What can I say about the iPad mini 3 that hasn’t already been said? No, seriously, what can I say? Apple’s latest mini is essentially the same product as the first iPad Mini With Retina display with exactly four upgrades, only three of which are significant.
Apple’s iPad Mini 3 is exactly the same size and shape as the last model: 7.8 x 5.3 x 0.29 inches. It still features a 2,048 x 1,536 Retina resolution screen, but did not get new screen technology so it's not as thin as the iPad Air 2.
Its four new features are the Touch ID home button, secure element for Apple Pay, iOS 8.1 and a gold finish option.
The last one is only worth mentioning if you care about a gold finish — oh, wait,a lot of people do. Fine. Let’s get this over with. Even though it’s not real gold, the iPad Mini 3 in gold-covered aluminum looks sharp and expensive. You can also choose space gray or white.
Still so good
The reality is, the iPad Mini With Retina was already an excellent mid-size tablet, easily my favorite. So I’m not terribly disappointed to see that Apple did almost nothing to change it. Rather, I am surprised.
Consider the new iPad Air 2 — released concurrently with the iPad Mini 3. It's noticeably thinner and lighter than the last iPad. It also has more powerful components, including that fully laminated, extra-slim, and incredibly good-looking screen. It seems that, at least for now, Apple is officially anointing the 9.7-inch iPad Air 2 as its flagship tablet. I also suspect that Apple may be trying to push the concept of productivity a bit harder than before, and no Apple mobile device is better equipped to handle word processing or image and video editing than the iPad Air 2.
That said, you can get a heck of a lot done with the iPad Mini 3. It actually has the same resolution screen as the iPad Air 2, which makes everything look super sharp.
Under the hood you’ll still find the 64-bit A7 CPU and M7 motion coprocessor. They’re just as effective at a multitude of tasks as before. Due to its size, the Mini is especially good for book and magazine reading, but it handles videos and gaming equally well.
Also unchanged is the iSight camera. It’s still 5 megapixels, which now further pales in comparison to the iPad Air 2’s 8MP iSight camera and the iPhone 6’s more powerful (better image sensor and image processing) 8MP iSight camera. iOS 8 does add some cool camera features like timelapse, but unlike the iPad Air 2, there’s no slo-mo.
The front-facing FaceTime camera is still 1.2MP and capable of capturing 720p video, meaning it's unchanged from the last iPad Mini and matches the iPad Air 2.
Touch ID
IMAGE: MASHABLE, CHRISTINA ASCANI
Aside from the gold skin, the iPad Mini 3’s only other visible difference is the Touch ID home button. I’ve loved this feature ever since Apple brought it to the iPhone 5S and am thrilled to find it here (and on the iPad Air 2). It’s a real pleasure to register fingers and then unlock the device with a press (to wake) and a touch to unlock and to use it to buy apps and make in-app purchases.
With iOS 8, Apple is extending the utility of Touch ID. Now third-party developers can access it, though few Touch ID-compatible apps were available for this review. Of course, there’s also Apple Pay.
Like the iPad Air 2, the iPad Mini 3 supports Apple Pay for in-app purchases. In the app for hotel booking site Hotel Tonight, you can use Apple Pay and Touch ID to book a room.
Understand, though, that Apple Pay would not work on either the iPad Mini 3 or the iPad Air 2 if they did not also include another new piece of hardware: the aforementioned secure element. It holds device-specific credit-card information and cannot be read by you or anyone else. The merchant gets the device-specific card number and passes it on to the credit card issuer, who connects it to your real credit card number. Thus, a transaction is completed.
A changing tablet landscape
The iPad Mini 3 ranges in price from $399 for the 16GB Wi-Fi-only model up to $729 for the Wi-Fi + LTE 128GB model. The previous generation iPad Mini Retina starts at $299 at 16GB and maxes out at $479 for a 32GB Wi-Fi + LTE model.
Interestingly, there is no 32GB model for the iPad Mini 3. The question you have to ask yourself is: How much is Touch ID worth? It’s really the only significant new feature. You'll get iOS 8.1 on last year’s model, the iPad Mini With Retina Display, which means you still get better email, messaging, photo management and Continuity with Yosemite Macs (start browsing a web page on the iPad, finish on the MacBook). You’ll also have the same performance and high-resolution Retina screen.
It is unfortunate that you can’t even get a 64GB iPad Mini Retina, but 32GB is just enough storage, and you do get some free iCloud space (5GB). And, no, Apple’s iPads do not offer upgradeable memory via microSD card like many Android tablets do.
Ultimately, the iPad Mini 3, like the iPad Mini before it, is an excellent mid-size tablet. I still prefer it for its design and mobile operating system over my second favorite mid-size product, the Amazon Kindle Fire HDX. But, there's no getting around the increasing value disparity. The 7-inch HDX offers a quad-core Snapdragon processor and starts at $179 for a 16GB model. Obviously, it lacks a rear camera (it has a front-facing one) and a fingerprint reader, but adds other consumer-friendly features like X-Ray to dive into the details of your content and May Day 24/7 tech support.
I just wish Apple had acknowledged that its new iPad Mini 3 is really still last year’s model and lowered the base price of the entire Mini line. It would certainly help it compete more effectively with products such as the Kindle Fire HDX. At $499 for the Mini 3, you're left wondering if you should just kick in another $100 and get the much more powerful and substantially larger iPad Air 2.
Apple has a great product here, but I don’t think it’s fair to charge a premium price for what clearly isn’t your premium tablet.
Apple iPad mini 3
The Good
Excellent screen and design •iOS 8/8.1 features, including time-lapse and Apple Pay •Touch ID fingerprint scanner adds convenience
The Bad
Minimal updates over last model, Relatively pricey
The Bottom Line
The iPad mini 3 is a great tablet, but so was the iPad mini With Retina Display. Can Apple really justify the premium price for last year’s (slightly updated) model?
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