Last year I picked up a Purple 64 GB iPad mini as a part of a low-cost offer from T-mobile, to have as a backup to the iPhone (just in case), to see “the state of iPads” overall, and to see if the device fits anywhere into my life these days. Since the early days of Android tablets, I’ve been fascinated by the idea of a tablet potentially replacing an entire desktop, even replacing all my computing needs.
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What sparked the idea to get this?

I really don’t think the iPad mini 6 was cut out to run the OS I upgraded to – iOS 26. Even then, iOS 18 felt slightly sluggish to run on the iPad mini 6, as though I were running on older/lesser hardware. Of course it was a responsive tablet, but the graphical animations suggested a sort of sluggishness which the on-paper tech specs never would – at least not in 2025.
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• Probably would’ve kept the Purple iPad mini 6 if I still had the Deep Purple iPhone 14 Pro. Got Blue this time to match the Sky Blue iPhone Air.
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• Cost-effectiveness: While the iPad mini starts at $150 higher over the standard iPad.. on T-Mobile the cost difference between the two is negligible. Neither required an up-front down payment, the trade-in waived additional costs, $20/mo (iPad) vs. $27/mo (iPad mini 7), makes it easier to choose between one or the other.
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• Why mini instead of anything else? I wanted a “giant smartphone” more than a desktop-replacing tablet. I like how you could have the full functionality of iPad OS in this form factor.
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• Perceived hardware improvements: In the short time I’ve had this so far, experience is matching expectation with the performance improvements. It feels like upgrading to an iPhone 12 Pro Max when it was new, up from an iPhone XS Max – improved internals which translate to the screen, but you can still tell the screen isn’t a Pro Motion display (120 Hz).
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• Any old case which worked for the iPad mini 6 can transfer straight to the iPad mini A17 Pro.
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Next to the iPad mini 6

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Transferring the eSim

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Next to the Sky Blue iPhone Air

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Swapping cases was a breeze*

Any old case which worked for the iPad mini 6 can transfer straight to the iPad mini A17 Pro. Previously, I used a color-matching purple OEM Smart Folio case with the iPad mini 6, which I’ve sold since it no longer matches.

• *I’m not sure if it’s the iPad or the way the case was designed.. but Touch ID isn’t registering my finger properly half the time. With the same case on it, the iPad mini 6 wasn’t having issues. Must be something with the sensor. I even cut a sliver of plastic out – around the Touch ID button, and little has changed.
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What did I notice right away?

• The Blue on this iPad makes the Sky Blue iPhone Air look white when next to it. When the metallic blue specifically shines a lighter hue under the light (much like in the last photo), that’s actually what I imagined and wanted a Sky Blue iPhone Air to look like.
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• No eSim slot on the new iPad.
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• The battery standby time on the new iPad is much, much better. When not interacting with the iPad at all, on idle, no apps open, it drains much slower versus the iPad mini 6.
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• Base model now ships with double the storage! 128 GB versus 64 GB. Now I can breathe easy knowing things don’t have to be deleted to fit a UTM VM.
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• Much less stutter and app launch delay versus the iPad mini 6 on iOS 26.
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What’s next?

Benchmarking the two devices against one another, then packing up the old one to send it on its way. The new iPad mini certainly feels like an upgrade over the old one, especially considering there is a multi-year gap between the hardware of the old and new one.

• The A17 Pro chip contributes significantly to the perceived performance improvement. It’s significantly more responsive of a device; such that anyone who made this specific upgrade will notice.
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