2 Months with the iPad Mini 6

iPad mini 6’s small footprint is absolutely perfect!

I’ve been carrying the new iPad Mini 6 with me every day since I purchased it two months ago. With my iPad Mini having Verizon cellular service, it has become my uber-portable and super-reliable device for moving back-and-forth between classes quickly and efficiently. The potent little powerhouse has quickly laid claim as being my go-to work device, easily besting my five-year-old MacBook Pro at my daily technology integration tasks.

Before I break down what makes this little tablet so special, here is a quick review of the general specs of my device.

• 8.3-inch IPS LCD 60Hz display with 2266 x 1488 resolution (326 ppi), fully-laminated and able to reach 500 nits brightness

• A15 Bionic processor (5nm process, 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine)

• 12MP Wide camera, f/1.8 aperture, 5x digital zoom, 4K video recording up to 60 fps

• 12MP Ultra-wide FaceTime HD camera, 122-degree field-of-view with Center Stage tracking technology

• 4 GB RAM and 256 GB of storage (also available in base 64 GB option)

• Weighs 0.66 pounds (297 grams)

• Apple Pencil 2 compatibility

• USB-C for charging (USB 3.1 Gen 1 for 5 Gbps data transfer speeds)

Electric Orange case, iPad mini 6, and Apple Pencil 2

Why I Purchased One

I previously had the iPad Mini 4 as my “morning routine and couch reader” device. It was perfect for quick social media browsing over morning coffee, catching up on sports scores from the night before, and even watching some YouTube content without waking the rest of the family by turning on the TV. My Kindle recently met its demise, so I was also looking for a potential replacement to read a book on at night when I had difficulty falling asleep. The updated form-factor with its iPad Pro-like edge-to-edge screen stuck out to me the most, as well as its small and compact size helped convince me that the purchase made perfect sense.

Is the “Jelly-Scrolling” Issue a Real Problem?

Let’s be clear, does the “jelly-scrolling” effect exist? Yes. Can I notice it? Yes, but only because I have been switching between my iPad Pro (with 120Hz ProMotion) and back on a regular basis. I gave the iPad Mini to my wife to look at and she never once asked what was up with the screen. Due to this supremely scientific test, I bet that the majority of iPad Mini 6 users would never notice the “jelly-scroll”, but for those of us that have used devices with 120Hz displays, you will notice it. It’s not a total deal-breaker, either. I still reach for this device first over all the many others I have in my house. I do hope they fix this on the next version, though.

A Note-Taking Powerhouse

One of my favorite uses for this iPad has been for taking notes during meetings, creating workshop or blog post ideas, and more. In a meeting, I can now pull out this tiny device, unlatch the Apple Pencil 2 from its magnetic charging spot on the side of the iPad (one of Apple’s slickest design elements in recent history) and dive right into taking notes without having to peer around my laptop screen or clack away on my keyboard while trying to hear what is being said. I did add a Paperlike screen protector to help make the writing process feel more like the art of writing versus a plastic-on-plastic awkward feel. I love carrying this small device with me from meeting to meeting, or classroom to classroom, and stay connected and up-to-date with whatever may need. Also, the Quick Notes feature, accessed from a swipe out from the corner of the iPad, has been a tremendous life-saver, too…able to capture phone numbers, emails, shopping lists and more in a quick pinch that I can handle without having to find and launch the Notes app first. Game Changer!

The perfect everyday companion device!

Quite Capable Cameras

For as ridiculous as it may be to take pictures with an iPad, there are times when I find that it comes in handy, such as in a classroom looking at student work, or scanning paperwork for my job to turn into a PDF instantly. These cameras are way better than previous iPads, with great color balance and clarity to the pictures captured. The FaceTime HD camera gets Apple’s new Center Stage feature, which tracks and adapts the field-of-view captured on-screen as the focal speaker moves. It widens the shot to fit more people in as they enter the frame (up to 122-degrees wide) and narrows to crop and fit when just the speaker is being shown. It works like all other Apple magic-supported projects, and it is phenomenal on video calls.

Other Things to Mention

I really appreciate the USB-C port as it makes it easy to charge with a single cord that also fits my MacBook Pro or Surface Laptop Studio, while also allowing for faster file transfer speeds when connecting an external hard drive and migrating files over.

I wish when I connected it to a monitor that the screen would fill, but it just mirrors the display of the iPad Mini with the black bars on the sides. Maybe in a future version if iPadOS.

I need to talk about the battery on this thing, too! Apple touts “all-day battery life” with the iPad Mini 6…and they were not wrong! I have run this device hard for the past two months and routinely arrive home, use it even more, and put it down beside my bed to charge with many times still 20% or more left! This device is just hard to drain, and I appreciate the sustained battery life.

The Touch ID fingerprint sensor is fast, perfectly placed, and I truly enjoy using it again. I did set up fingers on both hands to unlock the device, so I can grab it and press to wake/unlock without having to turn it a certain way first.

Lastly, the processor. Fast. Blazingly fast. Seriously. I could do nothing to bog down the processor and make it lag…at all! I had over 20 Chrome tabs running, plus YouTube, plus playing Way of the Turtle and it did not hiccup once. I’m not surprised, but I seriously cannot overstate how powerful this processor is on a daily basis.

Lasting Thoughts

I’m glad I purchased this device to fill a niche need in my life, but it has become a much more important part of my daily routine than I originally had planned. It is the first device I reach for in the morning, and the last device in my hands before I fall asleep. It is my new “old reliable” when I am on-the-go and bouncing from place-to-place and getting things done. If you are in the market for a compact yet powerful device, I highly recommend this iPad to anyone.

My three everyday use products…iPad mini 6, AirPods Max, and HomePod mini.