I’m Returning My iPad Mini. These Pictures Show Why.

A Tale of Two Screens

Left: the iPad mini. Right: the third-generation iPad. From this distance, there isn't much difference in the appearance of the two displays. But just wait...

Photo by Wade Roush

Ready for My Close-up, Part 1

Here's a close-up view of the same meadow image on the third-generation iPad with retina display. It's pretty crisp and sharp. (Try to overlook the moire pattern -- that's what happens when you try to take a digital picture of a digital picture.)

Photo by Wade Roush

Ready for My Close-Up, Part 2

Here's the same image on the iPad mini screen, with its non-retina, 1024x768 screen. It's noticeably fuzzier, and now you can actually see the pixels.

Photo by Wade Roush

Tiny Type, Part 1

Here's some text from Michael Lewis's "The Big Short," on the third-generation iPad with retina display. The edges of the type are almost as sharp as they would be on paper. (The definition of a "retina" display is that the pixels are so small you can't see them unaided.)

Photo by Wade Roush

Tiny Type, Part 2

Here's the same text on the iPad mini.

Photo by Wade Roush

Tiny Type, Part 3

A close-up of the same text on the third-generation iPad.

Photo by Wade Roush

Tiny Type, Part 4

A close-up of the Michael Lewis text on the iPad mini.

Photo by Wade Roush

Diverging Paths

The Path social-mobile app on the iPad mini and the third-generation iPad. Chocolate chunk cookies not included.

Photo by Wade Roush

Apple's Marvelous Maps

The Potrero Hill neighborhood of San Francisco, visualized on both iPads.

Photo by Wade Roush

iPad Pinkie, Part 1

In this shot I'm reading The New Yorker on my third-generation iPad. My only real complaint about the iPad is its weight: I often end up with a sore fifth finger from resting it in my hand this way.

Photo by Wade Roush

iPad Pinkie, Part 2

Here's the iPad mini in the same pose. It's far easier on your hand, which is its main advantage. Too bad it's not easier on your eyes.

Photo by Wade Roush

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National Story

You’d think that a technology writer like me would learn not to say things like “I’ll never buy an iPad mini.”

But that’s approximately what I said back in October, around the time Apple finally confirmed all the rumors that a smaller version of the iPad was on its way. What I said, to be exact, was that a 7-inch tablet “feels like the worst of both worlds to me—too big for simple e-reading, too small for serious Web browsing, games, and photos.”

What I couldn’t anticipate, and what finally changed my mind, was the incredible lightness of the thing. As soon as I got to play with an iPad mini and feel how weightless it is compared to my iPad 3, I started to feel a kind of reverse buyer’s remorse over my declaration of non-interest. Last week, I finally abandoned my pride and bought a basic Wi-Fi-only model.

But now I’m feeling actual buyer’s remorse. Once you take it home, the iPad mini isn’t nearly as sexy as it seemed in the glamorous light of the Apple Store. (There’s got to be a lesson in there.)

I’ve been using the mini all week, waiting for it to find a perch in my heart, but it just hasn’t. So I’ve decided to take advantage of Apple’s generous 14-day, no-questions-asked return policy and return the device.

I won’t be the first to do that (I’ve found people saying the same thing here, here, here, here, here, here, and here) and I’m afraid my reason is pretty unoriginal too. The mini’s major selling point is that it’s light—just 0.68 pounds, less than half the weight of the iPad. But that’s the only big advantage it can claim.

This is a case where less is just less. The screen of the iPad mini has 65 percent of the surface area of the regular iPad, but Apple didn’t require developers to submit modified apps for the device. This means that everything, including the on-screen keyboard, has simply been shrunk down to fit on the mini.

That might be tolerable on a retina display—tiny little icons and buttons work just fine on the iPhone 5. But the mini doesn’t have a retina display. The screen has the same pixel count as the first-generation iPad (1024×768). And that, for me, is the showstopper.

