My previous iPad was the 11-inch Pro and that is the baseline to what I'm comparing this 6th Gen iPad Mini. I'll spare you all the nitty gritty details that can be found elsewhere online and just summarize by saying that the newest Mini is everything I like about having a tablet and there is nothing about my Pro that I miss. Since the Mini 6 has a full speed, full function USB-C port, I'm able to plug in external SSD drives whenever I need to copy things to/from the iPad. It supports Apple Pencil 2 for those rare times I actually use the pencil. It is fast, small, lightweight and has excellent battery life. I mainly use this Mini for viewing schematics or watching streaming video content. I do some light web work on it and even less office productivity - I use a Mac for that stuff, which brings me to my final point:

My iPad Pro with all the accessories I had for it (Magic Keyboard/Trackpad case, Pencil 2, etc) was so close to being a laptop but at the end of the day it just wasn't. Brilliant as iPad OS is, it is no replacement for a full on laptop/desktop OS. So here I am lugging around this big heavy iPad and my MacBook Pro or MacBook Air with the only redeeming benefit of the iPad being that I could write on the screen - which, again, I rarely did. What I really wanted was not a laptop replacement tablet but rather a sidekick companion that was light-hearted and easy take along. For me, the Mini is the Robin to my Batman Laptop. They're not fighting over who gets to do what, instead they play well together. My Macbook is the workhorse and the main productivity tool. When I need to go out and fix a system, I Airdrop the schematic to my iPad mini and go do thing I need to do, leaving the big Macbook at my desk. When I get back from doing the thing, I Airdrop back to my Mac any photos I may have taken, sync some notes, and redlines to schematics and then I resume my work from there. That is how I imagine Apple originally envisioned all of this working and it does work brilliantly. The iPad Pro does have a place in some people's workflow but I think in all honesty most people are those "some people". Just get the Mini and enjoy not spending as much while still getting 99% of the same features.

I have been so impressed with the iPad mini 6 since purchasing this device over a year ago! It still runs like I just took it out of the box. I thought I would not like the small size coming from someone that owns an iPad Pro 12.9 and iPad Air 10.9 but I was wrong! The iPad mini size is perfect for doing tablet things. This is the truest tablet experience I have ever had. With the larger models I had productivity in mind but when purchasing but the iPad mini, I wanted a device to read on or watch content while relaxing in bed or lounging around. The mini is absolutely tailored for this. It is extremely light weight, thin and sleek and the rounded corners are comfortable! Also, due to the chipset, I can still do productive things if needed. I like taking notes or making reminder lists on this device as it is so easy to carry around. The magnetic side also ensures my second generation Apple Pencil never gets lost. I know this is not the best screen in existence, but it is still very good in terms of image quality due to the size and form factor. I hardly notice the 60hz display even coming from a 120hz pro-res iPad Pro. I guess I do not hyper scroll around enough to see the difference in smoothness (though experienced Pro users might be bothered). I also have seen no issues with mobile gaming and this tablet is comfortable to hold for extended periods of time due to how lightweight it is. The battery life lasts all day even with heavy use. I have not noticed any battery degradation at all. I am not regretting my purchase and I highly recommend this tablet!

I always avoided Apple product because of their lack of expansion capacity (no SD card slot). However, I was eventually forced to buy an iPhone (as it was the smallest smartphone I could find - Android are just getting bigger and bigger) and I realised just how good Apple products really are. Everything about them is sleek and sophisticated - a real users tech device.

So I decided to get this iPad. Like the iPhone it is an amazing bit of tech and, as an added bonus, it can link to the iPhone so that the iPad can access the internet via my iPhone when I cannot get onto wifi. I was very happy, UNTIL:-

The one flaw on the iPad is iTunes and Apple's Music player. I can sync all my music with my music on my PC (a bit fiddly with iTines but OK). BUT, iTunes, randomly, separates tracks from their albums! So some of my albums appear as albums but some are in single tracks or groups of tracks. This is a real problem for lovers of classical music or opera as you need all the tracks together playing in the right order! I didn't notice this on the iPhone as I do not use that for music playback, which is one of the main things I use my iPad for - or would do if I could access all my albums rather than fragments of them.

Looking into this online, this is a common problem that Apple have so far failed to fix. Some users have suggested that editing all the details of all the tracks affected can consolidate albums back together. However, this should not be up to the user (who has paid Apple a lot for the tech), in my experience does not work anyway (and there are two many tracks affected! I have better things to do!

So, in summary, a brilliant tablet but possibly not if you want to play music albums.

Small but mighty, the iPad Mini 6th gen makes it way to the forefront to those that wants an iPad… but smaller. It does almost eveything a full sized iPad does, and does it with ease rocking the same processor found in both the iPhone 13 Pro and the regular iPhone 14. With it’s 8.3 inch display, it has capable room to pair with the 2nd gen apple pencil for those that likes to draw, or jot down ideas just a note pad. Though a great iPad, some elements fall short. You are locked to two storage options: 64 Gb or 256 Gb. When fully set up in the 64Gb option, you’re left with ~44Gb of usable storage. If you’re willing to shell out an additional $150, then go for the 256Gb. Other shortcomings is the lack of pro features found in the pro models such as 90hz variable refresh liquid retina dispaly. Additionally, you’re left with the older tech fingerprint reader as means of biometric autherntication; unlike the FaceID feature found in the iPad Pro. If thats a deal breaker, then look for other options. TL;DR: You have to want to get this because its a compact iPad that can used 2nd gen Apple Pencil. Otherwise, consider the similarly priced iPad Air.