“The time for compromises is over. No longer do you have to choose between the iPad you may want and the iPad with the Retina display. The new iPad mini is just as powerful as the iPad Air, both have a Retina display, long battery life, and many other features that make the iPad the best-selling tablet on the market,” Jim Dalrymple writes for The Loop. “As much as I love the Air, I still find myself reaching for the iPad mini. The fact that it didn’t have a Retina display was a sacrifice I was willing to make for the diminutive device. Even when I landed in New York last night, I reached for the mini, even though I had the iPad Air in my bag.”
“I spent some time with the iPad mini when Apple announced the device in October and I picked up the mini on Tuesday in a meeting with Apple,” Dalrymple writes. “It should come as no surprise that the Retina display is absolutely gorgeous. Just looking at the two iPad minis side-by-side, you can see the difference. Of course, images are beautiful and the detail is something you can easily see. With all Retina display devices, it’s not just images that are better – text is so much clearer to read, even from a distance like when you are writing while using an iPad keyboard like I am right now, doing this review.”
Dalrymple writes, “The iPad mini can easily be your only iPad. The fact is, it always could, but you can do so now without feeling like you’re giving something up in return for the size. The iPad mini is small, it has a Retina display and it’s the most powerful iPad to date. There is just nothing bad to say about the iPad mini.”
Read more in the full article here.
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Apple starts online sales of iPad mini with Retina display, no in-store pickup available – November 12, 2013
I find the new Air perfect. I found the iPad 3 a bit heavy, and my wife’s mini a bit small display wise. I am looking forward to seeing the mini retina display, however.
I just received my new iPad Air. It seems so much smaller and lighter then my previous iPads that I feel like I’m going to drop it or break it. It feels like I have a iPad mini in my hands but with a larger screen.
For me, the screen size of the air is perfect but I could see me getting a mini for some functions.
Get Both, it’s totally appropriate .
The iPad mini is my first-choice device. If they make a 5-6″ version, I’d forgo my iPhone completely, saving even more from contracts and pointless voice plans. Of course, at 5-6″, it might be a large iPhone than a small iPad, but as we all know, iPad apps can run iPhone apps, but not the other way around, so I’m secretly hoping that the convergence ends up losing the iPhone platform altogether.
The big iPad makes a better wireless computer monitor (using Air Display). In that one use case, size matters. Maybe for watching movies on a plane too. The mini is better for reading.
“There is nothing bad to say about the iPad mini” except, for some people, the display is too small.
Good to know. Just bought the Mini Retina and listed iPad 3rd Gen on Craigs.
As much as I find myself loving the iPad mini, I find myself reaching for the iPad. I guess its good that there are options.
I just retired my Kindle I got for free when I signed a contract with my cable provider. I found the 7″ display on the Kindle limiting. Most of the apps for it were the phone version blown up to fill the screen. I new I wanted an iPad. After checking out several of my clients 10″ iPads, I felt the device was too heavy for extended use. So I was planning on getting the Mini. That all changed when Apple released the Air. I’m amazed at what Apple was able to squeeze into a one pound device. The weight is perfect, and it’s great having the larger screen of the Air. Great move on Apples part. Unless there’s some compelling reason you need the smaller profile of the Mini, I highly recommend going with the Air. You’ll appreciate the extra real-estate, and many of the reasons to opt with the Mini have become mute.
I like the mini a lot, but I feel like the full-sized (Air) is the right size for me. When I’m sitting on the couch, the full-sized screen of the iPad is perfect (and more so at 1 lb.).
I’m definitely Using the Air more than the old mini right now but that should change when I receive the Retina mini in a few weeks. They’re both great. I use the iPads far more than the iPhone so that’s why I upgraded to the Air and am getting the new mini. For me, these are much more useful devices than the iPhone 5 or the 5S and why I’m still sticking with the 4S. I do think that I’ll be happy with these new iPads for at least a couple of years. They address everything I found lacking or wanting in the earlier iPads.
I think it just goes down to what each of us are using it for. I can think of get reasons I would want each, and both for different reasons. The mini solely for personal consumption better portability. And for me the air to share pictures and data with customers and friends out on the field. But it is still a difficult choice for me to make at to which I will buy.
I think they should make an iPad 10″ w/ retina display.
Maybe a few commercials with Ravel’s “bolero” or Aerosmith’s 10 inch as the musical backdrop.
They do. It’s called the iPad Air.
Or do you mean change the name? In which case that’s not a good idea . . . I’m glad the “maxipad” jokes are finally over with — last thing we need is the best mobile device on the planet being reduced to dick jokes.
Both are incredible devices that are so superior to any of the competition that they’re not even in the same league. Having said that, I went with the Air over the mini because while both now have a gorgeous screen, having the same resolution on the smaller screened mini also makes all of the text and software interface elements smaller. Everything is just easier on the eyes with the slightly larger screen of the Air. And now that the weight difference between the two is less than 1/4 of a pound, there isn’t much of a trade off there like there was in the last generation when the mini weighed less than half as much.
Love my IPad Mini and my Surface! Got two other iPads, one first gen-don’t use much anymore and 3rd gen use not as much as my Mini. Also have a 1st Gen Nexus 7 that is also a great device and gets heavy use. ALL HAVE THERE STRENGTH’S and WEAKNESSES…
The popup ads on MDN are particularly obnoxious today. There’s a Starbucks popup that goes on and on in an endless loop. I though these things were targeted … Starbucks doesn’t even operate in my country!