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Apple introduces iPad mini built for Apple Intelligence

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Re: Apple introduces iPad mini built for Apple Intelligence

#311

Post by lukev »

theshackleford wrote: post #303
brandonmenc wrote: post #286

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Perhaps they are targeting people with a smaller iPhone who want another device to watch YouTube. Hi, it me. I have an iPhone 13 Mini that will have to be pried from my cold dead hands because it's about as big a phone as I'm willing to carry (I'd still rather have the 5s form factor.) I also have an iPad Mini that supplements it perfectly. Really don't want anything larger, because I like to handle it with one han…

> There is absolutely no way I'd buy a phone as gigantic as a Max. It's not gigantic for everyone to be fair. I'm 6′1″ with largish hands I suppose and the Max is a single hand device for me. Small devices look comical in my hands. I was one of those very well served by Apple starting to make larger devices, and it's when I shifted over from Android full time to iOS devices. (I was very fond of the early generation G…

I dunno, I'm 6'2" with corresponding hand size and I'm in the "won't go larger than a 13 mini" camp.

I think preference probably plays a bigger role than size. I see a lot of tiny people manhandling pros and maxes too.

Re: Apple introduces iPad mini built for Apple Intelligence

#312

Post by ascagnel_ »

dyauspitr wrote: post #299
browningstreet wrote: post #220

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m forever triggering the camera app, while locking the device, on my iPhone 15 pro max. Every day, regularly.

How is that possible? The camera icon is in the bottom left corner of the screen and you use the physical lock button on the side to lock the iPhone.

You can also trigger the camera by swiping right-to-left on the lock screen or from the notification pull-down.

Re: Apple introduces iPad mini built for Apple Intelligence

#313

Post by mckn1ght »

rconti wrote: post #224
vjulian wrote: post #113

I have an older (but not old) Mini, and I find it almost unusable, as screen elements don’t scale up. For example, Safari browser buttons are stupidly small. Is that still an issue with the Mini?

Yes. The mini feels like an abandoned product. In landscape mode, the keyboard takes more than half of the screen. UI elements are routinely covered up in various apps. For example, in Flighty, the flights "drawer" cannot be hidden in the way it can on the iPhone. This is probably fine in a larger iPad, but on the Mini, it covers more than half the screen, meaning it HIDES THE AIRPLANE ICON of the flight you're track…

Have you tried using the floating keyboard? I exclusively use it on my iPad not only for saving the screen real estate but also because I can swype on it (even though I can touch type on the big on-screen keyboard just fine; I still find it more convenient to swype with one of my thumbs, or the pencil https://support.apple.com/en-us/111789

Re: Apple introduces iPad mini built for Apple Intelligence

#314

Post by sdo72 »

Mistletoe wrote: post #19
ivanjermakov wrote: post #8

It's sad that "ultraportable iPad" marketing works, but "ultraportable iPhone" does not make sense for most people. iPhone 13 mini was the last flagship smartphone with such dimensions.

How long do we have on the 13 mini before it becomes so slow I have to get a new phone? I don’t know what I’ll do at that point. On the 12 mini now and can never go to a big phone.

My 3 years old iPhone mini 13 is still very fast, reliable, and I love every part of the phone. It's such an amazing phone that functions well. The only thing got worsened is the battery, now at 87% even though I always charge it to 80-85%, now I have to charge it to 100% to use through the day. I still have extra power (like 30%) for a whole day. Replacing the battery isn't a problem. If Apple does support it like other models, it should last another 4-5 years more. I have no plan to upgrade to anything as I don't see anything comparable on the horizon.

Re: Apple introduces iPad mini built for Apple Intelligence

#315

Post by wvenable »

jdietrich wrote: post #308
wvenable wrote: post #273

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, LCDs are made as giant sheets that are cut into panels. They will want to cut those sheets in a way to ensure the least amount of waste as possible. They are not making them completely arbitrary sizes.

That giant sheet of mother glass is 2940mm x 3370mm. Cutting efficiency dictates the size of TVs, but it's basically irrelevant for phone or tablet displays.

Each block or piece of mother glass can be used for dozens or even hundreds of LCDs but it seems obvious that there are only so many ways you can effectively slice it.

While manufacturers can theoretically produce custom-sized LCD panels, it's more economical and efficient to stick to standard sizes that align with their production lines. Producing custom-sized panels can involve retooling. Choosing a standard size also ensures greater availability.

For a low cost product, I don't see why Apple would mess around with LCD sizes.

Still, this is just a guess. Only Apple knows for sure.

