Why the iPad mini 6? Here is one in Purple, 64 GB Cellular, and it looks fantastic! Goes right along with the purple of the iPhone 14 Pro. The way I look at it, it’s like a smaller and more powerful (and better colored) 2018 iPad Pro 11″, although I’ll admit the battery could be better. Long ago I once had a 2018 iPad Pro 11″, allured by the 120 Hz screen refresh rate and the then-powerful A12X Apple chip. The 2021 mini 6 has an A15 Bionic chip so it’s better in single core performance and is also on a 5nm chip vs. the 7nm process of the A12X.
So far so good
Although I am a bit worried about the soft aluminum frame, it sits on a desk for the most part with a color matching magic cover or a clear silicon case. It’s a pretty fast device, games run nicely on here, it multitasks pretty nicely, web browses quite well, and overall UI is incredibly responsive even if it only has a 60 Hz screen. It sill runs at a nice 327 ppi (8.3″ 1488 x 2266 pixels), 4 efficiency and 2 performance cores, and 5 GPU cores. My one and only complaint is the battery, the could have made the device a little bit thicker to accommodate such a thing. It would have also been nice to see steel banding like on the iPhone 14 Pro to increase durability, and scratch/dent resistance. This is a device I would be more careful with in case of drops. Currently, it’s on T-mobile with 5G data, although wifi variants of these sell for ~$289 on eBay in Early 2025.
It’s been useful as an extra screen here and there to jot down notes with, watch a video on YouTube wherever, and try out new things. Charges fast enough with the new charger, camera feels okay, and ultimately feels like a similar experience to my 2018 iPad Pro but on a smaller screen. While the phone is on the charger, this is a sort of backup iOS device.
(Click to enlarge above: Using sidecar in Sonoma with an iPad mini 6)
Is it worth it in early 2025?
It all depends on what you’re looking for out of a device. With the A15 Bionic it’s an incredible performer for sure, despite being a 2021 device. It’s the same CPU as the one that is on the iPhone 13 Pro which is still a currently viable iPhone with more years of support ahead of it. The iPad mini 7 (2024) is a refresh of the mini 6 with the same colors, and the mini 6 is now starting to depreciate in value a bit. It’s a rather thin device on its own and it feels better to hold with a case or the magic cover. If you don’t need all the bells and whistles or the largest screen and a bit of a size cutdown from the standard iPad.. then this one may be for you! It still has its own flare, and in my opinion looks quite good. UTM SE without JIT can still emulate older OSes quite decently, and the other versions of UTM can be sideloaded onto the iPad to unlock the full power of running newer oses on here. So far for me – I like it.
(Above: Lock Screen customization in iOS 18.1.1)
(Above left: iPad Pro 2018 11″. Right: Galaxy Tab S4)
(Above left: iPad Pro 2018 11″. Right: Galaxy Tab S4)
The 2018 iPad Pro is what started this design trend for the iPad, and the iPad mini 6 shares this design. It’s changed over from the iPad mini 5th gen, which has a squared off screen that isn’t as close to the bezels, and has a home button. Looks nice and modern over the more classic iPad design.
