Our Verdict
There are so few difference between the 2019 iPad Mini and the iPad Air that you might think the selection boil down to whether you desire a humble iPad or not . But there are a few other factors to Consider .
Best Prices Today: Apple iPad mini (2019)
In March 2019 Apple updated two of its iPad model . Neither view a significant redesign on the exterior – the Home clitoris lives another Clarence Day – but both saw a bountiful jump in the internal specs . The big surprise was that the update iPads were the iPad mini , last update in 2015 , and theiPad Air , which was last updated in 2014 before being discontinued in 2016 .
With the resuscitation of the Mac mini and MacBook Air at the end of 2018 and now the revitalization of these two iPads , Apple seems to addressing the mass market – customer who need the latest specs and feature without paying a fortune for pro - focused machine . These were always popular iPad models so in many ways it was a surprise that Apple neglect them for so long ( the iPad Air was less neglected as replaced by the iPad , but the slim form - factor was always an attractive option ) .
In this article we ’ll suffice the liberal question : of these two popular and perfect iPads , which one is best ? It ’s not comfortable to answer as they are similar in so many style as you will see from our comparison below .
Price
Having hinted at how like they are , we ’ll go off with the obvious difference : price .
The iPad mini starting price is £ 399/$399 , £ 80/$100 less than the starting price of the iPad Air . We have the complete pricing breakdown below .
iPad mini
purchase the iPad mini from Apple here .
iPad Air
grease one’s palms the iPad Air from Apple here .
The iPad mini might be cheap than the iPad Air , but it ’s not the cheapest iPad you could buy . That is the iPad ( 2018 ) which take up at £ 319/$329 , another £ 80/£70 less .
In damage of what you get if you expend £ 80/$100 more to get the Air , the only difference is really the size of the gadget and its display , as you will see if you read on .
Both the iPad Air and iPad mini are available tobuy now from Apple . They are also available from a range of mountains of resellers ( such as John Lewis , Amazon , Currys / PC World and more ) . Check ourroundup of the honorable iPad dealsfor the latest bargain .
More general advice can be find in ouriPad purchasing scout .
Design & build quality
There is nothing rotatory here . Both the new iPad miniskirt and the iPad Air still have the Home button and the display is not as all - embrace as the 2018 iPad Pro , which saw its display stretched thanks to smaller bezels and the remotion of the Home button in favour of Face ID .
However , if you were to equate the iPad Air from 2014 with the raw model , the newer model is somewhat larger , heavier , and has a bigger screen than before . Here ’s how those models compare :
If you like the size of the older iPad Air you may be let down that the new exemplar is larger – or you may prefer that it is a bit large as that also means that the screen is tumid . The young iPad Air is also slightly longer than the 11 in iPad Pro , although narrow , and despite being called Air , at 6.1 millimetre thick , it ’s not thinner than the Pro which is 5.9 mm thick . It ’s also very slightly longer and wider than the older 2018 iPad .
What we have there is three example fo iPad that are very similar in term of size . But we are comparing the 2019 iPad Air and the iPad miniskirt here and the difference is much more marked .
The iPad mini dimensions are as follow :
The iPad mini ’s dimension are the same as the former modelling , although it is very slightly heavier ( it was 298.8g/304 universal gravitational constant ) . In fact , the young 2019 iPad mini is pretty much identical to the honest-to-goodness exemplar . In fact the design of the iPad mini has hardly changed since it was launch in 2012 .
The iPad miniskirt is the only option you have if you want a belittled iPad . For us it ’s the size of it of the iPad miniskirt that is its biggest appealingness . In fact , we think that it is the perfect size of it : similar to the size of a script , staring for tyke , and far light than the other iPads .
If you desire something even humble , Apple sell these pop devices called the iPhone that you might have try of .
Whether the iPad mini is too small for you look on what you are pop off to be doing with it . If you employ your iPad for recital , as a screen on which to watch your shows , or to do a piece of work when you are commuting , then it might be ideal for you . We jazz that the smaller sizing is often study ideal for youthful children who ’s small hands make anything else overkill .
But if you want to use the iPad for piece of work you might favor the bigger iPad Air that can be confiscate to a keyboard via the smart keyboard connecter giving you a laptop - same experience . Although we think that if it ’s a laptop - like experience you are after , for now at least , you are estimable off with a laptop computer . Plus , if you require to habituate a keyboard with the iPad mini you’re able to just sync with any Bluetooth keyboard .
Features & Specs
As we said above , the dimension of the two iPads being compared here I probably the most notable difference . The 2d distinction is nearly related to the sizing of the equipment : the screen .
But apart from the size of the screen there is really minuscule divergence between the iPad mini and iPad Air . Both model have pretty much identical specs as you will see from our overview below .
Screen
Both the iPad mini and iPad Air have a laminate screen ( unlike the 9.7 in iPad which has a slight - feeling unmourned show ) . The laminated display yield the machine a more tough feel .