I admit it, I’m a retina snob. There isn’t a day that goes by when I don’t marvel at the screens on my iPhone 5 and my iPad 3. If the San Andreas fault yawned open beneath my apartment building, I would beg the gods of the underworld to spare just two of my possessions: my dog and my iPad. My love for it is extreme and irrational.

But the iPad is pretty heavy, which makes it tiring to hold for extended periods, like when I’m reading a magazine or an e-book. That’s why I was interested in the mini. I figured my iPad wouldn’t mind the occasional infidelity, and I thought I would probably get used to the mini’s low-res screen, as a lot of other people say they have.

But I haven’t. Letters and other shapes that have razor-sharp edges on the iPad still look horribly fuzzy on the mini, as you can see in the photos above. Which is inevitable, since the mini’s screen has only a quarter as many pixels as its retina cousin; it just turns out I can’t abide the difference. (Maybe it’s just my age. I probably should have gotten bifocals on my last trip to the eye doctor, but I delayed. With the mini, I’m constantly asking “Is it my eyes, or is it the screen?)

As sure as the snow turns brown in Boston, Apple will eventually come out with a retina version of the mini. When it does, I might make another pilgrimage to the Apple Store.

But I won’t be holding my breath, as it might take Apple a while to solve the engineering dilemmas involved. It takes more powerful processors to run all the pixels in a retina display (that’s why the iPad 3 feels so warm). So a retina iPad mini would either have a shorter battery life, or it would need bigger, heavier batteries, thus sacrificing lightness.

The smart people in Cupertino will figure something out. Now excuse me while I go make up with my iPad.

31 Comments

The Author

Wade Roush is Xconomy's chief correspondent and editor of Xconomy San Francisco. You can subscribe to his Google Group or e-mail him at wroush@xconomy.com.

Wade Roush

Follow @wroush

http://twitter.com/iNalysis Drew Hession-Kunz

Are you suggesting that snow ISN’T brown? Living in Boston, I just assumed that is how it comes down…
http://www.facebook.com/desh.sharadh Sharadh Deshpande

Who cares as long it’s cheap, light, easy to hold, solves all my purpose!!! Ipad mini is the best…….
http://www.facebook.com/georgemcquilken George McQuilken

Don’t eat the brown snow (yellow either). There is plenty of white snow falling right now here in Boston.
k

so when next ipad mini will come in??
IVI

So your not happy with a picture being crisp enough… Most people take a picture and move on with there lives and not zoom all the way in looking at a tree nobody cares about
- yd
  
  lolzzz good one!
http://profiles.google.com/zandmstudios Steven Zang

“OMG it’s not retina!” While I don’t blame the author for bemoaning the admittedly low resolution screen of the mini, his infatuation with the buzzword “retina” is troubling…
Andrew

Opposite here. ILOVE my iPad mini and have sold my retina iPad3. Photos – great. Text – great. Side by side with the iPad 3 and iPad mini, photos and text were scarcely different. Only the Telegraph newspaper app showed fuzzy print. So I stopped looking at the Telegraph app! Buy some better specs!
vishnu

Good point to b considered while purchasing. I cud see many are unhappy with your article. May b they junt want Apple but not its products’ worth..
http://www.facebook.com/Sailnt.Killer Mukund Ragunathan

Goes to show the reviewer is just another ignorant apple fanboy, the world “retina” he throws around is so incorrect. The ipad 3 and 4 have a ppi of 260, while the current gen iphone has a ppi of 320. Ipad mini has a ppi of around 160. So the ipad 3 and 4 screens arent exactly the same quality if the iphone. Ignorant tool. Dont take advise from such an ignorant person.
http://www.facebook.com/doctorchou Bruce Chou

This is soooo dumb Mr. Roush. You are basically confirming the published specs of the two devices, and that you were surprised by how they made you feel, despite that those feelings could have been predicted by anyone. Visual feel: MiniiPad3. Overall experience: ease-of-holding was anticipated to be more important, but visual feel wins out.

