supports the cool Center Stage feature. There is also a new 12MP rear camera with Smart HDR3 and up to 4K at 60fps video capturing.
There are stereo speakers on the sixth iPad mini, you also get 20W fast charging, and there is a new Touch ID sensor, now side-mounted on the power key.
We also want to mention the switch to USB-C port, which may be rendering all Lighting accessories useless, but it opens the door to a whole new world. There is also bad news with this transition - the 3.5mm jack is now gone for good.
Finally, there is one upgrade you cannot really tell - the iPad mini (2021) supports the second-gen Apple Pencil, and there is a magnetic charging spot on its frame. The stylus is absurdly expensive at €135, though, so we can't imagine many people getting it if they went for this €550 tablet.
Apple iPad mini (2021) specs at a glance:
- Body: 195.4x134.8x6.3mm, 293g; Glass front, aluminum back, aluminum frame; Stylus support (2nd gen only).
- Display: 8.30" Liquid Retina IPS LCD, 500 nits (typ), 1488x2266px resolution, 13.71:9 aspect ratio, 327ppi; Wide color gamut, True-tone.
- Chipset: Apple A15 Bionic (5 nm): Hexa-core (2x2.93 GHz + 4xX.X GHz); Apple GPU (5-core).
- Memory: 64GB 4GB RAM, 256GB 4GB RAM.
- OS/Software: iPadOS 15.
- Rear camera: 12 MP, f/1.8, (wide), AF.
- Front camera: 12 MP, f/2.4, 122˚ (ultrawide).
- Video capture: Rear camera: 4K@24/25/30/60fps, 1080p@25/30/60/120/240fps; gyro-EIS; Front camera: 1080p@25/30/60fps, gyro-EIS.
- Battery: 5078mAh; 20W fast charging.
- Misc: Fingerprint reader (side-mounted); Siri natural language commands and dictation.
The sixth iPad mini is a really nice tablet though we can't but miss HDR support for the display. The new screen is alright, and we do appreciate the wide color support, but HDR10 and/or Dolby Vision would have made it so much better. We guess Apple had to leave out something that will come with the seventh iPad mini, and while we do not agree with that, it's the Apple way.
Unboxing the Apple iPad mini (2021)
The Apple iPad mini (2021) comes packed in a white box, which contains the tablet itself, a USB-C cable and a 20W power adapter.
It's nice to see that Apple hasn't made the iPad bundles charger-less, at least not yet, though we fear the day is just around the corner.
Design, build quality, handling
Imagine the iPhone 13 but stretched and voila - you get the iPad mini 6. And this is a genuine compliment, as the latest iPhone design may not be everyone's favorite, but it feels just right on a tablet.
The sixth iPad mini is breaking the mold, and for the first time since the "mini" inception, we are witnessing a display swap. Here is what happened - the front Touch ID/Home key is gone, the screen aspect has changed from 4:3 to 3:2, and its diagonal grew larger up to 8.3", while the metal body has shrunk. Indeed, it's a lot to take in.
In fact, the iPad mini looks quite modern and we just love the smaller screen bezels, which are now equally thin across all four sides. This is what allows the screen to grow, and yet the iPad can keep the same compact body. Well, this and the new aspect ratio, of course.
So, the iPad mini uses a cool aluminum unibody with a flat back and flat frame. The only curves you can see are the four rounded corners, like all recent Apple designs. And yes, the iPad mini can stand on its own since we know you'd never ask.
We bought the new Purple color, and it's lovely - not too flashy, more like subtly fresh. You can also get the iPad mini in pink or in the traditional white and gray colors (officially called Starlight and Space Gray). The brushed finish of the aluminum is still prone to fingerprints and smudges; it just takes more time for their accumulation. If you don't like seeing these unpleasantries, you should opt for a brighter color like white or pink.
The front is home to the new 8.3" IPS LCD Liquid Retina display, up from 7.9" diagonal on the previous iPad mini models. It has a smaller frame as there is no Touch ID/Home button and is now with rounded corners. We would have liked an improved LCD panel with HDR, but it is what it is.
There is a 12MP camera that's barely noticeable above the screen - it's a massive upgrade over the old snapper, with a 14mm ultrawide-angle lens and support for the innovative Center Stage feature.
The display panel is protected with flat tempered glass, which has an additional oleophobic coating for better fingerprint resistance. Not that it eliminates fingerprints, of course, but it is incredibly easy to wipe them clean with the back of your shirt, or even your palm.
