The event held by Apple yesterday is going to give a lot to talk about over the next few weeks. It cannot be otherwise after presenting a lot of news related to the hardware of the bitten apple in just over two hours. When it comes to tablets, the main protagonist was the iPad Pro, the tablet for professional use that became the highlight of the event. But we cannot forget that those of Cupertino they also presented an iPad mini 4, even if it was on tiptoe. In the following lines we are going to develop a comparison with the model it replaces, the iPad mini 3, to see what has improved and whether or not this update is sufficient to return the range to the place it has always been.
We will agree that the iPad mini 3 was one of the biggest disappointments in Apple's history. The company led by Tim Cook decided that the new 6-inch iPhone 5,5 Plus should capture as many sales as possible and for that, they abandoned the 7,9-inch iPad mini range, with a third generation that only brought two novelties: the gold color and the Touch ID. Things got worse compared to the slew of interesting changes the iPad Air 2 received, which put the iPad mini 4 in the spotlight this year, especially after the rumors that it could be the last of its kind.
The way to present it, very briefly and giving it zero weight in the passing of the conference, next to the fact that he was not even present at the subsequent exhibition where attendees could test the new equipment, it already tells us that Apple does not have much faith in the device that will replace the iPad mini 3 in its catalog (last year's model disappears directly, you can see how Apple's offer remains here). With all this, we begin the comparison.
Thinner
The iPad mini 4 is what the iPad mini 3 should have been, in every way. Some previous rumors already said it, it will be a kind of reduced-size iPad Air 2 and the forecasts have been fulfilled. Therefore, we do not have important changes in the aesthetic section, the fourth generation looks practically the same as the third and very similar to the second and even the first. Apple has maintained its aesthetics, distinctive of the brand and very premium, over the years improving some details such as the incorporation of Touch ID, which is once again available on the front button, or the reduction in thickness, which this year goes from 7,5 to 6,1 millimeters (dimensions of 20 x 13,47 cm and 299 grams of weight).
Screen with integral lamination
This change is possible thanks to the introduction of the screen with integra laminationl (combines the glass cover, touch sensor and LCD in one) which improves vivid color reproduction, contrast and image sharpness even though the size and resolution of the panel are the same, 7,9 inches and 2.048 x 1.536 pixels for a density of 324 dpi.
More powerful
Yesterday the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus were presented, both with an A9 chip, the iPad Pro was also announced, which will arrive next November with the improved version of this, the A9X. But neither of them is mounted by the iPad mini 4 that Settles for 8GHz tri-core A1,5X. It is an important leap from the A7 of the iPad mini 3, yes, but it is still a chip from last year (it was released by the iPad Air 2) which leaves us with a bittersweet taste. The RAM is doubled, and it goes from 1 GB that the iPad mini 3 had to 2 GB, so multitasking will be smoother, especially now that you have the feature available "Split View" that allows you to run two applications simultaneously on the screen. For internal storage, we still have three options: 16, 64 and 128 GB.
Best camera
The iPad mini 4's camera is significantly better than the iPad mini 3's, and not just because iSight sensor is now 8 megapixels instead of 5 but for a global improvement of the capabilities that place it at the level of the iPhone 6. It has automatic focus, f2.4 aperture, five-element lens, hybrid infrared filter, back lighting, improved face detection, exposure control and timer, burst and panorama modes up to 43 megapixels. It records video in Full HD, with video stabilizer, in slow motion (120 fps), with time-lapse and has a three-fold zoom. The front camera, however, is still 1,2 megapixels.
Price and conclusions
The rest of the news is provided by iOS 9, there is little to note about the battery (they are limited to saying that the iPad mini 4 will have a range of 10 hours of Internet browsing via Wi-Fi and video or music playback, the same figure that was guaranteed with the iPad mini 3) or connectivity (a high-end equipment that will continue to have everything we can hope for).
Therefore, we go directly to the price. As we said, the iPad mini 4 is not a successor as such to the iPad mini 3 but rather a substitute, so its price is still 399 dollars / euros (version with 16 GB and only WiFi). Does it live up to expectations? Yes, but we weren't expecting too much. We can say that the price is now more justified, but we cannot help but think that he is a year late. In its day it would have been a very good update to the iPad mini range, but now we have our doubts that it will work. Of course, the fact that yesterday they did not present an iPad Air 3 helps it not to seem, again, an "outdated" device.