Re: Apple introduces iPad mini built for Apple Intelligence

#316

Post by macintux »

lucb1e wrote: post #202
meroes wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many of these devices aren’t actually fungible commodities though.I tried to buy a phone in the $200 range and Android phones were so much worse than used iPhones. I they would drop calls and freeze on the dial pad during long calls where I was on hold. Tried two different models and had the same issues. I could have tried a used $200 Android but I was not wanting to try for a third Android. All I wanted/needed was t…

> All I wanted/needed was to make important calls. Can I recommend you a 40€ phone ? They've been making models that can do calls for a while now and they needn't cost as much as an Apple-branded device to do just that > they would drop calls and freeze on the dial pad during long calls Never heard that happen to anyone with any phone model. If you've ruled out some software-specific issue like a call recorder you've…

Smartphones failing to make phone calls is not exactly an unknown concept.

https://www.tomsguide.com/news/some-pixel-users-cant-dial-91...

https://www.slashgear.com/842545/why-antennagate-was-a-compl...

https://www.online-tech-tips.com/android-phone-wont-make-cal...

Re: Apple introduces iPad mini built for Apple Intelligence

#317

Post by Tagbert »

metadat wrote: post #182

Why is the bezel so thick? A 1-2cm bezel around the entire "mini" device seems a bit odd, given that the iPad Mini is a relatively tiny device and phones these days come with a 1-2mm bezel (10x less useless border). Is it a cost saving measure / sneaky margin increaser, or what might be the motivation? Edit: Touch interference is a good idea. Still, from the picture, it looks like the bezel could be half as thick and…

Bezels are useful for devices that you can’t just hold in the flat of your hand. Provides a place to hold on to.

Also, this is an LCD screen. The substrate is rigid. An OLED, like on the iPhone is on a flexible substrate and can be bent at the edges to connect to the circuit board. That lets you put the screen closer to the edge.

Re: Apple introduces iPad mini built for Apple Intelligence

#319

Post by Tagbert »

hankman86 wrote: post #225
metadat wrote: post #182

Why is the bezel so thick? A 1-2cm bezel around the entire "mini" device seems a bit odd, given that the iPad Mini is a relatively tiny device and phones these days come with a 1-2mm bezel (10x less useless border). Is it a cost saving measure / sneaky margin increaser, or what might be the motivation? Edit: Touch interference is a good idea. Still, from the picture, it looks like the bezel could be half as thick and…

So that they can release a successor model with thinner bezels. In reality this may be to (1) to keep costs down and (2) to distance the iPad mini from the more premium iPhone Pro Max. All in all, this device leaves me wondering who this is for? iPads are mostly used for media consumption, no matter how Apple wants to position them. Not sure why this necessitates AI hardware, but perhaps people really start using iPa…

“ The comparatively small difference in screen real estate between an iPhone Pro Max and the iPad mini makes the latter rather pointless.”

While the linear diagonal size of the screens are not so much different, the area of the iPad Mini is significantly larger. I ran the numbers a month or so on it when someone was making the same claim of equivalence. I don’t recall the specifics now but I think the iPad screen had at least 60% more area. That is significant.

“ Not sure why this necessitates AI hardware”

It would be hard for Apple to put in a chipset now that didn’t support AI. All of their SOCs for the past 10 years have had neural processors. This A17 Pro has 8GB of RAM. All of their recent SOCs have the 8GB of RAM needed to run AI. Why not?

Re: Apple introduces iPad mini built for Apple Intelligence

#320

Post by theshackleford »

lukev wrote: post #311
theshackleford wrote: post #303

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There is absolutely no way I'd buy a phone as gigantic as a Max. It's not gigantic for everyone to be fair. I'm 6′1″ with largish hands I suppose and the Max is a single hand device for me. Small devices look comical in my hands. I was one of those very well served by Apple starting to make larger devices, and it's when I shifted over from Android full time to iOS devices. (I was very fond of the early generation G…

I dunno, I'm 6'2" with corresponding hand size and I'm in the "won't go larger than a 13 mini" camp. I think preference probably plays a bigger role than size. I see a lot of tiny people manhandling pros and maxes too.

For most people, preference likely plays a bigger role, but for me, it’s all about the size of my hands and fingers. I find smaller devices uncomfortable for anything beyond basic phone use. As a computing device where touch is the primary interaction, I prefer something larger, which is why I stuck with Android when Apple wasn’t making bigger phones. It’s also about being able to have it further from my face.

At the time, many Apple users claimed no one wanted larger phones and that Apple’s size was perfect. I disagreed and voted with my wallet. For me, there are no downsides to a larger device—I can still use it one-handed, it fits in my pockets, and going smaller wouldn’t make it any more portable or usable.

For others, it’s the opposite. A smaller phone may be easier to handle or fit better in pockets or everyday carry. So I agree there should be different sizes to meet different needs, including smaller options if the market supports them. Among my circle, smaller phones tend to be the preference for those who primarily use their device for calls and texts. Anything beyond that, like browsing, moves to a tablet. These people are generally in their mid-30s to mid-40s.

Interestingly, the ‘non-techy’ people I know with larger phones say it’s because they use a popsocket or view their phone more as a computer than a phone. They’re willing to trade off size for a bigger screen. Many of them don’t own another personal computing device, aside from maybe a tablet. They’re typically in their 20s to 30s.

I feel like I’m part of a shrinking group that still uses both a laptop and a desktop as my primary computing environments.

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