The first-generation
iPad
The iPad is a brand of iOS and iPadOS-based tablet computers that are developed by Apple Inc. The iPad was conceived before the related iPhone but the iPhone was developed and released first. Speculation about the development, operating s ...
Mini (stylized and marketed as iPad mini) (known retrospectively as the iPad Mini 1) is a
mini tablet computer
A tablet computer, commonly shortened to tablet, is a mobile device, typically with a mobile operating system and touchscreen display processing circuitry, and a rechargeable battery in a single, thin and flat package. Tablets, being comput ...
designed, developed, and marketed by
Apple Inc.
Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, United States. Apple is the largest technology company by revenue (totaling in 2021) and, as of June 2022, is the world's biggest company ...
It was announced on October 23, 2012, as the fourth major product in the
iPad
The iPad is a brand of iOS and iPadOS-based tablet computers that are developed by Apple Inc. The iPad was conceived before the related iPhone but the iPhone was developed and released first. Speculation about the development, operating s ...
line and the first of the
iPad Mini
The iPad Mini (branded and marketed as iPad mini) is a line of mini tablet computers designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. It is a sub-series of the iPad line of tablets, with screen sizes of 7.9 inches and 8.3 inches. The first- ...
line, which features a reduced screen size of , in contrast to the standard . It features similar internal specifications to the
iPad 2
The iPad 2 is a tablet designed, developed and marketed by Apple Inc. Compared to the first iPad, as the second model in the iPad line, it gained a faster dual core A5 processor, a lighter build structure, and was the first iPad to feature ...
, including its display resolution.
The first generation iPad Mini received positive reviews, with reviewers praising the device's size, design, and availability of applications, while criticizing its use of a proprietary power connector, its lack of expandable storage, its under-powered
Apple A5
The Apple A5 is a 32-bit system on a chip (SoC) designed by Apple Inc. and manufactured by Samsung. The first product Apple featured an A5 in was the iPad 2. Apple claimed during their media event on March 2, 2011 that the ARM Cortex-A9 centra ...
chip with 512 MB RAM, and the lack of a Retina display.
History
On October 16, 2012, Apple announced a media event scheduled for October 23 at the
California Theatre in
San Jose,
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
. The company did not predisclose the subject of the event, but it was widely expected to be the iPad Mini. On the day of the event, Apple CEO
Tim Cook
Timothy Donald Cook (born November 1, 1960) is an American business executive who has been the chief executive officer of Apple Inc. since 2011. Cook previously served as the company's chief operating officer under its co-founder Steve Jobs ...
introduced a new version of
MacBook family and new generations of the
MacBook Pro,
Mac Mini
Mac Mini (stylized as Mac mini) is a small form factor (desktop and motherboard), small form factor desktop computer developed and marketed by Apple Inc. , it is positioned between the consumer all-in-one iMac (Intel-based), iMac and the profes ...
, and the
iMac
iMac is a family of all-in-one Mac desktop computers designed and built by Apple Inc. It has been the primary part of Apple's consumer desktop offerings since its debut in August 1998, and has evolved through seven distinct forms.
In it ...
before the iPad Mini and the higher end
fourth-generation iPad.
It was released on November 2, 2012. The US list price started at $329 for the 16 GB model; the
UK list price was £269 for the 16 GB model, £349 for the 32 GB model and £429 for the 64 GB model. Similar releases were made in nearly all of Apple's markets. The 32 GB and 64 GB models were discontinued with the release of its successor, the
iPad Mini 2
The iPad Mini 2 (formerly marketed as the iPad mini with Retina display, officially iPad mini 2 with Retina display) is a tablet computer produced and marketed by Apple Inc. It has a nearly identical design to its predecessor the first-generat ...
and the
iPad Air
The iPad is a brand of iOS and iPadOS-based tablet computers that are developed by Apple Inc. The iPad was conceived before the related iPhone but the iPhone was developed and released first. Speculation about the development, operating s ...
1 on October 22, 2013. After almost 3 years on June 19, 2015, the remaining 16 GB model was discontinued as well. As well as being discontinued from stores, the iPad mini no longer receives software updates and is not supported by Apple.
