iPad minis

By AlienX, 24 January, 2020

Forum
Apple Hardware and Compatible Accessories

I've an iPad mini 4 which works fine. I am working towards utilizing the iPad and iPhone more but am not planning to phase out my Mac so the Pro models are not in my future plans. However, the mini 5 has a faster chip.

Are there other factors that might make the mtnt 5 more attractive to me? I would like to hear from those who have used both.

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Comments

By Brian Tew on Wednesday, January 22, 2020 - 18:56

I have had three ipads: mini 3, mini 4, and ipad air.
The mini 3 was by far the best. It was fastest.
The mini 4 was sluggish and slow and, to a lesser extent, so is the air.
I use braille and audio simultaneously, and I think that is more than the ipads can handle well.
But the mini 3 did it better than the other two.

By AlienX on Wednesday, January 22, 2020 - 18:56

Interesting the 3 was faster. The 4 being slow is exactly why I wish to change. Have you looked at the mini 5?

Braille and speech is also what I want to use much more.

By Brian Tew on Wednesday, January 22, 2020 - 18:56

No AB i have not met a five. Didn't really know they exist until I read your post.
I wonder if phones are faster than ipads. I wonder if a it's possible to make a virtual apple device in a fast pc.
Or if macs are faster. I find braille to be shaky since ios9.3.5,
But I duno if it is the ios or the hardware or the changes in voiceover.

By AlienX on Wednesday, January 22, 2020 - 18:56

Just looked at specs. Mini 3 has the A7, mini 4 the A8 and the new mini the A12. I am not sure if 'mini 5' is the official designation.

I read somewhere that Apple may have changed what they use for Braille tables. It may have once been Duxbury, not sure what is used now.

By AlienX on Wednesday, January 22, 2020 - 18:56

I did a quick Google and found that MacRumors called the new mini the mini 5 last year so that may be where I heard it.

By Fritz on Wednesday, January 22, 2020 - 18:56

Hello

I just recently got the new iPad mini 5, coming from a mini 4. Yes it has the A12 Bionic Chip. Compared to the Mini 4, the new mini 5 is amazingly fast. In my opinion much of the sluggishness, especially when doing things like having multiple Apps open are much better. In my opinion, things just seem much smoother. Even with the numerous problems with IPadOS 13, where most bugs have luckily passed me by, VoiceOver behavior is way less sluggish, apparently the better Chip makes a great difference. Also the base storage starts at 64GB. All in all, I’m very glad I upgraded. I don’t use braille, so I can’t say much to that.

Also, if you don’t have it already, getting a new device let’s one get Apple TV+ for a year for free.

HTH

Have a great day

Fritz

By AlienX on Wednesday, January 22, 2020 - 18:56

Hey that is encouraging. Hope I can find a way to get one. I have an iPhone 8+ which puts the mini 4 to shame.

Ok this is hardly a deal breaker but have to ask. Is the Measure app on your mini 5? :)

By Fritz on Wednesday, January 22, 2020 - 18:56

No it’s not. I don’t use it. I don’t remember if I deleted it or not but I do know that it can be downloaded from the app store and be used. But as said, I don’t use this App. I tried it out on my iPhone, but I had little to no success, maybe I should try it again, someday..

Have a great day

Fritz

By Kelsey Nicolay on Wednesday, July 22, 2020 - 18:56

I also had an iPad Mini 4. I liked it a lot. The only reason I got rid of it was it only had 16 gigs of storage. I now have the 9.7 inch iPad. Truthfully, I wish I had gotten the Mini 5. It’s not that the 9.7 inch is too big, but I’ve just had a lot of very strange issues with it that I never had on the Mini 4.

By Rob on Wednesday, July 22, 2020 - 18:56

I have had an iPad Mini 5 for a year now and love it, having upgraded from the Mini 4. It is very snappy, works fine with my Focus 14 braille display and has touch ID. Battery life is excellent too.