The only major interruption on the back is the 12MP rear camera, yet another update over the old iPad mini and its 8MP snapper. The lens is jutting out a little bit, but it won't make the new iPad mini wobble when used on a desk.
Below the camera, you can also spot one of the microphones and a quad-LED flash.
Now, let's look around the sides. For the sake of consistency, we'd explore them as if the iPad mini was handled in portrait orientation.
The left part of the tablet is completely bare, with no controls here.
On the right, you can clearly see the magnetic charger/holder for the Apple Pencil, and this is the only place the pencil clicks should you decide on buying this overpriced stylus.
Left side • Right side
The sixth-generation iPad mini is finally making the stereo speakers matter. The old models had the two speakers at the bottom, around the connectivity port, and even if they were stereo, the experience wasn't right.
Now, this iPad mini has a proper setup - one speaker at the top and one at the bottom, each behind two grilles. And when you hold the iPad mini in landscape orientation for movies, music or games, you'd experience rich and loud stereo sound.
Also, at the top you will find the two volume keys and the Power/Lock button. The latter is also accommodating the Touch ID, and while it' was a bit awkward at first, we eventually grew to like its position and found it convenient. Plus, it's always-on and incredibly fast.
The bottom has the new USB-C port between the two speaker grilles.
Handling the new iPad mini is a joyful experience if you like compact tablets, that is. It's amazingly comfortable and lightweight, with outstanding grip, and it can even fit in some cargo pants' large pockets. We did love every minute spent using it, and design-wise, it gets an excellent mark.
Finally, it's time to reminiscence on the iPad mini series.
While the latest iPad mini has a taller screen than the previous models, it is a bit narrower by 5-6mm - that's because Apple changed the screen aspect from 4:3 to 3:2.
But did we miss these lost pixels? No, we did not. We couldn't really tell the difference until we put the two iPad mini slates side by side. And to be honest, the new mini has a wider aspect that is better fit for watching movies or TV shows. So, we think that Apple has made the right choice and has pushed the iPad mini onto a new, better path.
The mini gets an 8.3" Liquid Retina screen
One of the most notable changes on the iPad mini (2021) is the new Liquid Retina screen with a larger 8.3-inch diagonal and wider 3:2 aspect ratio. This is a welcome change, but it is also really great that Apple has managed to keep the size of the iPad mini relatively the same; in fact, it is 8mm narrower.
So, the Apple iPad mini 6th generation packs an 8.3-inch IPS LCD screen of 2,266 x 1,488 pixels or the usual 326ppi "retina" density. The panel is fully laminated and supports wide color, like the iPad mini 5, but it now has trendy rounded corners.
The iPad mini 6 screen also supports True Tone adjustments.
Apple promises 500 nits of typical (max) brightness on the iPad mini 6. We've completed our usual display measurements, and we measured 518nits of max brightness on this iPad screen. Combined with the decent blacks, the overall contrast ratio is excellent at 1325:1.
The minimum brightness is impressively low at 1.9 nits.
| Display test | 100% brightness | ||
| Black, |
White, |
||
| 0.391 | 518 | 1325:1 | |
| 0.51 | 458 | 812:1 | |
| 0.65 | 515 | 799:1 | |
| 0.457 | 513 | 1123:1 | |
| 0.53 | 508 | 964:1 | |
| 0.44 | 458 | 1048:1 | |
| 0.47 | 625 | 1330:1 | |
| 0 | 388 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 484 | ∞ | |
| 0.229 | 432 | 1886:1 | |
| 0.282 | 522 | 1851:1 | |
| 0.376 | 478 | 1271:1 | |
| 0.26 | 404 | 1554:1 | |
| 0.292 | 455 | 1558:1 | |
The iPad mini (2021) screen offers excellent color accuracy - we measured an average deltaE of 1.2 against sRGB targets. The screen fully supports DCI-P3, and it automatically switches to this gamma when DCI-P3 content is sent to the screen.
Now, let's talk about the jelly effect when scrolling in portrait mode. It is there, we can confirm that. The left part of the screen scrolls a bit faster than the right one, and this is what many call wavy or jelly-like effect.
