Apple Phasing out iPad Mini

Yeah that's too bad... I like my mini4... perfect size.
 
If Apple really is serious about reducing bezel size, this could simply mean an iPad with a larger screen but same/similar footprint.
 
i use an ipad air 2 on a kneeboard in the 172. I think it wouldn't fit well on the yoke, but I really like the bigger screen. i'm fairly big guy too (6'3" and 220) and I have full control deflection without interference.
 
The current rumor for iPad has a new pro being introduced next month with a 10.5 inch screen in the same sized device as the current 9.7 inch. Apple has also just introduced a 9.7 inch just called iPad which is a reduced cost model that is very similar to the Air 2. You can get a 128 gig model with 4G for about $550 which is cheaper than the current starting price for the Pro. Since my iPad 3 just lost official support, I am considering grabbing one of those cheaper models.
 
Wow that's a real bummer. Going to be tough using anything bigger on a yolk mount.
 
Note that iOS makes distinctions between iPhones (even the larger ones) and iPads. This means that things like Foreflight work wonkily on the super-phones rather than acting like they do on the iPad. Hopefully, Apple will do something about that.
 
Could be a sales gimmick just to get everybody to run out and buy one... And then they cancel the cancellation
 
While it would suck if they got rid of the Mini, I'd probably just get whatever the smaller one that's left is. I did use an original iPad on the yoke, and even the new mid-size ones are smaller than that.
 
Mini 4 in the Otterbox Defender is about perfect. Only thing I didn't like is glare on the smaller screen is harder to live with. I added a glass anti-glare armourglas protector which decreases the sharpness a bit.

 
I love my mini 4 as well. GPS never loses a signal and can see the screen pretty well even on sunny days. I have a suction mount that I put on the lower front window on the pilot's side. It fits great on the kneeboard but I found it was a little too disorientating for me looking up and down all the time. The window mount fixed that without taking up too much real estate.
 
I wonder if it would be possible to take a smaller Android tablet and run iOS and thus Foreflight on it . . . .

A full size iPad is simply too big for the cockpit - If they make the Mini just a 'little' bit smaller - then it will satisfy the tablet / laptop ban. Why not make a TSA compliant phablet . . .
 
bbridges51 said:
which is a shame, because it fits perfectly with a yolk mount in a C172.... Maybe i'll have to update from my Mini2 to the mini4 before they disappear.

http://appleinsider.com/articles/17...ight-of-low-sales-plus-sized-iphones---report
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kitchen-yolk-white-egg-separator-sifting.jpg
 
I'll,probably migrate to WingX on Android. Or buy another mini to use when this one dies.
 
comanchepilot said:
I wonder if it would be possible to take a smaller Android tablet and run iOS and thus Foreflight on it . . . .

A full size iPad is simply too big for the cockpit - If they make the Mini just a 'little' bit smaller - then it will satisfy the tablet / laptop ban. Why not make a TSA compliant phablet . . .
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Not possible to my knowledge. Apple is very strict with their OS not being used on any generic devices.

A second issue is that Apple will at some point end support for the Mini 4, just as it ends support for any device more than about 5 years old. They basically force you to get a new one every 4 or 5 years.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk
 
I will have another reason to hate current idiots running Apple if they kill the Mini 4. It's the perfect sized tablet.

Edit: Mini 4 form factor. They should already be working on the Mini 5.
 
denverpilot said:
I will have another reason to hate current idiots running Apple if they kill the Mini 4. It's the perfect sized tablet.

Edit: Mini 4 form factor. They should already be working on the Mini 5.
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Sounds like there will be no Mini 5. The iPhone 8 is reported to have close to a 6 inch screen, and that is seen as encroaching on the Mini's market. Apple is eliminating the Mini so it is not competing with itself. Although nothing has been rumored, I think you are more likely to see a 9 something inch no bezel product instead. Especially with the rumor of a very small bezel 10.5 inch product coming.
 
drotto said:
Sounds like there will be no Mini 5. The iPhone 8 is reported to have close to a 6 inch screen, and that is seen as encroaching on the Mini's market. Apple is eliminating the Mini so it is not competing with itself. Although nothing has been rumored, I think you are more likely to see a 9 something inch no bezel product instead. Especially with the rumor of a very small bezel 10.5 inch product coming.
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Yeah, so I've read. I hate them. Really hate them. MacBook Pro is a joke, tablets keep growing, they're idiots.
 
Honestly, the whole tablet market is dying as phones get bigger and 2 in 1 laptops get smaller and more capable. While they are great for flying, the public is much more fascinated with their phones. Personally, I can not stand to watch videos or read on something that is only 5 or so inches, but the masses have spoken.
 
drotto said:
Honestly, the whole tablet market is dying as phones get bigger and 2 in 1 laptops get smaller and more capable. While they are great for flying, the public is much more fascinated with their phones. Personally, I can not stand to watch videos or read on something that is only 5 or so inches, but the masses have spoken.
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Those two in one laptop like things aren't good. We have a couple of users on really nice new ones. They crap out opening three spreadsheets and their email. LOL. The really sad one is the guy who hooked up two external monitors when his is docked. That thing slows to a crawl.