Also, getting bifocals would not be expected to improve your experience with the non-retina display (unless the appearance of sharp pixels is something you prefer to blurry pixels–but if you somehow did, then you ) nearly as much as it would improve your appreciation of the retina display, and only if your previous spectacles were sub-optimal.
Guest

This is soooo dumb Mr. Roush. You are basically confirming the published specs of the two devices, and that you were surprised by how they made you feel, despite that those feelings could have been predicted by anyone. Visual feel: Mini iPad3. Overall experience: ease-of-holding was anticipated to be more important, but visual feel wins out.

Also, getting bifocals would not be expected to improve your experience with the non-retina display (unless the appearance of sharp pixels is something you prefer to blurry pixels–but if you somehow did, then you ) nearly as much as it would improve your appreciation of the retina display, and only if your previous spectacles were suboptimal.
http://www.facebook.com/doctorchou Bruce Chou

This is soooo dumb Mr. Roush. You are basically confirming the published specs of the two devices, and that you were surprised by how they made you feel, despite that those feelings could have been predicted by anyone. Visual feel: MiniiPad3. Overall experience: ease-of-holding was anticipated to be more important, but visual feel wins out.

Also, getting bifocals would not be expected to improve your experience with the non-retina display (unless the appearance of sharp pixels is something you prefer to blurry pixels–but if you somehow did, then you wouldn’t be complaining about the Mini’s resolution in the first place) nearly as much as it would improve your appreciation of the retina display, and only if your previous spectacles were sub-optimal.
Guest

This is soooo dumb Mr. Roush. You are basically confirming the published specs of the two devices, and that you were surprised by how they made you feel, despite that those feelings could have been predicted by anyone. Visual feel: Mini iPad3. Overall experience: ease-of-holding was anticipated to be more important, but visual feel wins out.

Also, getting bifocals would not be expected to improve your experience with the non-retina display (unless the appearance of sharp pixels is something you prefer to blurry pixels–but if you somehow did, then you ) nearly as much as it would improve your appreciation of the retina display, and only if your previous spectacles were suboptimal.
http://www.facebook.com/doctorchou Bruce Chou

This is soooo dumb Mr. Roush. You are basically confirming the published specs of the two devices, and that you were surprised by how they made you feel, despite that those feelings could have been predicted by anyone. Visual feel: Mini iPad3. Overall experience: ease-of-holding was anticipated to be more important, but visual feel wins out for you.

Also, getting bifocals would not be expected to improve your experience with the non-retina display (unless the appearance of sharp pixels is something you prefer to blurry pixels–but if you somehow did, then you wouldn’t be complaining about the Mini’s resolution in the first place) nearly as much as it would improve your appreciation of the retina display, and only if your previous spectacles were suboptimal.
http://www.xconomy.com/san-francisco Wade Roush

Thanks for all the comments, everyone. I was expecting some push-back from readers and I got it! (As all tech reporters know, you can’t criticize Apple without stirring up lots of angry comments.) As for the specifics — Bruce Chou: Yes, as I said, my reason for disliking the iPad mini was not new. I thought I wouldn’t mind the lower-res screen; I needed to try it out at home for a while to find out I was wrong. I don’t think there is any harm in sharing my findings with others. Mukund Ragunathan: As far as I can tell, we agree: that the iPhone and the third- and fourth-generation iPads have retina displays and the mini does not. Andrew and Sharadh : Glad you are enjoying your minis. I didn’t say that everyone would hate it!
yd.

so you have two ipads. hmmm.
Benmartin1974

I had been considering ordering a ipad mini for some time. I read plenty of reviews and this one was quite useful http://search4reviews.net/ , I received my package last month and am very happy. I Would highly recommend to anyone still unsure.
http://twitter.com/michaelpang89 Michael Pang

Honestly I didn’t think I’d like the mini either and I thought the lack of retina would be a dealbreak. I have a 3rd gen ipad and I got an ipad mini for my brother. I didn’t scrutinize the ipad mini as much as you did and so I thought it was fine. I didn’t really notice these details from regular usage. I think you have to be really nitpicky lol to do this. But I think Apple should have made it retina first anyway (but obviously they just wanted an easy way to tout their “upgrade” for the ipad mini 2).
- http://www.xconomy.com/san-francisco Wade Roush
  
  I plead guilty to being really nitpicky.
Starman_Andromeda

“As all tech reporters know, you can’t criticize Apple without stirring up lots of angry comments”

That’s truly patronizing! The comments you’re receiving come from people who don’t see the difference you do (or not nearly as much of one), not whether they are in love with Apple.