Apple says this is normal for LCD screens, here is the company's statement:
"Because these screens do refresh line by line, there is a tiny delay between when the lines at the top of the screen and lines at the bottom are refreshed. This can cause uneven scrolling issues like the ones observed on the iPad."
This is indeed true - the screen works this way, and the jelly effect is a result of that. It's not fixable as that's how the technology works. The question everyone should be asking is if it was avoidable and if Apple decided on cheaping out on display panels. We cannot be sure but it seems so because we haven't observed this behavior on any of the recent tablets we've reviewed.
So, the jelly effect is present on the iPad mini (2021). You need to decide whether it will be an issue for you when browsing sites in portrait mode or not. Some of our editors say they can live with it. Others claim it annoys them big time.
This is not the first large screen with a similar issue, but because it's on such a popular tablet, it's making the rounds across the news sections.
Battery life
The sixth-generation iPad mini has the same battery as the old one - a 5,124mAh cell. It supports fast charging via a 20W power adapter.
Apple promises 10 hours of web browsing or video playback for this iPad mini, the same as on the iPad mini 5 and iPad mini 4 models. Well, our battery life test confirms these are 100% true statements. Indeed, the iPad mini 6 clocked 10 hours and 43 minutes on our web browsing test and 10 hours on the video playback test.
Charging speed
The Apple iPad mini 6 supports fast charging via USB Power Delivery power adapters, with a maximum of about 25W power. Apple is shipping the tablet with its 20W charger, so you don't need to purchase anything.
So, if you plug the iPad in Apple's bundled 20W charger, it will refill 35% of its dead battery in half an hour.
30min charging test (from 0%)
Higher is better
- Apple iPad mini (2021)
35% - Xiaomi Pad 5
27% - Apple iPad 10.2 (2021)
24% - Realme Pad
23% - Apple iPad Pro 12.9 (2018)
20% - Samsung Galaxy Tab S7+
18% - Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 FE
18%
One hour of charging takes you at about 70%, while a full charge requires a couple minutes shy of 2 hours - not bad.
Time to full charge (from 0%)
Lower is better
- Apple iPad mini (2021)
1:57h - Xiaomi Pad 5
2:00h - Apple iPad 10.2 (2021)
2:45h - Realme Pad
2:55h - Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 FE
3:05h - Apple iPad Pro 12.9 (2018)
3:30h - Samsung Galaxy Tab S7+
3:35h
Speakers
The Apple iPad mini (2021) is not the first one with stereo speakers, but it is the first one to position them correctly. See, the previous models had both speakers placed on one side, symmetrically across the USB port. That's not doing much to deliver stereo sound, doesn't it?
But this new iPad mini finally rectifies this nonsense and has a speaker on each short side, a landscape stereo setup if you will. Both speakers are behind two grilles each and deliver incredibly rich sound.
The setup scored an Average mark on our loudness test, but as with most of Apple's recent devices, the iPad delivers outstanding sound quality with good bass, well-presented vocals and pleasant high tones.
Use the Playback controls to listen to the phone sample recordings (best use headphones). We measure the average loudness of the speakers in LUFS. A lower absolute value means a louder sound. A look at the frequency response chart will tell you how far off the ideal "0db" flat line is the reproduction of the bass, treble, and mid frequencies. You can add more phones to compare how they differ. The scores and ratings are not comparable with our older loudspeaker test. Learn more about how we test here.
Apple iPadOS 15
The newest iPad runs on the latest iPadOS out of the box. Apple renamed iOS for iPad back in 2019 as it has become much more powerful, a symbolic gesture but a necessary one for sure.
The iPads now offer more sophisticated multi-tasking, USB-C accessories compatibility, desktop-oriented Safari, Sidecar option and expanded mouse, keyboard, trackpad and Apple Pencil support. So yes, a new OS name was due, and iPadOS is a fitting one.
The iPadOS interface is still based on homescreens populated with apps and widgets, App Library for your less important apps, and Notification and Control Centers.
The lockscreen on the iPad mini is as simple as possible - it shows the time and the date. Yet, it can be powerful if you give Lockscreen access to some or all features it supports. For example, if you swipe up, you will bring the Notification Center, while a swipe down shows the Spotlight search and quick shortcuts. Swipe right, and Today page shows up, swipe left, and you are in Camera. Finally, you can also enable the Control Center - it's summoned with a swipe down from around the top left part of the screen. It's cool you can decide the range of your privacy.
