The Apple iPad Mini 4 Review
by Brandon Chester on October 28, 2015 8:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Tablets
- Apple
- Mobile
- iPad Mini 4
Battery Life
When Apple unveiled the original iPad they claimed that it had a ten hour battery life, and that claim generally held up well. That ten hour battery rating has continued with every iPad released since then, and it has become something of a de-facto target for other tablet manufacturers. Rarely do I see a company promise above ten hours, and nobody has really been able to go very far above it in our web browsing battery life test.
Even though the iPad Mini 4 is rated for 10 hours of usage and Apple is usually able to meet that goal in lighter and more balanced workloads, there will obviously be differences depending on exactly what tasks the user is performing. Because of this, it's important to examine the Mini 4's battery life in a variety of different scenarios to see how different workloads influence the battery life. As always, the first two tests are our WiFi web browsing test and video playback test, followed by BaseMark OS II's CPU-bound battery test, and GFXBench 3.0's GPU-bound battery test.
WiFi web browsing battery life on the Mini 4 is exactly where it needs to be. It actually lasts about 40 minutes longer than the iPad Air 2 which is likely due to the lower power requirements of the smaller display during the duration of the test. Video playback battery life is actually slightly shorter than I expected, although still quite good. Since Apple does apply CABC during full screen video playback when the UI isn't showing it's likely that the reason for the gap between the Mini 4 and the Air 2 is due to the Air 2's larger battery, with the display's brightness and gamma being played with a bit to reduce display power consumption, and the power cost of decoding H.264 video essentially being the same fixed amount on both devices.
The iPad Mini 4 does exceptionally well in BaseMark OS II's battery test. Not only does it last longer than any other device on record, but it also achieves the highest battery score on record. A simplified description of the battery score is that it's a combination of the device's average battery drain per unit of time, along with consideration given to the device's CPU load during the duration of the test. In the case of the iPad Mini, the amount of throttling occurring was far lower than most other devices, with only the Nexus 9 being close while also lasting an hour shorter. This doesn't bode well for other tablets like the Galaxy Tab S2 which don't last as long and throttle much more heavily during a prolonged CPU load.
GFXBench's infinite T-Rex HD test is another very strong showing for the Mini 4. It lasts quite a long time, and sustains its performance for the entire duration of the test. This is something that really has to be considered when comparing the performance of Apple's SoCs with the competition, especially when discussing the GPU. For example, both the Tab S2 and Mini 4 achieve similar frame rates if you just run the T-Rex HD test once, but as you can see the Tab S2 actually runs well below 30fps when you continue to run the test, and so with a real game with that level of visual quality the Tab S2 would never be able to produce a playable frame rate.
Apple usually does well in our various battery tests, and the Mini 4 is no exception. Video playback battery life is definitely not as good as full sized tablets or anything using an AMOLED display, but it's still a good result. As for the rest of the tests, the Mini 4 consistently achieves a great battery life combined with great sustained performance, and there's not much more you could ask for from a mini tablet.
Charge Time
The time to charge a tablet is almost always longer than a smartphone, especially now that quick-charging phones charge at a rate as fast or faster than tablets do, while also having significantly smaller batteries. The last few tablets I've looked at have had longer charge times than I had hoped for, but I wasn't really worried about the iPad Mini 4's charge time because it comes with Apple's 12W charger and the iPad Air 2 already had the lowest charge time on record for a full size tablet
At 3.13 hours to charge, the iPad Mini 4 is second only to the Dell Venue 8 as far as the charge time for tablets is concerned. I actually have to give Dell credit for pushing their charge time so low. While the Mini 4 isn't the fastest tablet on record, 3.13 hours to go from 0% to 100% is still a pretty good result, and in my experience charging it at night every couple of days is more than enough to keep the battery going so I don't expect that it's going to pose an issue for users.
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tipoo - Wednesday, October 28, 2015 - link
I wonder if this is pretty much what we can expect from the A8 in the ATV 4. Though it has a heatsink and no battery requirements, so it could go a bit further if they were arsed. Anything coming on that, AT team?Spectrophobic - Wednesday, October 28, 2015 - link
It's a bit insulting that it uses the same SoC as the iPod Touch 6G. I would've preferred a underclocked A8X over a speed-bumped A8, mostly for the A8X's GPU. Considering the typical iPad user, this probably wouldn't be much of an issue as the A8 is still a fast SoC for the mundane things people do.Tech_guy - Wednesday, October 28, 2015 - link
Yeah the GPU in the A8 wasn't designed to push this many pixels. And I hate paying a premium for a year old chip.NetMage - Saturday, October 31, 2015 - link
Paying a premium over what?denem - Wednesday, October 28, 2015 - link
iPad Air Mini 4 should have shipped with an A9 processor, a, TouchID 2 sensor, and, IMO, debuted before the iPhone 6s. The iPad 2 for example introduced the A5 months before the 4s. It was Apple’s most significant platform move ‘evah’. Here is our new technology. This is exciting!“iPad is our most advanced technology in a magical and revolutionary device at an unbelievable price” Steve Job, Jan 28 2010. ‘Magical and Revolutionary’ are smoke and mirrors, but from the iPad 3, the formula became last years technology and yesteryears design. Serviceable? Yes. Exciting? No.
