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iPad Mini 4 Teardown Confirms Smaller Battery and 2 GB RAM
At its "Hey Siri" event, Apple announced an updated iPad mini 4 but largely glossed over any details, focusing its time on the iPhones 6s and 6s Plus, the new Apple TV and the iPad Pro. Today, iFixit completed its teardown for the device, confirming that it comes with a smaller battery than the previous iPad mini as well as 2 GB of RAM.
While iFixit's teardown physically confirms that the iPad mini 4 has 2 GB of RAM, Ars Technica ran a GeekBench 3 test a couple days ago on the device, confirming that it runs a 1.5 GHz Apple A8 with 2 GB of RAM. This makes the iPad mini 4 faster than the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, which run a 1.4 GHz A8, and both the iPad mini 2 and 3, which run 1.3 GHz A7's.
iFixit's teardown also confirmed that the device comes with a smaller, thinner single-cell battery. The iPad mini 4's battery is 5,124 mAh while the iPad mini 3's battery is 6,471 mAh. While the new battery is smaller, Apple claims the new iPad mini 4 retains the same battery life as the iPad mini 3.
Finally, Apple has also refined, slimmed down and moved around many of the new iPad mini 4's parts due to shrinking the device's thickness from 7.5 mm (iPad mini 3) to 6.1 mm (iPad mini 4). For instance, the FaceTime camera has slimmed down, the battery has shrunk, the LCD and front panel glass are fused together and antennas have been moved both to the top and bottom of the device. iFixit's full teardown provides additional details on all the nips and tucks in the device.
While iFixit's teardown physically confirms that the iPad mini 4 has 2 GB of RAM, Ars Technica ran a GeekBench 3 test a couple days ago on the device, confirming that it runs a 1.5 GHz Apple A8 with 2 GB of RAM. This makes the iPad mini 4 faster than the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, which run a 1.4 GHz A8, and both the iPad mini 2 and 3, which run 1.3 GHz A7's.
iFixit's teardown also confirmed that the device comes with a smaller, thinner single-cell battery. The iPad mini 4's battery is 5,124 mAh while the iPad mini 3's battery is 6,471 mAh. While the new battery is smaller, Apple claims the new iPad mini 4 retains the same battery life as the iPad mini 3.
Finally, Apple has also refined, slimmed down and moved around many of the new iPad mini 4's parts due to shrinking the device's thickness from 7.5 mm (iPad mini 3) to 6.1 mm (iPad mini 4). For instance, the FaceTime camera has slimmed down, the battery has shrunk, the LCD and front panel glass are fused together and antennas have been moved both to the top and bottom of the device. iFixit's full teardown provides additional details on all the nips and tucks in the device.
Related Roundup: iPad mini 4 (2015)
Tag: iFixit
Buyer's Guide: iPad Mini (Don't Buy)
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Top Rated Comments
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35 months ago
Customers wanted longer battery life, so we decided to put in a smaller battery, so they can treasure every minute of their battery usage.
35 months ago
No good. It should be as thick as a mattress and run for 6 months non-stop even though no one will need to use it for more than 8 hours at a time.
35 months ago
Let the "WE COULD'VE HAD BETTER BATTERY LIFE" comments begin.
WE COULD'VE HAD BETTER BATTERY LIFE
35 months ago
This is bad. Very, very bad. We all know that smaller numbers = worse. That's why Android is better.
35 months ago
This is bad. Very, very bad. We all know that smaller numbers = worse. That's why Android is better.
Why thinner, we could probably have had 20% better battery life.
Customers wanted longer battery life, so we decided to put in a smaller battery, so they can treasure every minute of their battery usage
Not me. Not at the expense of thickness and weight. People keep forgetting this part:
While the new battery is smaller, Apple claims the new iPad mini 4 retains the same battery life as the iPad mini 3.
Longer battery life is always nice, but having a thinner and lighter device (they've got this thing to almost half a pound!) that matches last generation's battery life is even better for me. Excellent job goes to Apple for pulling this engineering feat off. Placed my order for the mini 4 earlier this week and getting it delivered tomorrow. Can't wait!
35 months ago
Why thinner, we could probably have had 20% better battery life.
While I generally agree making the iPhones thinner and lighter is not beneficial at this point, I think tablets still benefit from any weight Apple can shave off of them.
35 months ago
Let the "WE COULD'VE HAD BETTER BATTERY LIFE" comments begin.
Well, it's true. There's zero reason to go thinner on any Apple product. None. They're plenty thin enough. The tablets, the phones, the desktops, the laptops. They're well beyond what anyone could really want or need. It's just ridiculous at this point. Tossing aside extra battery life so they can show one more slide during the keynote that brags about shaving another .0067 mm from the newest iDevice. (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻
35 months ago
I so want one, but can't quite justify it. I've got a Mini2 retina and really, I mostly use it to read Kindle books. And it does that fine. About the only thing I miss is touch-id. Every time I pick it up I try to unlock it with my fingerprint like I do my iPhone 6. But that's hardly enough of a reason to spend the cash... so thinks my wife :)
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