Lockscreen(s)
The TouchID sensor is now placed on the Lock key, and it is incredibly fast and with superb accuracy. If secure unlock is enabled, you won't be able to pass the lockscreen no matter what features you've enabled on it. Sure, quick search works, you can see some notifications and widgets, even take a picture, but you are still locked from the core OS functions.
Your apps usually populate the homescreen(s) with apps and various size widgets (single or stacked). There are two specific screens - the leftmost is the Today page, while the rightmost page - App Library.
You can hide specific homescreens dynamically - you may have a page that's full of games and hide when at work or hide a page of work/school apps when on vacation. You can't opt-out of Today and App Library, though.
Homescreen • Homescreen • App Library • Today
The App Library is an app drawer, which is always your rightmost homescreen pane. Apps are added automatically to the App Library upon installation. The sorting is also an automatic process, and you can't edit the categories or move apps into different categories. The app sorting depends on the App Store tags the developer has used upon uploading the apps.
The Today page is still alive, but barely. You put the same widgets and stacks you can on your homescreen(s). Here you can also use the old third-party widgets that haven't been optimized yet for newer iOS versions. The old widgets come right after the new ones, should you choose to use some new ones, of course.
The Notification Center is summoned with a swipe from the left part of the top status bar. The Control Center, which has customizable and (some) expandable toggles, is called with a swipe from the right part of the status bar.
Tap and hold works as quick actions on various apps throughout the homescreens and the Dock.
Notification Center • Control Center • Tap and Hold for quick shortcuts
The navigation gestures stay the same as they were on the iPhone X, though on the iPadOS you also have a dock gesture. Swipe quickly upwards from the bottom line to close an app or swipe slowly to pull up the Dock for multi-tasking.
Then you can swipe and stop midway for task switcher, swipe from the side of the screen for back and forward. You can also swipe on the line left or right to switch to your recently used apps instantaneously.
Dock within app • Swipe between apps • Task Switcher
The Dock is always visible across the homescreens, and it can accommodate up to 12 app shortcuts for quick access. You can opt for 'Suggested and Recent apps' in the Dock, where you can see the last few apps you've used. You can also allow App Library shortcut on the Dock, too.
The Dock is an all-powerful tool for multi-tasking - when you are working with an app in full-screen, you can summon the dock and drag and drop an icon to open in floating window, which you can snap left or right. This is called 'Slide over' as it is a sliding app. 'Slide over' opened apps appear in the Task Switcher next to the full-screen ones.
Dock options • Slide over
You can also use Split Screen - just tap on the three dots on any full-screen app - be it in slide over mode or not, larger Snap Left/Right icon. It's a bit confusing at first, but give it some time, and you'll get it. Split View can also be made from within the Task Switcher by dragging one app over another.
Split screen
And while we are on it, there is also a new option called Center Window - you can open an email or a note in a separate, more focused window without leaving the app itself. It's like launching a second instance of the said app. You can open a lot of separate windows, and when you minimize one, you will see a row with all windows you've opened - you can close them from here. This should be useful in more complex apps, like the multiple page Mail app.
Center Window
There is a system-wide Dark Mode. You can enable it manually or schedule it from within Display Settings, and it switches to dark all-white backgrounds across iPadOS. The Dark Mode affects all system apps but also apps that rely on system backgrounds. You can also check the option to darken the homescreen wallpaper when in Dark Mode.
Dark Mode
Some of the novelties that come with Apple iPadOS 15 include better FaceTime service, smarter Spotlight search engine, Focus modes, improved Safari browser.
The new FaceTime app looks more and more like Zoom, and it now supports Grid view! It has a cleaner interface, supports background blur, spatial audio, and most importantly - it can make conference calls, and non-Apple users can join the fun, too, by using an invite link and Chrome of Edge web browser.
The Apple users can enhance their microphone with Voice Isolation or Wide Spectrum and let others hear them much better. Oh, and the iPad mini also supports Center Stage, so you will be at the center of the camera even when you move - which is really cool if you are making a presentation to a group of people.
FaceTime
There is also SharePlay - this lets you use, listen or watch content with other FaceTime participants. You can share any Apple TV+ or Apple Music track over a FaceTime call. You can watch or listen via AirPlay on your AirPlay-compatible TV, too. This feature will come later in 2021.