Plus, your evidence is underwhelming! Zoomed in pictures of mini photo detail and letters in words will show the difference, but for many, if not most, it’s just not that noticeable. And that’s not how they use the mini in any event.

When the iPad 3 with Retina Display came out, there were lots of blind tests in side by side comparisons– both formal and informal. I saw one at Best Buy. Neither the customers nor the salespeople could see the difference in the iPad 2 and iPad 3 displays!

The only way it showed up was by doing exactly what you’ve done, which is blowing up the text on the display greatly.

Those observations have come from regular customers (as well from so-called Apple fanboys and Apple detractors).

From the specs, the DPI is higher on the iPad mini than the iPad 2, so it should have a better display just by that measure alone.

The real issue that readers have with your wonderfully written, though offbase, commentary is with the sweeping hyperbole. For example,

“Letters and other shapes that have razor-sharp edges on the iPad still look horribly fuzzy on the mini, as you can see in the photos above”

“horribly fuzzy”? Beauty is clearly in the eye of the beholder–and the device distance of the holder! :-)

Be careful what you wish for, too, when the iPad mini with RD turns out to run hotter, take longer to charge, etc.

And, for the record, I do not own an iPad mini or any Apple stock!
Jetse

I love your review! Thank you as I really need an honest opinion and the humor! I couldn’t help not laughing out loud as I read this in Starbucks.
http://www.facebook.com/ninascottstoddart Nina Scott-Stoddart

I love our iPad mini so much more than the retina-screened new iPad my mum has. I was cautious about the lack of retina screen and resolution when I bought the mini for my husband a few months ago, but we both love it so much more (and find it sexier) than mum’s full-size one. The weight and size are the selling points for us — portable, light and very attractive.
- http://www.xconomy.com/san-francisco Wade Roush
  
  Nina — I’m glad you and so many other people like the iPad mini. I didn’t mean to take away from anyone’s joy in owning one. I was just trying to report my own experience, as a focus group of one. As I said, I’ll probably buy a new one as soon as they come out with a retina version.
EachToTheirOwn

7 links of unhappy people plus your opinion vs. millions of very happy people, go figure.
Hdiaurncjen

The pictures you didn’t zoom in on look the same. It’s not like my eyes see that close in the picture. I don’t sit with my iPad mini 2 centimeters from my face… But whatever.
Jen D.

This is good to know for developers. …And frankly, I’m getting a wee bit tired of trying to develop websites for everything under the sun — while products like this go and disappoint users from the get-go. For your sake, I hope they fix the mini issue in dev’s to come!
Dan

If you’d have done research before you bought it, you would have known that it didn’t come with a retina display.
- http://www.xconomy.com/san-francisco Wade Roush
  
  Dan — I knew very well that the iPad mini doesn’t have a retina screen. I bought it anyway, thinking that the difference wouldn’t bother me. It turned out was wrong — that’s what the whole piece is about.
Julio Davila

Hi,

You are completely right, the iPad retina display screen quality is far better than the iPad mini’s. Also, the iPad 3 is faster.

… but … I moved from the iPad 3 to the mini, because of its portability. My iPad 3 was almost all the time inside a drawer or in a briefcase, because it is big and heavy. On the other hand, my iPad mini is now with me at all times because it is light, extremely portable and can easily fits inside my wife’s purse. :)

In my experience, there is no reason for me to have a device if I will barely use it. Now my iPad mini is slower and with a crappy screen resolution (vs the retina display), but I use it every single day.
Bill

The best comparison is to the mini and the original iPad or the iPad2. The mini screen is very coarse and unpleasant to look. It looks like cheap junk to me.