I replaced my iPad Pro 11” with an iPad Mini 6 over the summer! 64GB Space Grey, grabbed the smart cover, and kept my Apple Pencil 2.

Why?

The Pro was just a bit too big for what it’s purposes have become. I was mostly using it for bed browsing, a few youtube videos, and reading books. The 11” was a bit uncomfortable to one-hand and a bit unwieldily on some public transit, as I discovered during a trip to Fredericton via bus. I’ve always liked a smaller tablet form factor, whether it be Android based devices or iPads. Hell, I owned a Mini 4 for a while, and although it was a great size and very performant, it wasn’t exactly the ideal slot-in for an Android user at the time. With the redesign of the Mini 6 to meet the newer iPad design language and some of the newer features, it was a no-brainer.

How?

I sold my Pro which ended up covering the cost of the Mini, Apple Care, and the smart cover. I kept my Apple Pencil 2 as it functions with the Mini.

Why 64GB? Why not 256GB?

I looked at the storage used on my Pro and wasn’t exceeding 64GB after 2 years of ownership. Considering my lean into cloud based applications/storage, and this being mostly a media consumption device, I don’t see a need for more than the 64GB base model. I’ll re-evaluate in 2 years!

What’s Good?

The newer design language is beautiful - Just a glass and metal slate! It feels like the Pro, except smaller.
USB-C charging and accessory port unlike previous minis.
Touch ID in power button.
Apple Pencil 2 support!
Center Stage for the front facing camera - Great for video calls.
A15 chip with 4GB of RAM is plenty zippy for games and beastly for Lightroom on the go.
Speakers are great for the size - Proper stereo speakers when held in landscape mode, instead of two bottom mounted speakers of the previous generations.
Perfect size for using comfortably for extended periods.

What’s not so good?

The screen isn’t quite as good as the Pro - I don’t miss ProMotion now, but it was noticeable when I first started using it. The viewing angles are still good but not quite pro level good. There’s also a slightly noticeable “jelly scroll” when the iPad is used in portrait mode, which isn’t really noticeable unless I’m looking for it. I tend to use it in landscape orientation most of the time.
I do miss Face ID - I wish they were able to fit that in considering it’s on the regular iPhones.
Battery life is okay - Not spectacular, just okay.
No smart connector on the back means no fun accessories like a keyboard case without leveraging bluetooth.
Honestly, the available colors are weird. I just wanted silver, but had to settle for space grey as Starlight had a weird gold tint to it.

So far so good - This has been a pretty small and easy to use companion for travel and everyday use. It’s been a few months since swapping it and I don’t miss the pro. I hope Apple keeps pouring effort into devices this size, as in two to three years time I’d love to see something new that addresses the few small issues I have with it.