File:California Theatre (Fox), San Jose, CA.jpg, The California Theatre, where the iPad Mini was announced on October 23, 2012
File:IPadmini-vs-iPad3.png, alt=Size comparison between iPad Mini and iPad 3rd/4th generation., Size comparison between iPad Mini and iPad 3rd/4th generation
Features
Software
The iPad Mini shipped with
IOS 6
iOS 6 is the sixth major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc, being the successor to iOS 5. It was announced at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference on June 11, 2012, and was released on September 19, 201 ...
.0.1. It can act as a
hotspot with some carriers, sharing its Internet connection over Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or USB,
and also access the
App Store
An App Store (or app marketplace) is a type of digital distribution platform for computer software called applications, often in a mobile context. Apps provide a specific set of functions which, by definition, do not include the running of the co ...
, a digital
application distribution Distribution may refer to:
Mathematics
*Distribution (mathematics), generalized functions used to formulate solutions of partial differential equations
* Probability distribution, the probability of a particular value or value range of a vari ...
platform for iOS that is developed and maintained by Apple. The service allows users to browse and download
applications
Application may refer to:
Mathematics and computing
* Application software, computer software designed to help the user to perform specific tasks
** Application layer, an abstraction layer that specifies protocols and interface methods used in a c ...
from the
iTunes Store
The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...
that were developed with
Xcode
Xcode is Apple's integrated development environment (IDE) for macOS, used to develop software for macOS, iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, and tvOS. It was initially released in late 2003; the latest stable release is version 14.2, released on December 13, ...
and the
iOS SDK
The iOS SDK (iOS Software Development Kit), formerly the iPhone SDK, is a software development kit (SDK) developed by Apple Inc. The kit allows for the development of mobile apps on Apple's iOS and iPadOS operating systems.
The iOS SDK is a fre ...
and were published through Apple. From the App Store,
GarageBand
GarageBand is a line of digital audio workstations developed by Apple Inc. for macOS, iPadOS, and iOS devices that allows users to create music or podcasts. GarageBand is developed by Apple for macOS, and was once part of the iLife software s ...
,
iMovie
iMovie (known at times as iMovie HD) is a preinstalled video editing application developed by Apple Inc. for macOS, iOS, and iPadOS devices.
It was originally released in 1999 as a Mac OS 8 application bundled with the first FireWire-enabled ...
,
iPhoto
iPhoto is a discontinued digital photograph manipulation software application developed by Apple Inc. It was included with every Macintosh personal computer from 2002 to 2015, when it was replaced with Apple's Photos application. Originally so ...
, and the
iWork
iWork is an office suite of applications created by Apple Inc. for its macOS and iOS operating systems, and also available cross-platform through the iCloud website.
It includes the presentation application Keynote, the word processing and ...
apps (
Pages
Page most commonly refers to:
* Page (paper), one side of a leaf of paper, as in a book
Page, PAGE, pages, or paging may also refer to:
Roles
* Page (assistance occupation), a professional occupation
* Page (servant), traditionally a young mal ...
,
Keynote
A keynote in public speaking is a talk that establishes a main underlying theme. In corporate or commercial settings, greater importance is attached to the delivery of a keynote speech or keynote address. The keynote establishes the framework fo ...
, and
Numbers
A number is a mathematical object used to count, measure, and label. The original examples are the natural numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and so forth. Numbers can be represented in language with number words. More universally, individual numbers can ...
) are available. Currently the latest versions are
IOS 9
iOS 9 is the ninth major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc., being the successor to iOS 8. It was announced at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference on June 8, 2015, and was released on September 16, 20 ...
.3.6 (for Wi-Fi+Cellular models) and iOS 9.3.5 (for Wi-Fi only models)
The iPad Mini comes with several pre-installed applications, including
Siri
Siri ( ) is a virtual assistant that is part of Apple Inc.'s iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, macOS, tvOS, and audioOS operating systems. It uses voice queries, gesture based control, focus-tracking and a natural-language user interface to answer questio ...
,
Safari
A safari (; ) is an overland journey to observe wild animals, especially in eastern or southern Africa. The so-called "Big Five" game animals of Africa – lion, leopard, rhinoceros, elephant, and Cape buffalo – particularly form an importa ...
