iPad mini 4: What we want to see

iPad mini 4: What we want to see

We don't know about you, but personally we like to see more from a new device than the addition of a minor feature and an inflated price tag, but that's exactly what we got with the iPad mini 3.

Given that the iPad mini 2 is still one of the best slates around it was almost forgivable, but it has meant that Apple will now need to do something really special with the iPad mini 4 to redeem itself.

Whether it will and what form that specialness will take remains to be seen, but we can't wait to find out. In the meantime we've listed some of the key things we want to see from the iPad mini 4, along with what we've heard about it so far.

News and rumors

While we haven't heard much about the iPad mini 4 we may have seen its chassis. If we have then it looks pretty similar to the iPad mini 3, with cut-outs for speakers and the lightning port pretty much where we'd expect to find them.

But there's no sign of the mute switch found on the iPad mini 3. The switch was cut from the iPad Air 2 so that makes sense and suggests that the iPad mini 4 will be slimmer than the mini 3, possibly shrinking to 6.1mm thick like the iPad Air 2. Slimming it down would already be a bigger change than we saw on last year's model, so it bodes well for a proper refresh.

What we want to see1. More changes

Our biggest complaint about the iPad mini 3 was that it's basically the mini 2 with a Touch ID scanner and a much higher price tag.

While still a great tablet in its own right that made it hugely disappointing and questionable value for money, so we really want to see big changes and upgrades on the iPad mini 4. We'll get into specifics below, but the important thing is that it's more than just a tweaked iPad mini 3.

2. A faster processor

The iPad mini 3 has an Apple A7 processor, which is the same as the iPad mini 2 and more than a little dated given that the iPad Air 2 has an A8X chip.

The mini range is smaller than the Air, but it needn't be lower end, so we want the iPad mini 4 to have a chip upgrade and use either an A9 or an A9X, preferably whichever one the iPad Air 3 has.

3. 2GB of RAM

A well as having the same processor as the iPad mini 2 the iPad mini 3 has the same amount of RAM at just 1GB. That's not quite such an issue as the iPhone 6 only has 1GB of RAM too, but the iPad Air 2 has been boosted to 2GB, so we'd like to see the same improvement made to the iPad mini 4.

4. A lower price

The iPad mini 3 starts at £319/$399/AU$499 which is pretty pricey for a compact slate. It's especially hard to justify given how underpowered it is, but even with a specs boost we'd like to see a slightly lower price, otherwise unless you particularly want a smaller tablet it would make more sense just to pay a little extra and get a full size iPad Air.

5. Improved speakers

The iPad mini 3 doesn't necessarily have bad speakers but there's certainly room for improvement and on such a media focussed device strong speakers are especially desirable.

We want louder, crisper sounds from the iPad mini 4 and moving the speakers to the front of the slate could help too, since then the sound is more likely to be flowing out towards you.

6. A superior battery

The iPad mini 3 can supposedly withstand up to 10 hours of multimedia use, which is a pretty good figure, but doesn't apply to gaming, an activity which will decimate the battery.

Even if you're not much of a gamer though there's room for improvement, so we'd like to see better battery life from the iPad mini 4. We want to be able to use it all day and beyond for any activity without having to plug it in.

7. Yes to 32GB, no to 16GB

You can already get a 128GB iPad mini 3, which should still be plenty by the time the iPad mini 4 comes around, but 16GB models are no longer particularly viable and yet Apple still offers them.

It's such a borderline pointless size that we'd like to see it retired with the iPad mini 4 and in its place for there to be a 32GB option as the smallest size.

8. Screen improvements

The iPad mini 3 doesn't have a bad screen, in fact it's as high resolution as the iPad Air 2, but shrunk down for even sharper visuals.

But it's also the same screen as we saw on the iPad mini 2, so a boost in resolution for the iPad mini 4 would be appreciated.

More than that though we hope it has a zero gap construction like the iPad Air 2, hopefully bringing with it superior color accuracy, richer images, greater contrast and lower reflectivity.

9. Make it slimmer

We're not saying the iPad mini 3 is fat, but at 7.5mm it's a lot thicker than the 6.1mm iPad Air 2, so we'd like to see it get slimmed down, especially as portability is a key selling point of Apple's more compact slate.

The good news is that this may well happen judging by a leaked chassis purportedly belonging to the iPad mini 4.

10. Give it Force Touch

Force Touch is one of the more innovative features of the Apple Watch. It allows it to tell a light tap from a more forceful press and responds differently accordingly. You could think of it as a smarter alternative to the different options that long presses provide now on many devices.

The difference with Force Touch is that you don't have to press for longer, just harder, speeding up your interactions with the device and it's a feature we'd love to see included in the iPad mini 4.

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