Even when the Air 2 did have genuinely new/interesting advancements: the A8X and 2GB Ram, Apple could hardly bring themselves to talk about it. Nothing should be allowed to detract from the iPhone. If the iPad is less expensive, it must be inferior, or so the thinking goes. Even today, the iPad Pro, which matches iPhone pricing does not sport the new TouchID. Apple’s whole mindset is flawed. An IPad is not a substitute iPhone. Doh.
Tech_guy - Wednesday, October 28, 2015 - link
Yeah I would've bought it for sure with an A9 chip which they easily could've had considering they take less power than A8. The mini 4 GPU is the part that turned me off instantly. Iphone 6 plus GPU performance a year later. No thanks.denem - Thursday, October 29, 2015 - link
And let me guess, an A9 iPad would not have put you off from buying an iPhone if you needed one? No, hand me down technology does not impress anyone, but hey, let's kill enthusiasm and an entire product line while we are at it. Even the iPod got an A8 when it was still current. Bozos.denem - Thursday, October 29, 2015 - link
I guess I should have added that with 4x as many pixels to push, the mini 4's onscreen graphics are slower, a lot slower than the iPod 6. For example, the iPod 6 scores 41.7 fps onscreen for Manhattan HD, GFX Metal, while the iPad mini 4 pushes 15.7. (Source: arstechnica) Double plus stupid.Tech_guy - Thursday, October 29, 2015 - link
Yeah for the mini 4 to be taken seriously by me, a typical power user, it needed better hardware inside. It's literally the performance of an iPhone 6 plus graphics wise, which there's some instances where 6 plus dropped frames and lagged, even in the animations in iOS 9. I have yet to even go look at one because I was SO turned off by A8 rather than A8X or A9. Apple really did exactly everything they needed to do to chase me away from the iPad mini line, and iPad air 2 is too bulky in my personal opinion.akdj - Sunday, November 1, 2015 - link
You guys are hilarious. The A8 is t designed to push this many pixels (I'm writing this on iPad mini 4) but the A5 was? Or the A6x? The A7? I've got an iPad 4 as well as the Air 2 and I've used it daily since its release. It's awesome! Truly phenomenal. I've also used the mini 2 since it dropped. Killer tablet with excellent performance. Even today. It's using an A7 with identical resolution.That said, doubling the memory with the GPU & CPU share makes all the difference in the world. On the iPhone 6s, the Air 2 and now the mini 4.
I've got every triple A title ...if that's what you 'power users' are power using??? (I'm lost and I'm making money with mine!) from the App Store. Every. Single. One. There's not a single app or task i can perform on my Air 2 or iPhone 6s+ that I can't just as efficiently and quickly 'do, play, maiplulate read, consume, watch or produce' on the iPad mini 4. It's been through ten and twelve hour days with me the last few weeks and it's all the Air 2 is - I'll agree in a smaller package.
App developers are currently releasing apps aimed at the A5 & 6 as required hardware. Tomorrow that won't change and if anything will benefit the new mini ...as developers move into the 64bit minimum requirements of the first edition, the A7.
Thought as an actual user, consumer, producer, 'fellow power user?' (I've got a 15" MacBook Pro I typically use for heavy lifting but resources at thee largest tech and software companies in the world are now shifting ...in some cases 'more' resources to mobile than the desk. As a Creative Cloud subscriber since its inception, I'm floored by Adobe's mobile releases. They're incredible and work perfectly with Premier Pro, AE, PS and InDesign. IMHO MS could've left the iPad versions of Word, Excel, Power Point and One Note on v1. They're beyond awesome. I also fly (as a pilot) and rely on the iPad mini as my flight bag. It files my plans, tells me how much gas I need, weather and traffic conditions with up to date Jep charts, plates and NOTAMS. I'm not sure how much more power you're using than I am but there's simply no equal. Anywhere.
You guys all sound goofier than a three dollar bill. A month ago you couldn't get this package of performance. Today you can. It's lacking the A9, but has all other bases covered with display and doubling of RAM, incredible battery life and a smaller package yet YOU'VE got to have the might A9 or the three cores of the A8s ...when I'm absolutely sure as an owners of both you've NECER brought an Air 2 to its knees or limits. If so, please share (I'm aware of two limits on the Air 2 with apps currently available on iOS only ...any guesses?)
I'm honestly curious as to what constitutes a 'power user' of an iPad
Hilarious. Thanks for the laugh
K. Next
Ryan, it's Sunday bro!
:) I kid
Excellent write up as always. Many thanks
J