Apple iPad Mini 3, impressions after first use

The (not) new Apple iPad Mini 3 differs from the iPad Mini 2 only with the extra TouchID button: is it worth spending an extra 100 euros just for this addition?

Colleagues from The Verge site, who had the opportunity to preview the new iPad Mini 3 , which Apple presented last October 16, expressed their first impressions after first use, which we will report below .

In terms of design, iPad Mini 3 is the same as the previous iPad Mini 2 , and this was expected since Cupertino limited itself to announcing at the press conference that again this iPad mini 3 only has the TouchID button with sensor integrated fingerprint scanner.

Regarding dimensions, iPad Mini 3 – as was iPad Mini 2 – remains one of the tablets with the greatest usability / portability ratio.

And what will this iPad mini 3 be like on a hardware level? Same as the previous model: the tablet is built around the same 7.9-inch Retina display found in the iPad Mini 2, as well as being powered by the same Apple A7 chipset with 1GB RAM.

At this point, knowing that the iPad Mini 2 has been lowered in price by 100 euros given the availability of the iPad Mini 3, why spend 399 euros when you can buy the iPad Mini 2 for 299 euros? Is it worth spending 100 euros more just for the presence of the TouchID button which simply reads fingerprints which are of little use?

The presence of the Touch ID fingerprint reader, useful here only for secure unlocking because the Apple Payp service for mobile payments is only active in the USA , does not justify the extra expense of 100 euros at all.

In summary, Apple iPad mini 3 is a small (very small) update of the previous model. The Mini 3 has a new retina display, a 5 megapixel rear camera that records video in HD, FaceTime in HD and the TouchID fingerprint reader has been added, with support for the new Apple Pay service for mobile payments. The screen maintains the same size and resolution – 7.9 inches and resolution of 1,536 x 2,048 pixels. iPad mini 3 is still powered by the A7 chip with 64-bit architecture. The camera department is identical to that of the iPad mini Retina Display – a 5-megapixel iSight camera on the back and a FaceTime HD camera on the front. The same goes for connectivity, nothing new: 4 LTE or Wi-Fi 802.11ac.

Also available in the new Gold color, iPad mini 3 prices start from 399 euros for the 16GB Wi-Fi model, 499 euros for 64GB of memory and 599 euros for the 128GB model. 519 euros , 619 euros and 719 euros respectively are the prices for the 'Cellular' models with also support for the LTE mobile network.