[ad_1]
As I mentioned yesterday in my usual post-game follow-up, Apple experienced some major hiccups when rolling out its products at its “California Dreaming” event. One of those failures is that the iPad Mini 6, which has 5G data capabilities, cannot make phone calls.
Despite this, the iPad Mini 6 is not only the most exciting product that Apple has released this year, but it is one of the most exciting new products that Apple has released in years. It belongs to a class of other groundbreaking Apple products, such as the current generation iPad Pro M1 and the Apple Silicon M1 chip itself that powers its new Macbook and Mac Mini line.
Why is this the most exciting new product in years? Because it’s powerful enough to be the one and only Apple device that a large group of customers will need. And the biggest chunk of this clientele? The demographic group referred to as Generation Z, “Zoomers” or “Digital Natives”. These people were born between the mid-1990s and early 2010s, so up to about 26 years of age.
As Gen-Xer, who turns 52 this month, if I were to be stuck with just one Apple device, the iPad Mini 6 with 5G is the device I would choose – my “island device.” deserted”.
This assumes I didn’t need an Apple Watch (which I did) and had another device (like my Macbook) and didn’t have access to a TV that another device had. streaming was connected.
You have to be prepared to wear it in cargo pants, a jacket with large pockets, or a decently sized wallet, backpack, or messenger bag (for my iPhone 12 Pro Max, I do), but I think it’s still a very large demographic.
If I was the type to live in a small one-bedroom apartment, studio, or college dorm, or if my mobile data plan was my primary method of accessing the internet, supplemented by public Wi-Fi ( as a student), the iPad Mini 6 with 5G, which costs $ 649 for the 64GB model and $ 799 for the 256GB model, would do just about everything I need.
- It has the same A15 Bionic SoC used on the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro / Max.
- It has 5G connectivity, identical to the iPhone 13, iPhone 13 Pro Max, and iPad Pro.
- It manages the entire application portfolio of the App Store. It’s all social media stuff like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram (the iPhone version, because Facebook hasn’t released a native iPad version yet, which is silly). It’s all the gaming and productivity apps you can imagine, including Apple’s content creation apps for iPad. It also manages the entire portfolio of Apple services, such as music and everything offered in Apple One.
- It has a fully functional web browser with Safari and runs Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and a few other web browsers.
- It can run all major streaming services including Netflix, Hulu, Disney, Amazon, and Apple’s own TV Plus service. The 2266 x 1488 Full HD + display has an 8.3-inch diagonal view, with a brightness level of 500 nits with low reflectivity, making it ideal for viewing personal content.
- It has two 12MP cameras, one front-facing for video conferencing (with Center Stage) and high-res selfies, and one f / 1.8 at the rear with True Tone flash and HDR, which is more than “enough. good “for occasional photography use. It also has 4K video capture capability.
- It is compatible with Apple Pencil, enabling note taking, drawing, annotation, and other handwriting functions.
- It has a large 5078mAh battery that supports all-day usage scenarios.
There would be a bunch of limitations if you were to use it as your “only” device. Still, I don’t see why Apple shouldn’t look to fix them in a future product update. Some of them are strictly software issues, while others are hardware related.
Software limitations
- Although you should be able to text with iMessage and get a virtual phone number from your 5G mobile operator, you won’t be able to make phone calls because … no iPad can make phone calls; this is an iPadOS limitation. But there are several third-party VOIP to phone services that you can use, including Google Voice and Skype, which will allow you to make outgoing phone calls. There’s no technical reason why Apple shouldn’t fix this and give the 5G iPad the full stack of phone apps, especially as mobile networks move to the standalone 5G cloud.
- Facetime with other Apple device users works, but using your Apple ID, not your phone number.
- There is no native WhatsApp client for iPad, but there are several third-party solutions.
- While Apple Fitness + will work without an Apple Watch connected, you cannot sign up for Fitness + without it. And you can’t set up or provision an Apple Watch without iPhone.
- Although 5G cellular models include GPS, the iPad Mini, like all iPads, does not support CarPlay. It’s a bit disappointing if you intend to use your iPad as a navigation system for your automobile. Still, since the screen itself is 8.3 “, you should be able to get a car mount for your device, so you can just run the apps right from the screen and use the USB audio. or Bluetooth.This requires a USB-C charger in your car (either via a 12V car connector or native) or an external USB PD compatible battery.
Material limitations
- You cannot charge an iPad with MagSafe, only USB-C. That’s not such a terrible limitation, considering that USB PD charging is faster than even 15W MagSafe.
- The rear camera is a single lens, so it is not intended for “Pro” photography and cannot take wide field of view shots like the iPhone 13. It is the same as the camera. of the iPad Air – which is perfectly fine for general- purpose use. This begs the question, why not come up with an iPad Mini Pro with a dual camera arrangement similar to the iPad Pro or iPhone 13?
- Although you can use Apple Pay and buy products online with an iPad, there are no NFC capabilities in an iPad Mini 6 or iPad, so you cannot use Apple Pay at a point of sale and use an NFC payment terminal (as you would with an iPhone or Apple Watch) with. So that means withdrawing your physical credit card; you love it when people see your titanium apple card, don’t you?
While these limitations are annoying, I bet a huge group of users could easily handle them. If I were a Gen Z, I would highly consider an iPad Mini 6 5G instead of an iPhone, especially if I was on a budget.
[ad_2]
Source link