Table of contents
🤖
AI-generated summary
🕰️ A lazy update
The iPad mini has never been the star of the lineup. It gets updated roughly every three years, and the 2024 edition is no exception. The result? More of the same with a fresh coat of paint: only the processor has been updated, to ensure compatibility with artificial intelligence.
An AI that’s still nowhere to be seen on Apple devices, by the way… 🤖⏳
👀 A screen that hurts your eyes
If you’ve never experienced an OLED screen or 120 Hz, the iPad mini’s display might not bother you.
But for everyone else… it’s genuinely rough. 😬
Personally, I love the size. But I just can’t get used to this screen:
- 🌞 Brightness that falls short compared to Pro models.
- 🔁 Back to 60 Hz? Once you’ve tasted 120 Hz, there’s no going back.
🔐 Still no Face ID (in 2024…)
Yep, still no Face ID…
We’re stuck with Touch ID tucked into the power button. 👆
That might be enough… as long as you’ve never experienced automatic unlock.
And depending on how you hold the iPad, the button changes position. Convenient? Not really. 🤷
🌤️ Nano-texture glass? Forget it.
The iPad mini 7 doesn’t offer the acclaimed nano-texture glass of the iPad Pro M4.
A shame, especially when you see how much that technology improves outdoor reading. 📖🌞
For a tablet that could seriously compete with e-readers, it’s a missed opportunity.
🐌 Slow charging, very slow…
Count on 2 hours 30 minutes for a full charge.
That’s way behind the 2025 standard. 😴🔌
💰 A completely disconnected price
Here are the mini’s prices:
- Wi-Fi 128 GB: €609
- Wi-Fi 256 GB: €739
- +5G: add €170, so €779
😱 Meanwhile, elsewhere in the Apple lineup:
- iPad 11 (2025): €409 for similar performance
- iPad Air M3 (2025): much more powerful, starting at €719
Hard to justify this pricing position…
😡 In conclusion
I’m extremely disappointed by the lack of consideration Apple gives to this tablet.
And yet, the iPad mini could be a brilliant device. In 2024, it deserves better than a half-hearted update.
✍️ Back in 2019 I was already criticizing Apple’s fuzzy strategy in this article … Nothing has changed since, unfortunately.
