iPad mini 4 review: The small tablet is a big deal again - The Next Web
In ushering in new iPhones last month, Apple glossed over the iPad mini 4. A quick take only suggested it was a smaller version of the iPad Air 2, and in many ways — it is.
The mini 4 is still kind of a big deal, though.
At just about every turn, Apple updated the hardware for its small new tablet. Those tweaks take advantage of the software in special ways, too.
My old mini (first retina series) had been made redundant by my iPhone 6+. Squeezed out between my phone and my MacBook. But, the combination of iOS 9 and the new mini 4 hardware got me to take a second look at a device that I used to have a lot of fondness for.
Early days, but after a weeks trial of taking this instead of my MacBook on my 1 hour train commute into London, when I mainly triage emails, review Omnifocus and manage calendars. l'm impressed.
It beats the laptop by being lighter, smaller & having an instant cellular data connection. And, with split screen, my workflows down to inbox zero are almost as fast.
It's notable how 'slow' the MacBook feels after working on the new iPad. Really ponderous. The biggest downside - iOS mail.app and its reluctance to keep any local copies of emails, making search impossible, but the fact that Evernote is now locally searchable through spotlight is taking a lot of the pain out of that.
Whilst I'm still a million miles away from wanting to give up on my dual screen Mac set up at my desk, it's not inconcievable that iOS could 'finaly' be about to replace OSX in my daily travel routine.