The iPad mini is perfect (except for all the things wrong with it)

I’ve been using the A17 Pro iPad mini for a few weeks now, and one of two things has happened: either I’m suffering from Stockholm Syndrome, or it’s a better tablet than I expected.

When Apple announced the new mini back in October, my principal reaction was one of disappointment, because we had waited so long for so little to change. Three years (and one month) after the launch of a major redesign that made the iPad mini relevant and desirable again, Apple gave us the same design with the same outdated portrait-orientation FaceTime camera. The cameras are the same in other respects too, other than a minor software bump to Smart HDR 4, and while a double-generation processor jump from A15 to A17 sounds good, it still leaves the mini a long way behind even the iPad Air, let alone the iPad Pro, both of which are multiple generations into Apple’s desktop-class M chips. And the new colors are just… boring.

I stand behind these initial responses, which remain true: the 2024 iPad mini is a far less substantive upgrade than we were entitled to expect after three-plus years of waiting. But when you actually use the thing, it’s difficult to escape the fact that it’s a very solidly specced tablet in a brilliant, brilliant form factor.

Until they use one, nobody thinks they want an iPad with an 8.3-inch screen–not when there are alternatives at 10.9 inches and above. It won’t be good for watching movies, we all think, wrongheadedly. I won’t enjoy playing games on it. Websites will be cramped and I’ll have to squint to read their headlines.

I’m not going to deny the pleasure of watching a movie on a massive iPad, but there is a strong danger when buying tech of letting the perfect be the enemy of the good. Watching a movie on the iPad mini is still good. Playing games is still good. You can read websites just fine–after all, the vast majority of website reading takes place on smartphones, which top out at under 7 inches.

It might not be the optimal experience in every single respect, but in return for compromising slightly on the widescreen wow factor you get a device that’s cheaper and far more portable than an iPad Air, and generally fits a tablet’s job description far better. What most of us need from the iPad is a handy screen we can grab while relaxing on the sofa, not an IMAX movie theater.

(Now, if you’re planning to work on an iPad, then I fully agree that the mini is not the model for you. The reduced screen real estate will hurt, as will the lack of an M-class chip, a Smart Connector, and Magic accessories. You should get an Air at minimum, and preferably a Pro. But you should also accept that, in the overwhelmingly casual tablet sector, you are in the minority.)

It all reminds me of the iPhone 13 mini, a device I championed and then mourned when nobody bought one and Apple (correctly) pulled the plug. The iPhone mini design was superb: a reminder of the days when you could put a phone in your pocket without being constantly reminded that it’s there, while still packing a high-quality, decent-size screen. The problem is that we’ve forgotten how to compromise, and we overlook the sensible choice in favor of one with better specs. Which is perhaps understandable, given that the tech industry’s success rests on convincing us to buy better devices than we need, more often than we can afford to, and that the best marketing brains in the world toil daily to convince us that good enough isn’t good enough.

That doesn’t mean we can’t be demanding, and the iPad mini is still a disappointing device in a number of ways. I’m not happy with the position of the front-facing camera, and I wish Apple would give the mini the same gorgeous vibrant pink you can get on the 10th-gen iPad. But it’s still a beautiful, portable little tablet with a laminated screen and support for Apple Intelligence, and in a world of tech products that pack far more than they need to into an oversized chassis at an oversized price, I think that’s worth celebrating.

Welcome to our weekly Apple Breakfast column, which includes all the Apple news you missed last week in a handy bite-sized roundup. We call it Apple Breakfast because we think it goes great with a Monday morning cup of coffee or tea, but it’s cool if you want to give it a read during lunch or dinner hours too.

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Podcast of the week

‘Tis the season to go shopping! On the latest episode of the Macworld Podcast, we’ve got some tips and tricks to get the most out of the holiday shopping season! Find out how to make the most out of your purchases, coming up next!

You can catch every episode of the Macworld Podcast on Spotify, Soundcloud, the Podcasts app, or our own site.

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And with that, we’re done for this week’s Apple Breakfast. If you’d like to get regular roundups, sign up for our newsletters. You can also follow us on Facebook, Threads, or Twitter for discussion of breaking Apple news stories. See you next Monday, and stay Appley.