, Mail, Photos, Video, Music, iTunes, App Store, Maps, Notes, Calendar,
Game Center
Game Center is a service by Apple that allows users to play and challenge friends when playing online multiplayer social gaming network games. Games can now share multiplayer functionality between the Mac and iOS versions of the app.
Game C ...
, Photo Booth, and Contacts. Like all
iOS
iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes ...
devices, the iPad can sync content and other data with a Mac or PC using iTunes, although iOS 5 and later can be managed and backed up with
iCloud
iCloud is a Personal cloud, cloud service from Apple Inc. launched on October 12, 2011 as a successor to MobileMe. , the service had an estimated 850 million users, up from 782 million users in 2016.
iCloud enables users to sync their data to t ...
. Although the tablet is not designed to make telephone calls over a cellular network, users can use a headset or the built-in speaker and microphone and place phone calls over Wi-Fi or cellular using a
VoIP
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), also called IP telephony, is a method and group of technologies for the delivery of voice communications and multimedia sessions over Internet Protocol (IP) networks, such as the Internet. The terms Internet t ...
application, such as
Skype
Skype () is a proprietary telecommunications application operated by Skype Technologies, a division of Microsoft, best known for VoIP-based videotelephony, videoconferencing and voice calls. It also has instant messaging, file transfer, deb ...
. The device has
dictation
Dictation can refer to:
*Dictation (exercise), when one person speaks while another person transcribes
*'' Dictation: A Quartet'', a collection of short stories by Cynthia Ozick, published in 2008
* Digital dictation, the use of digital electronic ...
, using the same voice recognition technology as the
iPhone 4S
The iPhone 4S (originally styled as iPhone 4 S, retroactively stylized with a lowercase 's' as iPhone 4s as of September 2013) is a smartphone that was designed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is the List of iOS devices, fifth generation o ...
. The user speaks and the iPad types what they say on the screen provided that the iPad is connected to a Wi-Fi or cellular network.
The device has an optional
iBooks iBooks may refer to:
* iBooks, the former name of Apple Books.
* ibooks Inc., a book and comics publishing company founded by Byron Preiss
Byron Preiss (April 11, 1953 – July 9, 2005)[ePub
EPUB is an e-book file format that uses the ".epub" file extension. The term is short for ''electronic publication'' and is sometimes styled ''ePub''. EPUB is supported by many e-readers, and compatible software is available for most smartphones ...]
-format content downloaded from the
iBookstore
Apple Books (formerly known as iBooks between January 2010 and September 2018) is an e-book reading and store application by Apple Inc. for its iOS and macOS operating systems and devices. It was announced, under the name iBooks, in conjunctio ...
.
Several major book publishers including
Penguin Books
Penguin Books is a British publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year.[HarperCollins
HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News Cor ...]
,
Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest publ ...
and
Macmillan
MacMillan, Macmillan, McMillen or McMillan may refer to:
People
* McMillan (surname)
* Clan MacMillan, a Highland Scottish clan
* Harold Macmillan, British statesman and politician
* James MacMillan, Scottish composer
* William Duncan MacMillan ...
have committed to publishing books for the device.
Despite being a direct competitor to both the
Amazon Kindle
Amazon Kindle is a series of e-readers designed and marketed by Amazon. Amazon Kindle devices enable users to browse, buy, download, and read e-books, newspapers, magazines and other digital media via wireless networking to the Kindle Store. ...
and
Barnes & Noble Nook
The Barnes & Noble Nook (styled nook or NOOK) is a brand of e-readers developed by American book retailer Barnes & Noble, based on the Android platform. The original device was announced in the U.S. in October 2009, and was released the next m ...
,
both
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential economi ...
and
Barnes & Noble
Barnes & Noble Booksellers is an American bookseller. It is a Fortune 1000 company and the bookseller with the largest number of retail outlets in the United States. As of July 7, 2020, the company operates 614 retail stores across all 50 U. ...
offer e-reader apps for the iPad.
On September 17, 2014,
iOS 8
iOS 8 is the eighth major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc., being the successor to iOS 7. It was announced at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference on June 2, 2014, and was released on September 17, ...
was released to the first generation iPad Mini and all Apple Devices. However, some newer features of the software are not supported due to relatively aged hardware that was shared on the iPad 2.
