Apple announced the “good show opening” at Apple Park headquarters on March 25, but from the 18th to the 20th, they launched new products online for three consecutive days, completely not following the script.

The first installment of the spring trilogy is the new iPad Mini, which restarts the small-sized tablet after nearly four years, and it was updated on the official website before the press conference.

Many people are waiting for the iPad Mini

This update was sudden, and the online response was very enthusiastic. After using the new iPad Mini for two days, Sina Digital briefly reported the user experience.

2015’s body with 2018’s chip

The appearance of the new iPad Mini actually doesn’t have much to talk about because we have seen this body for four years, and there hasn’t been much change in appearance, with the addition of rose gold color. So if someone pulls out a rose gold 7.9-inch iPad, you can tell it’s the new model by the color.

Rose gold iPad Mini

Since a few years ago, Apple has been using the previous design for entry-level iPads and just swapping in a new processor to lower costs and prices. The same strategy has been applied to the mini product line. Many people are quite supportive; on the @Apple汇 Weibo, many expressed that they finally waited for the mini 5th generation and said they would definitely buy it.

If it were another brand, they would definitely be criticized for using the last generation mold, but the new iPad Mini did not face any backlash. The main reasons are:

The 6.1mm thick metal body is still considered lightweight today, and with the 7.9-inch screen, the overall product remains harmonious. The WiFi version weighs 300.5 grams, and the 4G version weighs 308.2 grams, which is not too heavy to carry (after all, the iPhone XS Max is 208 grams, adding a case is not a dream…).

The bezels are not narrow

Compared to flagship new models, its bezels are indeed wider, and high-end features like Face ID are absent, while Touch ID brings back memories of the past, which also explains its starting price of 2999 yuan. The emergence of the A12 chip timely offsets some negative sentiments about the outdated appearance. In fact, there were many rumors about the iPad Mini before; many believed this would be a low-priced product using the A11 processor, but the update was surprising: the A12 Bionic chip.

This chip is two generations ahead of the A10 chip in the currently sold 9.7-inch iPad, and it is only slightly behind the A12X chip in the iPad Pro in terms of GPU performance. With 3GB of RAM, its benchmark scores can reach around 4800 single-core and 11500 multi-core.

iPad Mini benchmark scores

This score is almost equal to that of the flagship iPhone XS (A12 + 4GB RAM, 4800 single-core / 11500 multi-core), and even when compared to the most powerful iOS device, the 12.9-inch new iPad Pro (A12X + 6GB RAM, 5000 single-core / 17800 multi-core), it can keep up, which means it can last for another four or five years without issues.

Besides the chip, this upgrade also includes…

The addition of the stylus.

Cook posted a Weibo on the morning of the 18th, writing “hello” on the new iPad Mini with the Apple Pencil to announce this feature. (The hello font is the same as the early Macintosh computers, probably a kind of heritage from Apple’s own people).

Cook’s Weibo post on the 18th

Early Macintosh computer’s “Hello” font

Of course, to save costs, the iPad Mini does not come with a USB-C port, and the first-generation Apple Pencil naturally becomes the new Mini’s companion. Although it is not as cool as the second generation, in the tablet world, the smooth experience of this pencil is still the best in the industry, and it conforms to the custom of spending less money for more functionality in entry-level products.

iPad Mini and the stylus

From the perspective of jotting down notes, the 7.9-inch will be more portable than a 10-inch tablet. For example, the well-known paper notebook manufacturer Moleskine has also released an app called FLOW for quick writing and drawing, which can share data with other apps.

Quick recording and data sharing

The iPad Mini does not have official keyboard accessories, which can be inferred from the results: firstly, it’s still about the money; opening a keyboard port for it would require redesigning the mold; secondly, Apple seems to have implicitly accepted that iPads need to be paired with “full-size keyboards”; the width of a 10.5-inch screen is the baseline for such keyboards, and anything smaller would not be full-size, making typing difficult, and staring at a 7.9-inch screen for a long time can strain the eyes…

With the A12, it can do more things

In the world of electronic products, while emotions can be conveyed, ultimately it’s about configuration + experience that determines the hero. The A12 lays a good foundation for the iPad Mini, as this chip is the key to unlocking Apple’s existing software ecosystem. With it, the processing power for ARkit architecture is sufficient. Previously, the mini could not run AR games, and the AR furniture display experience was poor, but with the A12, these issues are no longer a problem.

A12 Bionic chip

The addition of the stylus also allows for greater potential in image-related software like Lightroom CC and Procreate. It should be noted that while fingers can be used, they are not precise enough; casual writing is possible, but since these are professional drawing apps, using fingers is not justifiable. The precision of the Apple Pencil far surpasses that of fingers.

The capabilities of the A12 also bring another use case for entertainment and gaming; with its 7.9-inch large screen and A12 processor, it is naturally a great choice for battle royale games.

Using iPad Mini for reading

Summary: Outdated appearance, but very capable

After the news release of the iPad Mini on the evening of March 18, a Sina Technology article accumulated 46,000 comments within 24 hours, even more than during the iPhone XS launch, indicating that the demand for small-sized tablets is still present, just suppressed for nearly four years until today it was released.

It seems like “just changing the CPU”, but Apple set the price at 2999 yuan, making it the most cost-effective product among current iPads.

It is currently the most cost-effective product among iPads

Aside from the high-end full-screen iPad Pro, the concurrently released 10.5-inch iPad Air (64GB WiFi) is 1000 yuan more expensive than the Mini; below it, the 9.7-inch iPad still uses the A10 chip, and although priced from 2565 yuan, it only has 32GB of storage, the processor is two generations behind, and the screen is not fully laminated.

Aside from the lack of 128GB storage, the new Mini comprehensively wins, and the “small cannon” type contender is thus born, being the lowest-priced device with the A12 Bionic chip.

The “small cannon” is thus born

Cloud review of iPad Air, as the Chinese media did not receive the device:

If the mini 5 is a chip swap of the last generation, then the iPad Air is just a renamed 10.5-inch iPad Pro that has undergone some modifications to serve as an entry-level product.

iPad Air is just a renamed 10.5-inch iPad Pro

The iPad Air is based on the 10.5-inch iPad Pro, removing a bunch of speakers, eliminating the 120GHz screen, but adding the A12 processor, and it can also use the Apple Pencil and official keyboard, with prices starting at 3999 yuan.

iPad Air can use both the stylus and the smart keyboard

We can also guess through imagination that 95% of its experience is similar to that of the 10.5-inch iPad Pro; only the audio experience during video playback is slightly less, and action games may feel a bit delayed, but the A12 can bring it into the next era, serving as a gateway to Apple’s AR ecosystem. Trading better chips for speakers and high-response screens seems like a good deal because the latter determines key performance, while the former is just icing on the cake.

With this wave of product updates completed this year, the iPad has truly achieved comprehensive coverage from the 2500 to 15000 yuan price range, with few low-end flaws and no competitors at the high end. This advantage is something even the flagship product iPhone has not achieved.

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