Apple Continues to Makes My iPad Life Miserable

In my earlier post on Apple’s negligence of the iPadOS, I described how even the newest iPad Pros with fantastic hardware are limited by Apple’s software decisions in the operating system. I am frustrated by the massive increase in costs for the Pro lineup, so I decided I will wait for upgrades to either iPad Minis or iPad Airs and see if I could make do with those devices. The new version of the Mini was released yesterday, and after looking over the specs–well…hmmm.

I love the iPad Mini form factor, my favorite iPad of all time. I currently use a 2018 iPad Pro 12.9 inch which is too big for my needs and getting slow. The last time Apple considered the iPad Mini an equal to the iPad and iPhone was the iPad Mini 2 in 2013–it was the last time the Mini was as powerful as the iPad and iPhone of the day. Then someone at Apple decided the mini should be a denigrated, lower-end device and it has been pushed into that role ever since; that was the last iPad Mini that I have owned.

The Mini has not been upgraded in three years–a long span. Over that time you would expect significant upgrades. Instead, they “improved” the processor to last year’s iPhone throwaway chips (it has one less GPU core which indicates these are flunkies in quality assurance for the iPhone 15 Pros)–they didn’t even use this year’s iPhone processors, let alone the M-2 series. It received an increase in RAM (assumed as it is unpublished) to minimally be able to use Apple Intelligence when it comes out and it uses the newest Apple Pencil Pro–there’s something at least. But the screen still has half the refresh rate of my six year old iPad, with no significant improvements from the last version. Since I recently jumped from iPhone 12 to 16, I am amazed at the advancement in screens. I now recognize that I am reaching an age where screen clarity is becoming more important than it used to be.

There has been speculation in the tech press about why they didn’t save this iPad Mini announcement for the anticipated Macintosh event most likely later this month. I can tell you why–who would want to be the one to talk about this release of the iPad Mini on the video? If I were an Apple employee, I wouldn’t do it; this release borders on embarrassing. This iPad Mini’s limitations will become obsolete very quickly with future iPadOS updates.

Let’s do a side-by-side comparison with the iPad Mini, iPad Air, and iPad Pro and see where the best bang-for-my-buck stands out. Apple has a history of putting out underpowered low-end specs for all their products to highlight low starting cost–let’s ignore those. I have two minimums with iPad: 512 GB for storage and cellular connectivity because I use the iPad outside my home almost everywhere. No matter which I choose, I need the newer Apple Pencil Pro as well, so add $130 to these costs.

• iPad Mini – $949 (old Retina level screens and last year’s A17pro processor with even less cores than last year’s iPhone).
• iPad Air 11 inch – $1049 (old Retina level screens and two-year-old M2 processors)
• iPad Pro 11 inch – $1399 with ProMotion screens and M4 processors (the bigger storage and new nano texture glass push the Pro to the near $2K mark).

Do I think that $1100 dollars is a little much for a Mini that is barely an improvement from 3 years ago? Do I think $1500+ is a little much for low-to-midlin’ level Pro, knowing that the iPadOS doesn’t even come close to taking advantage of its amazing hardware? Do I go for the happy medium $1200 Air with an old screen and two year old processor? Nope, I am back in a holding pattern with my slow 6-year-old iPad.

Continuing to wait for another iPad iteration doesn’t hold much promise–wait for what? Apple has the iPad Air in a difficult position. What will be its next processor? The current M2 processor is 2 years old. Apple wants to bypass the M3 with new devices, so does the Air have to wait until they move the Pro on to the M5 before the next Air comes out with the M4? If so, we might not see an iPad Air update for quite a long while.

Apple, I was so ready to pull the trigger twice this year for a new iPad, but your odd decisions have caused me to hesitate.