On September 16, 2015, the iPad Mini received the iOS 9 update, but it doesn't have the new multitasking features featured on the other iPads.
On June 13, 2016, Apple announced the
iOS 10
iOS 10 is the iOS version history, tenth major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc., being the successor to iOS 9. It was announced at the company's Apple Worldwide Developers Conference, Worldwide Developers Conf ...
update – with some major updates to the mobile operating system. However, the iPad Mini did not receive this update (along with other devices using the A5 processor including the
iPhone 4S
The iPhone 4S (originally styled as iPhone 4 S, retroactively stylized with a lowercase 's' as iPhone 4s as of September 2013) is a smartphone that was designed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is the List of iOS devices, fifth generation o ...
,
iPad 2
The iPad 2 is a tablet designed, developed and marketed by Apple Inc. Compared to the first iPad, as the second model in the iPad line, it gained a faster dual core A5 processor, a lighter build structure, and was the first iPad to feature ...
,
iPad (3rd generation)
The iPad (3rd generation) (marketed as The new iPad, colloquially referred to as the iPad 3) is a tablet computer, developed and marketed by Apple Inc. The third device in the iPad line of tablets, it added a Retina Display, the new Apple A5X ...
, and
iPod Touch (5th generation)) due to hardware limitations.
While Apple stopping the latest iOS updates for the iPad Mini was expected by many in the industry, it has however led to some criticism, as the device was on sale until June 2015 and by June 2016, no further versions of the operating system beyond iOS 9 were to be made available to the tablet.
Hardware
There are four buttons and one switch on the iPad Mini, including a "home" button near the display that returns the user to the home screen, and three aluminum buttons on the right side and top: ''wake/sleep'' and ''volume up'' and ''volume down'', plus a software-controlled switch whose function varies with software updates.
The tablet is manufactured either with or without the capability to communicate over a
cellular network
A cellular network or mobile network is a communication network where the link to and from end nodes is wireless. The network is distributed over land areas called "cells", each served by at least one fixed-location transceiver (typically thre ...
. All models can connect to a
wireless LAN
A wireless LAN (WLAN) is a wireless computer network
A wireless network is a computer network that uses wireless data connections between network nodes.
Wireless networking is a method by which homes, telecommunications networks and bus ...
via Wi-Fi. The iPad Mini is available with 16, 32, 64 GB of internal
flash memory
Flash memory is an electronic non-volatile computer memory storage medium that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed. The two main types of flash memory, NOR flash and NAND flash, are named for the NOR and NAND logic gates. Both us ...
, with no expansion option. Apple sells a "camera connection kit" with an
SD card
Secure Digital, officially abbreviated as SD, is a proprietary non-volatile flash memory card format developed by the SD Association (SDA) for use in portable devices.
The standard was introduced in August 1999 by joint efforts between SanDis ...
reader, but it can only be used to transfer photos and videos.
The iPad Mini features partially the same hardware as the
iPad 2
The iPad 2 is a tablet designed, developed and marketed by Apple Inc. Compared to the first iPad, as the second model in the iPad line, it gained a faster dual core A5 processor, a lighter build structure, and was the first iPad to feature ...
. Both screens have resolutions of 1024 x 768, but the iPad Mini has a smaller screen and thus higher pixel density than iPad 2 (163 PPI vs 132 PPI).
Unlike the iPad 2, it has 5 MP and 1.2 MP cameras and the
Lightning connector
Lightning is a proprietary computer bus and power connector created and designed by Apple Inc. and introduced on , to replace its predecessor, the 30-pin dock connector. The Lightning connector is used to connect Apple mobile devices like iPh ...
. The system-on-chip is
A5, which is the same one found in the later revision of the iPad 2 (32 nm). The audio processor is the same found in iPhone 5 and iPad 4th generation, which allows the iPad Mini to have Siri and voice dictation unlike the iPad 2. The
graphics processor
A graphics processing unit (GPU) is a specialized electronic circuit designed to manipulate and alter memory to accelerate the creation of images in a frame buffer intended for output to a display device. GPUs are used in embedded systems, mobi ...