SharePlay
Notifications got a design overhaul and a few new features. The appearance of notifications is tweaked for better visibility, like a larger contact icon, and iOS notifications will be more granular. But most importantly, there is this new feature called Focus.
You can set "Focus" profiles that filter the priority notifications while you're working or gaming, for instance, and it will also let people know if they can reach you. In addition to filtering notifications and calls, each Focus mode can be configured to show/hide certain homescreens, dim the lockscreen, and schedule or trigger this mode by certain events. There are a few pre-defined Focus modes - Do Not Disturb, Driving, Night, Work, Pleasure, but you can also add Gaming, Fitness, Reading or create entirely custom ones.
Focus
And because the Focus modes filter notifications by importance, there is a new Notification Summary option that shows a single tile of gathered unimportant notifications rather than a long string of missed ones. It can be scheduled to pop up a few times per day.
Notification summary
The Safari web browser has seen quite the upgrade, and it will now open the desktop view of websites by default. You can organize different tabs into groups, and this way, the tabs won't be as messy as before. There is also a new Voice Search within the browser.
You can open tabs in Split View, too.
Safari
The biggest update is probably the Safari extensions support - you can download such from the App Store.
Download an extension • Extension settings • Using the QR extension
Siri - Apple's digital assistant - is used by 400+ million people monthly. You summon it by holding the Power key. You can do all sorts of things with Siri - from questions and translations through setting up reminders and sending replies to asking for reservations or tickets, directions, and whatnot. Siri Knowledge also lets your iPhone recognize items and landmarks in your gallery.
Siri Shortcuts are available within a standalone app. You can assign a shortcut to so many things that it will take many pages to describe them. You can script almost anything available within iPadOS itself, a lot of stuff from within the system apps, and some advanced actions from any well-known apps such as YouTube or Facebook. The scripting options are also available throughout various system apps, allowing you to activate reminders, initiate calls, and switch to different notification modes via scripted events.
Siri UI • Siri answer • Siri shortcuts
PiP or Picture-in-Picture mode is supported on the iPad mini, and it does precisely what the name suggests - minimizes your currently playing video within a hovering pop-up over the iOS UI or other apps.
PiP is supported in Apple TV, Podcasts, Safari, FaceTime, iTunes, Home, YouTube, and any other third-party app that chooses to add support for it.
The multimedia is handled by Apple's default apps - Photos, Music, TV.
The Photos app's library has four different views - Years, Months, Days, and All Photos. Days, Months, and Years tabs use what the AI considers as best pictures at a glance, and this way, all the clutter gets filtered - you won't see screenshots, notes, or even duplicates. When you scroll through your images in these three categories, all live photos and videos will play automatically (muted). Also, your best photos or videos will show in bigger thumbnails.
AI-powered search option and powerful photo and video edit modes are available, as usual.
The Photos app has three new features, part of the iOS 15 update. The first one is the new album called Shared with me, where you'd find images that were shared with you in iMessages.
Apple has improved the Memories feature by making it more intelligent and powerful - the algorithm selects the best (live) photos and videos and makes a short film, which now uses automatic color and contrast correction for a consistent look and features integration with Apple Music by choosing a relevant song automatically for the film. You can edit this auto-generated film later, of course.
Finally, the Photos app offers detailed information for each photo - full EXIF info and location on the map.
Photos
The TV app is part of iOS 15, and it is your default video player for locally stored movies and shows you've added via iTunes. This is also the digital store for movies and TV shows, and it is also the place where you find the Apple TV+ streaming service. A bit overwhelming, but you get used to it eventually.
TV
Music is the default player, and it relies heavily on Apple Music. But even if you decide not to use the streaming service, it can still do an excellent job if you have a few minutes to add your songs via iTunes. Realistically, adding music tracks via iTunes requires as few clicks as it would take to copy them via Windows Explorer, so there is no overhead. The requirement to download and install iTunes in the first place, however, can be off-putting to Windows PC users.
Music
The iPadOS 15's Photos now supports Live Text feature - if you see a text icon and tap on it, you will be able to (scan and) copy or look up the text you are seeing. You can even translate that text. Neat!
Live text
Books are here for your documents, PDFs, and eBooks. Stocks and News are onboard.
Apple Maps is available, but we doubt many people will use it for navigation. It has many interactive modes though, so browsing through different cities and landmarks is a nice way to kill some time.
