After 4 long years, we finally have a new iPad Mini to review!

Pros	Cons
Apple Pencil support	Not compatiable with Apple Pencil 2
A12 Processor	Same old 8mp back camera
New TrueTone technology	No new exterior design features
All day battery

It looks exactly like all the other iPad Minis before it on the outside, but the iPad Mini 5 has a considerable upgrade on the inside. As it’s been 4 years since the last Ipad Mini was released, we expected some pretty decent changes and Apple delivered once again. In fact, it’s actually just a smaller version of the new iPad Air.

Pricing and Availability

The iPad Mini 5 starts at $399 for the 64GB, Wi-Fi only model and $549 for the 256GB, Wi-Fi only model. If you want both Wi-Fi and LTE, expect to add another $120 to the model you want. This price is quite reasonable, considering that the old 128GB iPad Mini 4 is still at around $399 but I’m sure that price is going to reduce soon.

Design

As mentioned before, from the outside it looks exactly the same as the previous models, but there’s a good reason for this. Apple decided to keep the same lightning connector as before, opposed to the new USB-C connector found on an iPad Pro. This is because Apple considers the USB-C to be an iPad Pro feature, they also wanted to keep the current compatiability with the previous iPad Mini.

Sounds good? Well, yes and no. The good thing is that if your old iPad Mini 4 is getting a little slow, this upgrade is a no-brainer as there’s no extra costs except for the iPad Mini itself. It’s great that they did this, but the main concern comes from the fact that the new iPad Mini 5 only supports the old Apple Pencil instead of it’s far superior upgrade, the Apple Pencil 2. This is just confusing, this is the perfect opportunity to utilize their new Pencil. I understand that it’s due to the lightning connector so you can charge your old Pencil, but honestly, does this look nice?

Display

The new display isn’t really that new. It still has the same 7.9-inch screen with a 2,048 x 1,536 pixel-resolution. Having said that, Apple have said that there are some improvements to display quality. The iPad Mini 5 has a wider color spectrum, so colors should appear more vivid and it supports Apple’s new TrueTone technology which automatically adjusts white balance based on the light in the room so you maintain the best viewing experience. It’s not a lot, but at least it’s something.

Performance and battery life

The A12 processor in the new iPad Mini 5 is a massive (and well-needed) jump from the A8 processor in the old iPad Mini 4. If you’re currently using an iPad Mini 4, you’ll definitely feel the performance boost when you upgrade, it made my old iPad Mini 4 feel ancient! According to Apple, the iPad Mini 5 has “three times the performance and nine times faster graphics” than its iPad Mini 4 which makes it definitely worth the upgrade.

As for battery life, it’s never really been an issue for iPad Mini. Expect your battery to last you for at least the whole day.

Wrapping up

Needless to say, the iPad Mini 5 is a much needed upgrade from the previous model. If you had the iPad Mini 4, then you’ll be a fan of what they’ve done, if you’re considering buying the new iPad Air or the iPad Mini 5, then it depends on your own personal preference, but for me, I prefer something small and compact, like the iPad Mini 5.