This month’s Apple product launch went on for ages, but the company spent nearly no time talking about the new iPad Mini 4.
A new teardown offers some much-needed insight into the latest version of Apple’s scaled-down tablet.
The cracking open of the iPad Mini 4 in question comes courtesy of long-time tech tinkerers iFixit.
The device also runs on a 1.5GHz A8 chipset, not the A8X chip that launched with last year’s iPad Air 2.
The A8 is the same chip that appeared in the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, although the phone version was only clocked to 1.4GHz.
Also inside the new iPad is a 5,145mAh battery. That’s interesting, because it’s a reduction from the 6,471mAh cell featured in the iPad Mini 3.
iPad Mini 3 (left), iPad Mini 4 (right)
However, Apple does claim that the iPad Mini 4 has the same battery life as its predecessor. We’ll have to wait for a review version to put that boast to the test.
Related: iOS 9 features: What’s new?
It’s likely that the reduction in battery capacity also helped Apple slim down the tablet.
For contrast, the iPad Mini 3 has a thickness of 7.5mm, while the iPad Mini 4’s profile is just 6.1mm.
To that end, the battery has been thinned, the FaceTime camera slimmed, the LCD and glass fused together, and the antennas moved, all in the name of svelte-hood.
The teardown also resulted in an ease-of-repair verdict of 2/10 – 10 being the easiest to repair. Ouch.
Will you be buying an iPad Mini 4? Tell us why, or why not, in the comments.
Check out our iOS9 features video below:
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
