While I obsess over smartphones and often find myself switching SIM cards daily, I tend to try only Apple iPads on an annual basis and then just for a few months before moving on. I passed my 2015 iPad Mini 4 to my youngest daughter and then my 2017 iPad Pro 10.5 inch tablet to my oldest daughter as...

Diminutive size for a tablet; Solid construction and simple design; Lightning fast performance; Apple Pencil support; Long battery life; 3.5mm headset jack

Large top and bottom bezels; $130 cellular premium

While I obsess over smartphones and often find myself switching SIM cards daily, I tend to try only Apple iPads on an annual basis and then just for a few months before moving on. I passed my 2015 iPad Mini 4 to my youngest daughter and then my 2017 iPad Pro 10.5 inch tablet to my oldest daughter as...

Diminutive size for a tablet; Solid construction and simple design; Lightning fast performance; Apple Pencil support; Long battery life; 3.5mm headset jack

Large top and bottom bezels; $130 cellular premium

The iPad mini is back, apparently by popular demand. Many thought the mini might be gone for good, but much like Apple’s release of the HTMLTagInstance html-tag-20e878f9-96b5-45a5-9203-01a5b32183da iPhone SE, the company’s meeting users’ demands for a smaller, up-to-date device with the HTMLTagInstance html-tag-cb3e134d-572c-40b8-8cf2-64c43b20b726 2019 iPad mini. It’s a simple formula really: use the same mini form-factor, but stuff it with the company’s latest and greatest internals. After nearly four years with no new iPad mini releases, it seems Apple is pretty confident that fans of the mini will spring for the upgrade. But should you?In the box:iPad mini (2019)USB Lightning CableUSB Power AdapterQuick Start, Safety Guide, and StickersDesign ImageTagInstance gallery-67e3b2fa-e9a4-49ca-b02f-6cfa2972a33e Yes, it looks pretty much identical to its predecessor. That can be a tough bite to swallow for some, as its predecessor, and even the first iPad mini from 2012, are pretty hard to t...

Light and small with class-leading internals; Lightning quick performance is smooth and effortless even in heavier tasks; Solid camera in daytime lighting; Easy-to-read display in almost any situation; Great battery life; Apple Pencil support;

Older design looks like the first 2012 iPad mini; Gesture navigation needs some streamlining; Camera isn’t a great low-light performer; Takes forever to recharge;

When Apple announced the first iPad mini in 2012, the tablet's purpose was clear: It squeezed just about everything that made the regular iPad such a pleasure to use into a smaller, cheaper package. It's no wonder the mini built such a devoted following.

Light and portable; Powerful and fast; Display is excellent; Surprisingly versatile;

Design feels dated; Cameras aren’t amazing…; … and neither are the speakers; Uses the older Apple Pencil;

I've been a convert to Apple's iPad line of tablets with the launch of the astounding iPad Pro 2018 last year. Utilising the iPad Pro daily as a MacBook replacement (but alongside my Mac Pro desktop computer), I've grown accustomed to the quirks and limitations of the iPad family – but also the...

The iPad Mini is not the best tablet Apple makes (that's the 11-inch iPad Pro ). It's not the good enough tablet either (that's the iPad Air). It's the awkward one. A little too small, but a little too big, and demanding a fairly radical change to how you operate a tablet if you've been using any...

A mini tablet is great for books; and even movies

It feels a little cramped to use the pencil with

The 12.9-inch iPad Pro sits next to my home desktop computer. Its beautifully large screen is a creative canvas I love using, Face ID continues to feel futuristic, and the magnetic, second-gen Apple Pencil is so darn convenient.

Great screen; Strong performance; Portable and compact; Apple Pencil support; Good battery life (so far

Same old design; No second-gen Apple Pencil support; Fast charging adapter and cable not included

This year's iPad mini and the new iPad Air ($499) are basically bigger and smaller versions of each other. Here's how it steps up: The existing $329 iPad (just called iPad) is for all of your basic tablet needs. The $399 iPad mini is for people who specifically need a smaller, lighter tablet.

Powerful processor; Solid screen; Broad LTE options; Apple Pencil support; Light and easy to carry

Compatible Apple Pencil isn't the better model; Aging design

With a powerful A12 Bionic chip, the new iPad mini (2019) is still the best small tablet yet, and will likely remain so in the coming years.