Finally, App Privacy report is something Android users have known for a long time - you will be able to see which apps have access and have been using that access to microphones, camera, location and your photos. Just like SharePlay, it will come later in 2021.
Apple Pencil and Sidecar support
If you like taking notes on the go and you are good in sketching and drawing, maybe you will also appreciate the Apple Pencil support, now bumped to Generation 2. It attaches magnetically on the side and recharges automatically.
You can write and draw within the Notes app, add markup on photos, or maybe even draw within apps like Adobe Fresco.
Apple iPadOS 15 also brings a new feature called Quick Note. It does exactly what the name suggests - it brings a pop-up window where you can take a quick note. You can draw, but you can also put whatever on it - web links, tags, and a number of mentions to events or people.
You can start a quick note from the Control Center, from a keyboard shortcut, you can also swipe from the corner using the Pencil or your finger.
Quick Note(s)
There is also the Sidecar feature, which requires a compatible Mac (models released in 2016 or later). If you have such Mac, you can use the Apple iPad mini as a second display - mirrored or extended.
You can drag windows in extended more just like you would do on a real monitor. It's a cool feature for when needing more screen estate to do your complex work.
Performance and benchmarks
One of the best features of this new iPad mini is its heart - the Apple A15 Bionic chip, the same one powering the latest iPhone 13 models. It is manufactured on a second-gen 5nm TSMC process and packs the whopping 15 billion transistors.
The A15 chip relies on a hexa-core processor with 2 big Avalanche cores clocked at 2.93GHz and 4 small Blizzard cores working at 1.82GHz. The high-speed cores work at a slightly lower clock speed on the iPad instead of the 3.23GHz on the iPhone 13 series.
There is a 5-core Apple GPU for the iPad mini, the same found within the iPhone 13 Pro devices.
The new A15 has a new 16 core Neural Engine, too, powering features such as on-device voice and image recognition and other advanced machine learning tasks. On top of that, there is a new ISP on board, twice the amount of cache, as well as a new display engine and new video encoders and decoders.
The iPad mini (2021) has 4GB of RAM and can be purchased in 64GB and 256GB options. You can also choose between Wi-Fi-only and 5G Cellular versions, with the latter employing Qualcomm's X60 5G modem.
We ran the usual benchmark apps, and quite expectedly, the Apple A15 Bionic processor aced them all. The single-core performance is incredible, which matters quite a lot during OS interactions and basic operations.
GeekBench 5 (multi-core)
Higher is better
- Apple iPad Pro 12.9 (2020)
4709 - Apple iPad mini (2021)
4476 - Apple iPad 10.2 (2021)
3124 - Samsung Galaxy Tab S7+
2690 - Xiaomi Pad 5
2583 - Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 FE
1904
GeekBench 5 (single-core)
Higher is better
- Apple iPad mini (2021)
1587 - Apple iPad 10.2 (2021)
1328 - Apple iPad Pro 12.9 (2020)
1121 - Samsung Galaxy Tab S7+
959 - Xiaomi Pad 5
743 - Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 FE
615
The 5-core Apple GPU is incredibly powerful, and for such a small tablet with a 60Hz screen, it is, in fact, overqualified for the job. Oh, and yes, it is one of the most powerful mobile GPUs in the world right now.
GFX Car Chase ES 3.1 (offscreen 1080p)
Higher is better
- Apple iPad mini (2021)
108 - Apple iPad 10.2 (2021)
70 - Samsung Galaxy Tab S7+
54 - Xiaomi Pad 5
46 - Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 FE
19
GFX Car Chase ES 3.1 (onscreen)
Higher is better
- Apple iPad mini (2021)
60 - Apple iPad 10.2 (2021)
44 - Xiaomi Pad 5
24 - Samsung Galaxy Tab S7+
24 - Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 FE
9.7
3DMark Wild Life Vulkan 1.1 (offscreen 1440p)
Higher is better
- Apple iPad mini (2021)
9092 - Apple iPad 10.2 (2021)
7537 - Samsung Galaxy Tab S7+
4126 - Xiaomi Pad 5
3396 - Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 FE
1092
AnTuTu also says the iPad mini seems to be one of the most powerful tablets to this very day.
