Retina iPad mini vs iPad mini

Now that Apple has released an updated mini, 
Chris Martin reveals which one is the better deal

The new iPad mini is a tablet for that many 
people have been waiting eagerly. With it’s 
‘better than HD’ Retina screen and new, much 
faster processor, it’s a considerably better tablet. But 
it’s also more expensive, while the old model is still 
on sale at a lower price. Maybe you already own an 
iPad mini and are wondering whether to upgrade. 
The decision isn’t easy, but we’re here to help. 

Price

Apple usual keeps its pricing the same when 

it brings out a new model of an iPad. However,
the iPad mini 2 is £50 more than the previous
generation and so starts at £319 instead of £269.
The original iPad mini is still on sale but unless you
buy second hand is only available in 16GB with a
slight price drop to £249.
The extra £70 for the iPad mini 2 is going to be
worth it for the Retina display and A7 processor. You
see the full price breakdown in the table below.

Dimensions

On the face of it, the iPad mini 2 looks identical to
its predecessor. However, as with the iPad 2 being
upgraded to a Retina display for the iPad 3, the
tablet is slightly thicker and heavier. Luckily the
small increase in thickness and weight is minimal
so you shouldn’t worry about it. The iPad mini
colours now reflect the iPad mini 2, iPhone 5s
and iPad Air: black/slate grey and white/silver. 

Screen

The iPad mini 2 remains the same size as the
original so therefore has a 7.9 in screen which is
also LED-backlit and an IPS panel. The key change
is that the resolution has been upgraded to Retina
quality and is one of the main reasons to opt for
the newer model over the original.
Apple has doubled the resolution to same as the
full-size iPad Air meaning that the pixel density has
also doubled and the amount of pixels is four times
the iPad mini. That’s a big di fference and gives the
iPad mini 2 the best ppi for any iPad model.

Processor

The original iPad mini was a bit underpowered, but
the new version gets the same A7 chip that’s also
inside the new iPad Air. That means it’s a 64-bit
device, which makes it more future-proof than if it
had stuck with a 32-bit processor. It also gets the
M7 motion co-processor, which should help prolong

battery life when you’re using fitness or activity
tracking apps. It doesn’t quite live up to Apple’s
claims, but the second-generation iPad mini is a LOT
faster than the original. In our graphics tests, the
Retina-equipped mini ran at 48fps in the Egypt HD
test. That’s twice as fast as the original iPad mini.
Apple says the new tablet is up to 8x faster, which it
may well be in certain apps and games.
Similarly, general 2D performance is impressive.
In Geekbench 2, the iPad mini 2 managed 2222
(on average). This is roughly 3x faster than the
first iPad mini. In SunSpider 1.0.2, the new model
completed the test in just 397ms – a stunning
result. The original iPad mini took an average of
1300ms in the same test, and the new one really
does load web pages faster.

Storage

Unless you’re going to buy a second-hand iPad
mini, there is a big di fference in terms of storage.
The original is still on sale at Apple but only in
16GB. Meanwhile the iPad mini 2 has a new larger
capacity at 128GB. There’s more flexibility then with
the iPad mini 2 and it almost goes without saying
that there is not microSD card slot for expansion.

Cameras

Both tablets have a 5Mp rear facing iSight camera
and 1.2Mp front-facing FaceTime HD webcam.
For photos, there’s little to separate the two, but
videos shot on the new iPad mini are noticeably
sharper – here’s an example of footage we took
on the iPad mini 2:

Connectivity

As is typical with new generations of iPads,
connectivity remains largely the same, but not
entirely. The iPad mini 2 still has the Lightning
connector, albeit with a beefier 10W USB power
adapter, and Bluetooth 4.0.
However, wireless in terms of Wi-Fi and cellular
has been upgraded. It now has dual-antennas and
MIMO (multiple input multiple output) which Apple
says doubles the speed compared to the original
iPad mini (300Mb/s versus 150Mb/s theoretical).
As per usual, you’ll only get GPS if you buy the
cellular version of either iPad mini, but the iPad mini
2 has support for more 4G LTE bands making it
better suited to roaming.

Software

When comparing Apple devices with each other,
you can essentially ignore the software. Both iPad
minis come pre-loaded with iOS 7 if you buy them
new now (the original iPad mini can be upgraded
from iOS 6 if you buy one second-hand).
However, it’s worth noting that iPad mini original
owners won’t get the benefit of apps optimised
for the Retina display and 64-bit processor of the
iPad mini 2.

Battery

According to Apple, there’s no difference between
the two iPad minis for battery life. Despite a more
power hungry Retina display, the iPad mini 2
retains the 10-hour benchmark for surfing the web
on Wi-Fi, watching video or listening to music.
That’s borne out in our testing, so there’s no
advantage or disadvantage buying the iPad mini
with Retina display over the original model.

iPad & iPhone User buying advice

If you’re choosing between the two, the old model
is best for those on a tight budget – there are plenty
of deals around if you keep your eyes peeled. We
recently saw the 16GB Wi-FI + Cellular model for
under £300. However, if money isn’t an object, the
new iPad mini o ffers better future proofing and a
much better screen.