In this post, I will be unboxing and giving you my first impressions of this small but very powerful tablet, the new and the 6th generation iPad Mini.
Unboxing
So the unboxing process was, as usual, pretty premium and Apple-like style where the box comes in white, with the visuals of the iPad Mini on the front of the box but an interesting drawn design of the word Mini in front. Then at the back, you will find the specs and variant that you have chosen and the color option as well.
Opening the box you will find the iPad Mini immediately over there.
Then underneath, there is a small white card sleeve, where you will find the user guide, the Apple Stickers, and the SIM ejector pin over there as well. Then there is a 20W Charging brick, which I have to say that I love how the 3-pin plug folds into a nice and compact square shape and of course, a USB-C to USB-C cable.
Build Quality
Starting from the design and build, my first impression was how light it was. Even though it has a very high-quality aluminum unibody finish which does give it a very premium feel.
In terms of the design, it has a flat form factor at the sides with curved edges, very reminiscent of the iPad Pro but obviously shrunken down to a smaller form factor, hence the Mini name for this iPad.
At the back, it has a matte finish and an improved single-camera setup, where although it had a little of a camera bump but if you were to type on this iPad mini on a table surface, it won’t wobble at all, which is surely a huge plus, since that is pretty much a must for a tablet.
In terms of color options, the one which I am reviewing as seen on the box is the Starlight which has a tiny little gold tint to it, and it is available in the familiar Space Grey, Pink, and the hero color of the iPad Mini, which is Purple.
Ports & Buttons
Next, looking at the ports and buttons, looking down from a portrait orientation of the tablet, you will find the new change to USB-C 3.1 port and two out of the speakers over there.
The other two is on top, alongside the volume rockers and the touch ID power button, which is such a welcoming feature that I really appreciate and yes, it unlocks very quickly as how Touch ID has always been.
Then finally, you’ll find the SIM ejector slot if you’re using the LTE version.
So yes, besides just being light, I love how the tablet feels at the palm of just a single hand and since I do personally like big-screen smartphones, this new iPad Mini felt like it was an elder sibling of the iPhone 13 Pro Max and yes, that full video review of the iPhone 13 Pro Max and the 13 Pro is coming soon.
Display
Next, looking at the display, keeping things easy and small, it comes with an 8.3-inch Liquid Retina IPS LCD Display, with a resolution of 1488 x 2266 pixels.
What’s nice is that the screen not only looked great immediately upon unboxing the tablet but even at really bright daylight, the screen was very much visible since it has about 500 nits of brightness, making it a perfect companion when you are out and about.
While the refresh rate is at 60 Hz and not as high as its elder sibling the iPad Pro but compared to other 60 Hz screens that I have tested, the screen felt way snappier and nice when using it for several days.
The navigation was also smooth and so was watching videos both on YouTube and Netflix as well, where it supports Dolby Vision on Netflix. The color accuracy on it was also really close to life since it has a P3 wide color gamut and the ultra-low reflection also was a huge plus.
And with this overall size of the screen, it is such a great companion if you are one of those who are going on a long commute to work, where you can have an easy, portable and handy device, which is not too big, neither it’s not too small.
So I am eager to use this tablet daily, to see how well and useful this kind of portable form factor impacts my daily usage.
Camera
In terms of the cameras, the iPad Mini comes with a new camera setup as mentioned earlier, for the rear, there is a 12-megapixel f/1.8 with a True Tone flash, and based on quick test shots it looked really great and nice dynamic range.
As for the front camera, it has a 12-megapixel f/2.4 122-degrees ultra-wide lens.
And if you thought that camera’s spec sounded familiar, yes it does, because it is indeed the same camera as the iPad Pro, which also means that it has Center Stage on it as well, which in case you still haven’t heard of Center Stage, it is when the camera will stay locked to the subject which in this case, if it is you, where it will follow you as you move, which is a feature that I found super useful and have been using during my video calls on the iPad Pro all the time, so it’s nice that it’s here on the new iPad Mini.
Speaking of video, by default the rear camera records up to 1080p but you can adjust the settings to record up to 4k 60 frames per second and the front camera records up to 1080p also up to 60 frames per second as well.
And while the chances of someone taking photos and videos on a tablet is low, compared to a smartphone, I personally think that because of the overall size of the tablet, it is still very much a device that is very sensible to take photos and videos with.
So stay tuned for my full review video which I will test out not only the cameras but the software features in the camera app as well.
Specs
Now onto the specs, like the new iPhone 13 series, it has Apple’s A15 Bionic Chipset, which is built on a 5nm process and a 5-Core GPU. And the variant that I have with me is the LTE, 4 gigabytes of RAM with 256 gigabytes of storage, and WiFi 6.
So yes, I am planning to test the gaming performance on this iPad Mini as well, since I can already imagine how well gaming will be, from a performance and also handling perspective as well, so stay tuned on that too.
In terms of the software, it comes shipped with iPadOS 15 but as of the recording of this video, it is at iPadOS 15.0.2 and yes, there are tons of features that I love about iPadOS 15, which I did mention in the previous video talking about iPadOS 15, but I will continue to test how well it has been optimized on this iPad Mini.
Battery
Then as for the battery, during the keynote, Apple claims an all-day battery life, so I am eager to test that out further so stay tuned that during my full video review as well and let’s also see how the battery holds up, especially on its screen on time that I get on this iPad Mini too.
Price
Then finally when it comes to the price here in Malaysia, the iPad Mini starts at only RM2,299 for the WiFi variant and starts at RM2,949 for the WiFi+Cellular variant and I will leave links down below for you guys to get yourself one.
Conclusion
So guys, with this, do let me know what you guys would like to know specifically about this brand new iPad Mini in the comment section below and I will reply to your comments directly during my full video review.
And speaking of the overall Apple ecosystem using the iPad Mini, I have also gotten the new Smart Folio and also the 2nd Generation Apple Pencil, where it charges wirelessly and can attach magnetically as well, for me to really use the tablet towards its full potential as well since I am very much considering using apps like Adobe Capture and Adobe Fresco as well.
Aside from that, thank you so much for reading. Hope you guys enjoyed this unboxing and my quick first impressions. See you in my next review!