GFX Car Chase ES 3.1 (offscreen 1080p)
Higher is better
- Apple iPad mini (2021)
108 - Apple iPad 10.2 (2021)
70 - Samsung Galaxy Tab S7+
54 - Xiaomi Pad 5
46 - Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 FE
19
GFX Car Chase ES 3.1 (onscreen)
Higher is better
- Apple iPad mini (2021)
60 - Apple iPad 10.2 (2021)
44 - Xiaomi Pad 5
24 - Samsung Galaxy Tab S7+
24 - Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 FE
9.7
3DMark Wild Life Vulkan 1.1 (offscreen 1440p)
Higher is better
- Apple iPad mini (2021)
9092 - Apple iPad 10.2 (2021)
7537 - Samsung Galaxy Tab S7+
4126 - Xiaomi Pad 5
3396 - Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 FE
1092
The new Apple A15 Bionic chip is doing an amazing job in terms of performance, and it can handle anything. The CPU and GPU are so powerful, overly powerful for this moment anyway. This means if you get this iPad mini, it should be up for whatever task for the next 2-3-4 of years.
It also offers great sustained performance - it throttled down to 88% in 3D Mark Stress Test and 79% in the APSI CPU stress test.
3D Mark • APSI Bench
The iPad mini is all metal and cools very well even when using 100% of its hardware (which rarely happens). It doesn't get hot, just warm at one of its sides, and that's it.
Upgraded cameras with new sensors, new lenses, Center Stage
The latest iPad mini upgrades both the front and rear camera and should be offering better quality when shooting photos and videos and incredibly powerful experience when making FaceTime calls.
There is a new 12MP camera on the back with a 29mm f/1.8 lens and autofocus. It can capture up to 4K videos with 60fps.
There is also an all-new 12MP front camera for selfies and video calls. It features a new 14mm f/2.4 ultrawide-angle lens and supports the cool Center Stage option. The focus is fixed, while videos are captured at up to 1080p with 60fps.
Let's talk about Center Stage. It works in FaceTime video calls and makes use of the new wide lens when. The tablet can zoom in and pan to keep you in the center of the frame. And if someone else enters into the frame, Center Stage will zoom out so that both of you are visible.
We tested Center Stage, and it indeed works as promised. Here is a short demo video.
The camera interface remains unchanged from the older iPads. You can switch between modes by a simple swipe, and when shooting stills, you can adjust the exposure compensation with a tap and slide. There's a front/rear camera toggle, as well as a shortcut to the gallery.
The camera supports Smart HDR 3 for Photos. You can enjoy cinematic stabilization across all video modes, while expanded dynamic range is available only in 30fps capturing.
Photo quality
The 12MP photos from the rear camera shot on this beautiful sunny day are great - they are sharp, have good dynamic range, and have outstanding color accuracy and white balance.
There is plenty of resolved detail, though the foliage is often hit-or-miss once again. This is valid across all Apple devices, unfortunately.
The noise levels are a bit higher than we'd expected them to be, but we suspect that's because Apple decided on gentler noise reduction, which will not smear intricate detail.
Overall, we are happy with the daylight photos.
Rear camera, 12MP
The 12MP low-light photos are acceptable, in fact, they turned out better than we expected. There resolved detail is enough for such images; the contrast is good, and the noise, even if high, doesn't ruin the whole thing.
The photos are a bit desaturated and with rather low dynamic range, but we shot a lot of them and got zero blurry photos - they are all the same - sharp and perfectly usable.
There is no Night Mode on the iPad mini. No Portrait Mode either.
Rear camera low-light, 12MP
The front-facing camera has a 12MP sensor behind a 14mm f/2.4 lens. It offers Retina flash, where your screen lights your face up in a particular color to provide more pleasing skin tones based on the color of the ambient light.
The interface for the front camera always defaults to the zoomed view, which corresponds to 28mm-ish, or 2x over the ultrawide (14mm) option.
So, if you decide to capture selfie photos in ultrawide mode, you will end up with one of the best ultrawide selfies we've seen to this date, even if we look awkward on them. There is plenty of detail, great contrast and once again - superb color presentation. The dynamic range is good, and the noise is low to tolerable in not ideal light conditions.
Front camera wide mode, 12MP
The default zoom view crops the center of the ultrawide images and then upscales it back to 12MP. And that's why the 12MP zoomed selfies are pixelated and looking poor. They do share the rest of the good stuff with the ultrawide images, of course.
Front camera zoomed mode, 12MP
Video quality
The Apple iPad mini (2021) captures videos up to 4K at 60fps with its rear camera and up to 1080p at 60fps with the front snapper. All videos are digitally stabilized, while the 30fps ones also offer an expanded dynamic range.
