Editor's choice: iPad mini 2019

Apple's decision to upgrade the iPad mini for the first time since 2015 was surprising for a range of products that many thought were dead. Conventional wisdom claims that smaller tablets have disappeared as phone screens continue to grow. But having just returned from a two-week trip to Europe, where I used the 2019 minicomputer as the only computer, my only question is: what has it taken Apple so long? It is a wonderful product without parallel.

The iPad mini is the ideal holiday computer. My trip involved many low-cost carriers with strict baggage limits. I was traveling very light and I always appreciated the minimal impact. I have never regretted taking the iPad mini with me, even though I had a giant phone in my pocket.

I'm using an iPhone XS Max, which itself has one of the largest screens that we can get on a phone, at 6.5 inches. This does not seem much smaller than the 7.9-inch screen of the iPad mini on paper, but the two devices are just not comparable. The mini size of the iPad mini is 4: 3, which makes it much wider in portrait orientation and its total area is about twice as large. Applications use full iPad configurations, so that they take advantage of multiple columns and pop-ups, while the iPad version of iOS allows you to access the appropriate multitasking when you need it.

What did I do with the iPad mini? Well, iPad things. This is by far the best iPad to read ebooks because you can hold it comfortably in one hand. Conversely, it's the worst iPad to watch videos, but it's still big enough to be shared by Netflix with a partner, as an iPhone would. It's way better than the biggest phone for surfing the web, getting to know new apps, finding restaurants on Google Maps, and editing photos. The life of the battery is also much better.

I already knew that I liked the iPad mini form factor. I bought the original model in 2012 and I took advantage of it until I resold it a year later in anticipation of an upgrade. But I have never really done this upgrade. Since then, every iPad mini has come with compromises, especially around the screen, which have prevented me from buying every single time.

The first model, of course, had a low resolution screen. The iPad mini 2 added a Retina display, but the color reproduction of the panel was mediocre next to the iPad Air of the same year. The mini 3 was a non-event of an upgrade that only added Touch ID. And while the mini 4 had a better color gamut and a rolled screen, its processor was obsolete from the moment it hit the shelves. I had already opted for the iPad Air 2, prettier and more powerful, and I had completely forgotten the mini until this year.

Photo of Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

In 2019, I must admit that the iPad mini has a rather retro look. The design has not changed at all beyond a new gold finish and a few chamfered matte edges, and recent trends in the destruction of the bezel of the mobile phone industry have made it no benefit . This is definitely one of those Apple products from a set of existing components.

The good news is that Apple has chosen very good roles. In particular, the new screen for iPad mini is fantastic. This is one of those beautiful classic LCD screens with colors and viewing angles irreproachable; Apple has also added features such as the Pencil holder and True Tone, the latter of which I would really like to do without at this stage. Since the resolution is the same as that of a conventional 9.7-inch iPad reduced to 7.9 inches, it's actually the sharpest and densest screen in pixels of the iPad range, even if you're probably closer to your eyes than the bigger one. models.

The A12 processor is another important inclusion. Most iPad mini's come with outdated chips of one year or more, and the 9.7-inch 9.7-inch iPad is already two generations late, but the new A12 mini is the same as the one you'll find in the current iPhone XS. His performances are phenomenal and I have the impression that this small tablet has enough room to last several more years, forgetting its existence.

I do not want to give too much credit to Apple for the new iPad mini. Although the update was long overdue, it is obviously not a product that has required a lot of work, and in some respects, it remains poorly placed in the range. Why not use the newest Apple pencil, for example? Because it would have required a new design of the chassis. Why did not he have a new chassis design? Maybe because some commercial customers would want an immediate replacement for their aging iPad mini-fleet, but probably because Apple does not really think it's worth it.

None of this changes the fact that the 2019 mini iPad is a fantastic product that I would recommend to everyone. I might have preferred a more ambitious overhaul, of course, but it's hard to criticize what's going on here. It's never less than a pleasure to use, it's the only good product in its class and it has earned a permanent place in my bag.

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