a day ago
I ditched the iPad mini for an Android alternative — and this one feature means I might not go back
I've long been a huge fan of compact tablets like the iPad mini 7, but after a month of using the excellent RedMagic Astra I'm convinced Apple needs to make a major upgrade to keep pace.
I'm talking, of course, about the display.
The current iPad mini packs in an 8.3-inch Liquid Retina LCD display with a 2266 x 1488 pixel resolution. It looks good, and it's one of the best iPads you can buy, but the display can't compete with what the Astra offers. The Chinese brand has equipped its tablet with a 9.06-inch OLED screen boasting 2,400 x 1,504 pixels and 1,600 nits of peak brightness. The iPad mini can only reach up to 500 nits.
But that's not even the kicker. Despite putting a 120Hz refresh rate on its Pro-tier iPhones for ages now, Apple insists on saddling the iPad mini 7 with a 60Hz refresh rate. It's 2025. Why is this still the case? The RedMagic Astra, by comparison, can hit 165Hz without breaking a sweat.
And while I know Apple's excellent iPadOS can paper over a lot of the cracks, the truth is the screen on the RedMagic Astra is richer, smoother and more polished thanks to that refresh rate. Even if you're not using the Android slate for its intended purpose (gaming), the experience of interacting with the screen is streets ahead of the iPad.
I know I'm not alone in wishing Apple would hurry up and improve the refresh rate on its non-Pro products. My only plea is that the smallest tablet in the company's portfolio doesn't miss the cut.
And the same goes for finally bringing an OLED screen to the iPad mini. The rumors, at least on that second point, are somewhat promising.
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I know I'm not alone in wishing Apple would hurry up and improve the refresh rate on its non-Pro products.
Last year, according to ZDNet Korea, Samsung Display began developing samples of 8-inch OLED panels for a future iPad mini. This was the first step in a long and painfully slow process that should theoretically lead to mass production hitting its stride sometime around now. Is this too early to mean we'll see the iPad mini 8 with an OLED screen at Apple's iPhone 17 event? Probably.
The last two generations of iPad mini were both revealed in the fall, but with a gap of several years between them. The sixth generation was announced in 2021 with the seventh appearing last year in 2024. If Apple sticks to this cadence, we may not see the iPad mini 8 until 2026 or even 2027. By which time, the rumored iPhone Fold may well be here as Apple's alternative to a small-screen tablet.
The 2024 iPad mini sports an 8.3-inch Liquid Retina display, an A17 Pro CPU, a 12MP wide camera, TouchID support and USB-C connectivity. It also supports the Apple Pencil 2 and offers the same thin bezels and elegant design as the iPad Air and iPad Pro. In our iPad mini 7 review, we called it the best iPad mini yet and it's perfect for anyone looking for a one-handed tablet experience for reading books or watching movies.
And I get that I'm probably in a minority for preferring a small-screen tablet, but as someone who isn't going to pick up one of the best foldable phones anytime soon, they work for me. The smaller tablets don't take up as much room in my bag, but give me the added benefit of a larger screen for media consumption away from notifications or productivity that — in a pinch — I can't get done on my phone.
The point is that after Apple's near dominance of the compact tablet space for years, I feel the company is now on the back foot. The likes of the RedMagic Astra or Lenovo Legion Tab are pulling me away from Apple with specs sheets and displays more befitting a 2025 purchase.
Apple needs to commit to making the iPad mini 8 better than ever to compete with these new Android upstarts. And the very best place to start is the screen on the front.
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