Audio is captured mono, though it's pretty rich with good bass.
The 4K clips from the rear camera are outstanding - detail is abundant, the sharpness is just right, and everything looks natural and balanced. The colors are true to life, the dynamic range is rather good, and the contrast is excellent.
Alternative offers
There aren't many tablets like the Apple iPad mini, and that's one of the reasons it's been so popular since its premiere back in 2012. The smaller tablets are a niche that Apple has dominated for years, and the 8-inch Android slates have never been much of a competition since they are mostly entry-level devices.
The latest iPad mini gets a lot of things right - the updated screen size and aspect change are very much welcome, the new design is cool, and the A15 Bionic with optional 5G connectivity is a game-changer. It finally offers properly positioned speakers, there is a standard USB-C port, and the camera upgrades are significant, too.
The first alternative offer that comes to mind is the entry-level Apple iPad 10.2, which was refreshed together with the iPad mini. It has a larger display, but it's inferior in sharpness and doesn't support wide color. It still impresses with performance and has the new 12MP Center Stage front camera, plus it can handle Apple Pencil 1st Gen. The larger iPad 10.2 is €170 cheaper than the mini, so if you are after a budget Apple tablet with a larger screen and you don't mind the lower pixel density, this iPad 10.2 is a very good alternative.
We immediately think of the Xiaomi Pad 5 when we need to recommend a more compact tablet. It's an 11-inch tablet with a similar design, and it offers a superb Dolby Vision screen, powerful hardware, better Dolby Atmos speakers, plus it also supports an optional Smart Pen. The Pad 5 runs on Android with clean MIUI on top, which could be a deal-breaker for longtime Apple users. The Pad 5 is about €180 cheaper, and it's worth considering.
Finally, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 costs and much as the iPad mini, and it is an all-powerful tablet that comes bundled with the most advanced S-Pen. The Tab S7 offers an 11" HDR10 LCD screen, one of the most powerful Android chipsets, four speakers, capable cameras, and a large battery. It is one of the best tablets for drawing with the S-Pen and one of the most versatile devices, thanks to its unique DeX support.
Apple iPad 10.2 (2021) • Xiaomi Pad 5 • Samsung Galaxy Tab S7
Our verdict
The new Apple iPad mini is a great little tablet - it has a bright 8.3-inch display with good contrast, proper stereo speakers and one of the most powerful chipsets - things that make the iPad mini a superb multimedia and gaming device.
The sixth-generation iPad mini also brings Apple Pencil 2 support, this new cool design, and the universal USB-C port that opens a door for many third-party accessories. The tablet can also be used as a second screen to any modern Mac thanks to Sidecar support.
Finally, the good battery life and the access to the rich Apple AppStore can easily sell this iPad mini well.
It's not an ideal device, though. First, the screen isn't as great as we'd hoped for - it is not HDR-capable, and there is the jelly effect when scrolling in portrait mode. Then, if you like the Apple Pencil experience, you need to spend €135 extra for this stylus, which is outrageously expensive.
Lastly, Apple iPadOS may not be everyone's cup of tea because of its more complex file management and other tiny restrictions that pile up eventually. If you decide to get involved in Apple's ecosystem, you really need to be ready to put up with their way of handling things and their walled garden of services.
That is not bad per se - Apple offers great iCloud sync and subscription services, there are many games that run better on iPads, you get at least 5 years of software updates, plus - there is a reason the iPads are the best-selling tablets in the world - Apple pioneered this device and shaped what it needs to do and what - doesn't. And Apple has since abided by these rules, and every iPad has turned successful. Because the iPad was not made to replace your laptop, it was made to ease your day and give you a larger canvas than your phone, and that's what the iPad mini, or any iPad for that matter, does incredibly well.
Pros
- Larger screen and thinner bezels, modern design.
- A powerful chipset, optional 5G.
- Outstanding stereo speakers.
- Dependable battery life.
- Great photo and video quality from either camera.
- Center Stage is cool for video conferencing.
- It's got a USB-C port and the charger comes bundled.
- Apple Pencil support with a magnetic recharging spot.
Cons
- Display does not support HDR, or high refresh rate.
- Annoying screen jelly effect.
- Apple iPadOS remains a love it or leave it affair, multi-tasking is weird at first.
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