With the launch of the new iPad Mini by Apple at the “Hey Siri” event, Apple surely did not give much importance to the design factor but concentrated on improvements in the internals in case of the new iPad Mini and also in the new iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus.
In case you were waiting for the iPad Mini 4 to check out the upgrades by Apple in the latest tablet and decide whether to buy the iPad Mini 3 or iPad Mini 4 or are looking whether to upgrade from an older version of iPad Mini to the latest version follow the post to see what are all the changes in the new iPad by Apple in a head-on comparison between the iPad Mini 4 vs iPad Mini 3.
Display:
The Display has not been touched and both the iPad Mini 4 and iPad 3 come with the same 7.9-inch IPS LCD Retina Display with a resolution of 2,048 x 1,536 pixels and 326ppi. so there is not much to choose from between the two in terms of display. The same was seen in the new iPhone 6s and 6s Plus as well sporting the same display from the previous model.
| Features | iPad Mini 4 | iPad Mini 3 |
| Display | 7.9-inch IPS LCD Retina Dsplay with resolution of 2,048 x 1,536 pixels and 326ppi | 7.9-inch IPS LCD Retina Dsplay with resolution of 2,048 x 1,536 pixels and 326ppi |
| Processor | Apple A8 + M8 coprocessors | Apple A7 + M7 coprocessors |
| RAM and Storage | 2GB LPDDR3 and 16/64/128GB NAND variants | 2GB LPDDR3 and 16/64/128GB NAND variants |
| Camera | 8MP rear iSight with f/2.4 aperture and 1.2MP front facing | 5MP rear with f/2.4 aperture and 1.2MP front facing |
| Connectivity | 4G LTE, SHDPS, EDGE, GSM, Wi-Fi Dual band 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth v4.2 | 4G LTE, SHDPS, EDGE, GSM, Wi-Fi Dual band 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth v4.0 |
| Battery | 9.10 hours | 10 hours |
| Price |
Processor:
this is one area of upgrade which is seen in the iPad Mini 4 which is powered by an improved Apple A8 + M8 coprocessors in comparison to the Apple A7 + M7 coprocessors in the iPad Mini 3. According to Apple the new Mini will see a 30 percent boost in speed and 60 percent improvement in graphics speed. In terms of RAM both the devices come with similar 2GB RAM and storage options are also the same with 16/64/128 GB variants available which cannot be expanded.
Camera:
The camera also saw an improvement with the iPad Mini 4 sporting an 8MP rear iSight with f/2.4 aperture and 1.2MP front facing camera in comparison to the 5MP rear with f/2.4 aperture and 1.2MP front facing camera. This new camera set up seems to be taken from the iPhone 6 model from last year. Both the variants are capable of recording fullHD (1080p) Videos.
Other features:
The Connectivity features are similar with 4G LTE, HSDPS, EDGE, GSM, Wi-Fi Dual band 802.11a/b/g/n/ac and the only upgrade here is the inclusion of Bluetooth v4.2 in iPad Mini 4 in place of the Bluetooth v4.0 in Mini 3. Both the devices come with Lightning ports for faster charging. The details about the battery are not updated yet, but with the new version of iPhone seeing a drop in battery capacity we can expect the same in case of the iPad mini 4.
Conclusion:
With similar display and design along with a decent decrease in the thickness of the new iPad Mini 4 at 6.1 mm from 7.5 mm of the iPad Mini 3, the new iPad Mini has become a lot sleeker. The improvement in the Processor speeds can be seen with the latest Apple A8 + M8 coprocessors introduced into the iPad Mini 4 and 8MP rear camera which seem to be taken from the iPhone 6. If you are looking for speed and better camera go for the iPad Mini 4 else the Mini 3 will fulfill all your needs.
There is not much of a difference which is noticeable, and if you are looking for a new iPad then save some money and go for the iPad 3 which will be cheaper with the new one coming out. It is no doubt sleeker and the processor and camera are improved, I certainly cannot see any reason why I would go for the new variant from the previous one.
