Apple iPad mini with Retina Display: Reviewed
by Anand Lal Shimpi on November 16, 2013 8:00 AM ESTBattery Life
Thanks to the mini’s integrated 23.8Wh battery (and the low idle power of the 28nm A7), the Retina Display’s power consumption is more than offset. Battery life in all of our tests is at worst unchanged from the mini, but at best we’re talking about a 21% increase.
Our web browsing test shows a 10% improvement compared to the original iPad mini. The new mini with Retina Display can even last longer than a 4th generation iPad, and it’s hot on the heels of the iPad Air (I'll be updating this section with LTE and LTE hotspot results).
Video playback is where we see the biggest improvement compared to the original mini. Here the new iPad mini lasts 21% longer on a single charge, once again outlasting even the iPad 4. The iPad Air doesn’t offer any appreciable gain in battery life over the Retina mini.
Our 3D battery life test is the only one where the old mini manages to beat the new Retina model. With a 1.31% margin of victory though, it’s pretty safe to say that for current 3D gaming workloads you’ll see similar battery life out of the Retina mini as the old model. This is also the only test where the iPad Air delivers better battery life on a single charge (~11%).
Apple ships the Retina mini with a 10W USB charger and lightning cable. This appears to be the same charger as what shipped with the 3rd generation iPad (but obviously with a different cable). Using the newer 12W charger from the iPad 4/Air has no impact on charge time as the mini still only draws a maximum of 11.7W at the wall (compared to 13.8W for the iPad Air).
The iPad mini with Retina Display completes a charge from 0 to 100% in a sliver under 4 hours. That’s a little quicker than the iPad Air, and similar to the original mini with its 5W charger.
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socio-statistical - Monday, November 18, 2013 - link
Yeah, but, if the article is fair, then it's not promoting Android...KPOM - Saturday, November 16, 2013 - link
How does he say Apple can do no wrong? He pointed out that the mini isn't a "no compromises" device as he had hoped, and has given high marks to competing devices from Google and Samsung.MrX8503 - Saturday, November 16, 2013 - link
The Verge also said it was a "no compromises" device. Its a great tablet, admit it.kji875 - Saturday, November 16, 2013 - link
False. Every 32 bit ARM device is compromised because of the lack of native compatibility with x86 apps, traditional UI, and features.chaosbloodterfly - Saturday, November 16, 2013 - link
*points out* A7 is 64 bit ARM.ws3 - Saturday, November 16, 2013 - link
By those standards every supercomputer on the top 500 list is "compromised" because none of them run Windows.zeagus - Monday, November 18, 2013 - link
Point!abazigal - Saturday, November 16, 2013 - link
I would argue that that's the main reason why I love my iPad - precisely because Apple had the foresight and common sense not to try and shoehorn a desktop OS into a tablet form factor.darkcrayon - Saturday, November 16, 2013 - link
Then I guess they're also "compromised" by not running some of the awesome classic 8 bit Apple ][ games natively? Not sure you're using "compromised" in the way people are generally talking about with tablets.Cptn_Slo - Sunday, November 17, 2013 - link
x86 doesn't work well on tablets, or else MS would be selling Surfaces like crazy.