(GPU) of the iPad Mini is the same one found in the iPad 2 (
PowerVR
PowerVR is a division of Imagination Technologies (formerly VideoLogic) that develops hardware and software for 2D and 3D rendering, and for video encoding, decoding, associated image processing and DirectX, OpenGL ES, OpenVG, and OpenCL accelera ...
SGX543MP2). The iPad Mini was initially featured with slate and silver colors, however on the release of the Mini 2 the slate color was changed to space gray; the silver color remained.
Accessories
The
Smart Cover The iPad is an iPadOS-based (previously iOS) line of tablet computers designed and developed by Apple Inc.; it has a wide variety of accessories made by Apple available for it, including a screen cover specifically for the respective models of iPad ...
, introduced with the iPad 2, is a screen protector that magnetically attaches to the face of the iPad. A smaller version was available for the iPad Mini 1, but later models including the iPad Mini 4 also use their own
Smart Cover The iPad is an iPadOS-based (previously iOS) line of tablet computers designed and developed by Apple Inc.; it has a wide variety of accessories made by Apple available for it, including a screen cover specifically for the respective models of iPad ...
. The cover has three folds, which allow it to convert into a stand, held together by magnets.
Smart Covers have a
microfiber
Microfiber (or microfibre) is synthetic fiber finer than one denier or decitex/thread, having a diameter of less than ten micrometers. A strand of silk is about one denier and about a fifth of the diameter of a human hair.
The most common ty ...
bottom that cleans the front of the iPad, and wakes up the unit when the cover is removed. It comes in six colors of
polyurethane
Polyurethane (; often abbreviated PUR and PU) refers to a class of polymers composed of organic chemistry, organic units joined by carbamate (urethane) links. In contrast to other common polymers such as polyethylene and polystyrene, polyurethan ...
.
Apple offers other accessories, including a Bluetooth keyboard, several types of earbuds or headphones and many adapters for the
Lightning connector
Lightning is a proprietary computer bus and power connector created and designed by Apple Inc. and introduced on , to replace its predecessor, the 30-pin dock connector. The Lightning connector is used to connect Apple mobile devices like iPh ...
.
AppleCare
AppleCare+ is Apple's brand name for extended warranty and technical support plans for their devices. AppleCare+ extends the devices' one year limited warranty and the 90 days of technical support. It also includes unlimited repairs for accidental ...
and free engraving are also available for the iPad Mini.
Reception
Reviews of the first generation iPad Mini have been positive, with reviewers praising the device's size, design, and availability of applications, while criticizing its use of a proprietary power connector and its lack of expandable storage and Retina display.
The device competes with tablets such as the
Amazon Kindle Fire HD,
Google Nexus 7, and
Barnes & Noble Nook HD.
Joshua Topolsky
Joshua Ryan Topolsky (born October 19, 1977) is an American technology journalist. He is also a record producer, and DJ under the stage name Joshua Ryan. Topolsky was the co-founder and editor-in-chief of technology news network ''The Verge'' ...
of ''
The Verge
''The Verge'' is an American technology news website operated by Vox Media, publishing news, feature stories, guidebooks, product reviews, consumer electronics news, and podcasts.
The website launched on November 1, 2011, and uses Vox Media' ...
'' praised the industrial design of the iPad Mini, however panned its lack of Retina display and price.
See also
*
Comparison of tablet computers
This is a list of tablet computers, grouped by intended audience and form factor.
Media tablets
Multimedia tablets are compared in the following tables.
Larger than screen
Following two tables compare larger than screen multimedia tablets rele ...
*
List of iOS devices
Apple Inc. has developed four Unix-like operating systems, namely iOS, iPadOS, tvOS, and watchOS. Devices using these systems include the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad, which are mobile devices; the Apple TV, which is a digital media player; an ...
References
External links
* – official site
{{S-end
Mini
The Mini is a small, two-door, four-seat car, developed as ADO15, and produced by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and its successors, from 1959 through 2000. Minus a brief hiatus, original Minis were built for four decades and sold during ...
Products and services discontinued in 2016
IOS
Tablet computers
Touchscreen portable media players
Tablet computers introduced in 2012
de:Apple iPad#iPad Mini