Both iPads also offer True Tone engineering that monitor the ambient light in an environment and aline the color temperature of the screen to make things easier on the eyes . Both also support ( P3 ) wide coloring display . ( you could find out about rightful Tone in our article True Tone vs Night Shift . )
The only real departure in terms of silver screen quality is the fact that the iPad miniskirt offers 326ppi where the iPad Air offers 264ppi . That ’s the gamy density of pixels on any iPad , so if you want a higher pixel denseness then the iPad mini is the one to go with – except that there are in reality more pixels on the iPad Air thanks to the bigger projection screen . So you win some , you turn a loss some .
Processor
Both the 2019 iPad miniskirt and the 2019 iPad Air use the A12 Bionic chip – which is the very same A12 Bionic processor with its Neural Engine and imbed M12 coprocessor that is determine in the iPhone XR , XS , and XS Max . Only the 2018 iPad Pro goes one better with the A12X Bionic chip , while the 2018 iPad employ an A10 Fusion central processing unit .
While we have n’t been capable to run our benchmarking test on the new iPad mini or iPad Air yet , but can get an idea of how much full you may carry it to be by reckon at theiPhone XSand those other 2018 iPhones .
Camera
Both the new iPad Air and the fresh iPad miniskirt have the same cameras , front and can . There ’s an 8Mp television camera on the back , with f/2.4 and it ’s capable of doing 1080p video , with Live Photos .
There ’s now a 7Mp camera on the front for FaceTime and selfies , which is an betterment on the old generations , and also safe than the stock iPad ’s front - front - facing television camera .
RAM
Apple does n’t broadcast how much RAM is inside it ’s product – as far as Apple is concerned , you should n’t need a long ton of RAM if the software is good . However , we have it away that more RAM can mean matter carry a bit smooth .
Both the iPad Air and the iPad mini have 3 GB RAM . In comparison the iPad has just 2 GB and the iPad Pro models have 4 GB RAM .
Storage
Again , there is no difference here . Both the iPad Air and the iPad miniskirt come with either 64 GB or 256 GB of storage .
If storage is what matters to you more than anything , you could get more storehouse in the iPad mini for less money than the tantamount amount of storage in the Air .
A 64 GB iPad Air 2019 would cost you £ 479/$499 , while you could get 256 GB of storage in an iPad mini for £ 549/$549 , just £ 70/$50 more .
unremarkably moving the Leontyne Price difference of opinion between the depot options is £ 150/$150 .
But could 64 GB be enough store for you ? If you are upgrading from a 16 GB model then you could carry your life to be transform . If you have a 128 GB iPad mini 4 you may be wondering if switch down to a 64 GB manikin would be a mistake . likely it would be . While we finger that the availability of iCloud storage means that you might not need as much storage on your machine these days , the 256 GB option would probably be an all important update if your be iPad has a greater electrical capacity than 64 GiB .
ReadHow much computer memory do you need on an iPad?for more detailed advice .
Connectivity
In terms of ports and connectivity options there is a difference here . The iPad Air has a Smart Connector , which mean it can connect directly to Apple ’s Smart Keyboard . If you want to be able to place your iPad up with a Smart Keyboard – like the picture below – then the iPad Air is the one for you .
However , you could still practice any Bluetooth keyboard with either the iPad Air or iPad Mini . And we have to say , we favour the experience of using a standard keyboard with a pill . We ’d say try it out before you purchase one .
Both gadget have Bluetooth 5 , supports eSIM and gigabit LTE . They both have a earpiece jack and the usual Lightning port .
Both devices also stomach the first - gen Apple Pencil . observe that they wo n’t be compatible with the second generation Pencil , if you happen to already own one .
Battery
On newspaper the two devices are the same . Apple say that you could anticipate Up to 10 hour of surfing the web on Wi‑Fi , watching video or hear to music , and up to 9 hour of surfing the World Wide Web using a mobile data connection on both the iPad mini and Air .
We ’ll hold off our last close on this until we ’ve been able to run our own battery tests .
One interesting matter to note is that the old iPad Air fashion model used to have a 8,600mAh battery but it ’s now small , at 7,340mAh . We ’re not certain what the size of the battery in the iPad mini is , but the late generation had a 5,124mAh battery , so we ’d still expect it to be smaller than the one in the Air . A smaller bombardment is likely to bring out less explosive charge . We ’ll endure those tryout !
iPad mini and iPad Air 2019 tech specs
Verdict
There are very few differences between the 2019 iPad Mini and the iPad Air . The iPad mini simply has all the features of the Air for less money , the only ‘ disadvantage ’ being that it ’s smaller . But for many being smaller is the iPad mini ’s vantage .
The only reasons to buy the iPad Air are if you need a expectant screen , ( potentially ) right battery - life , and a porthole for connecting a overbold keyboard .
The grounds to buy the iPad mini are if you need a modest and lighter pad and more storage for your money . And the pixels are slightly more dense .
In our experience the iPad mini has always been the perfect size . It ’s standardised to the sizing of a record book , perfect for shaver , and far lighter than the other iPads . Really it ’s very much a matter of personal orientation . You either require a small iPad or you do n’t .
The only slightly puzzling matter about the iPad miniskirt is the fact that it ’s not the cheapest iPad you may buy , that ’s the 2018 iPad which at £ 319/$329 it ’s £ 80/$70 cheaper than the iPad mini . We think the iPad miniskirt is well worth the extra money though .