The marketing that they're laptop replacements is bunk. A $300 i5 with an SSD kicks their ass up and down the street and gives them a wedgie and a swirlie at the same time. Hahaha.

This would be the latest and greatest Microsoft thingy. The Apple marketing saying you'll use their giant iPad as one is even more lame. iOS as a desktop replacement? Let me try not to hurt myself laughing too hard.
 
In that case I'll be hanging onto my mini 4 for a while, good thing I take care of my iPads lol

Even as someone who doesn't yoke mount, I wouldn't want anything larger than a mini in the cockpit.
 
denverpilot said:
Yeah, so I've read. I hate them. Really hate them. MacBook Pro is a joke, tablets keep growing, they're idiots.
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I used to be a huge Apple supporter (and still use their products extensively with the latest gen MBP, iMac, iPhone and an iPad mini 4 just on my desk right now) but I couldn't agree more with you. The past 5 years have been completely downhill in terms of logic.

I abhor my new MBP with its 4 completely useless USB-C ports and nothing else.
 
Phones are getting bigger as already mentioned. Laptops have been getting smaller thanks to SSDs and ports converging on USB-C and DP (or HDMI). There's just not much room left in between. I suspect the educational market is all that's left. As a matter of fact, I'll bet Apple is hanging on to the iPad mainly as a hedge against Chromebooks.
 
I used to be a huge Android/PC guy. I'm still a PC guy and recently built an over $2k desktop. Top of the line with water cooled graphics card and CPU.

A little over a year ago I ventured over to an iPhone 6S Plus and I have to say I've absolutely loved it. The software has been great. Better than Android in many aspects. I don't own a MBP and I agree the prices are pretty outrageous, but I may give one a try at some point in the future when I decide I need to upgrade my Surface Pro 3.
 
I'm sort of the opposite. I had a blackberry... got an iphone. Hated that thing. Got an android and never looked back.
With that said, I'd probably get an iPad 9.7 for the cockpit and try to dash mount or right seat secure somehow.. Mini seems small (except on the yoke or knee) and 12" seems too big.
 
I wouldn't be sure of anything until it gets announced. Nobody really knows what Apple will do but Apple and there's a huge market for rumor sites that are mostly giving educated guesses.

If they do end up not renewing it, it would be nice if foreflight would release a desktop app. I'd rather just carry a 13" MBP or an ultrabook around than use the larger iPads but that's just me.

As far as the MBP pricing/features are concerned... I'm not looking forward to(if I do) moving to the USB-C model. Maybe it will become standard enough by then it won't be an issue. Price wise yes they're very high especially compared with a PC with equivalent features and, let's be honest, most of the same chips/hardware. That said, it's been my experience that I get 2-3x more useful life out of a macbook than I do a typical PC laptop and generally need few if any repairs. Windows is always crapping the bed and it's often a complete dice roll as far as build quality goes from most of the big name PC manufacturers. I bought my last laptop from apple's refurb store and I'm really happy with it. My wife is sitting in the living room right now still using my old MBP that I bought way back in 2011... that's some impressive longevity. My last PC is sitting on my workbench in pieces because I'm just not interested enough in it to reassemble it even though I already fixed the problem.

So, TL;DR on all that yeah you pay a price premium but I feel like you do get more than just a name and an alternative operating system.
 
cowman said:
I wouldn't be sure of anything until it gets announced. Nobody really knows what Apple will do but Apple and there's a huge market for rumor sites that are mostly giving educated guesses.

If they do end up not renewing it, it would be nice if foreflight would release a desktop app. I'd rather just carry a 13" MBP or an ultrabook around than use the larger iPads but that's just me.

As far as the MBP pricing/features are concerned... I'm not looking forward to(if I do) moving to the USB-C model. Maybe it will become standard enough by then it won't be an issue. Price wise yes they're very high especially compared with a PC with equivalent features and, let's be honest, most of the same chips/hardware. That said, it's been my experience that I get 2-3x more useful life out of a macbook than I do a typical PC laptop and generally need few if any repairs. Windows is always crapping the bed and it's often a complete dice roll as far as build quality goes from most of the big name PC manufacturers. I bought my last laptop from apple's refurb store and I'm really happy with it. My wife is sitting in the living room right now still using my old MBP that I bought way back in 2011... that's some impressive longevity. My last PC is sitting on my workbench in pieces because I'm just not interested enough in it to reassemble it even though I already fixed the problem.

So, TL;DR on all that yeah you pay a price premium but I feel like you do get more than just a name and an alternative operating system.
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Well said - I would agree. And actually if you compare say the new Dell XPS 15 (higher spec'd versions) - the price isn't THAT far off from a new MBP 15. A new MBP 15 spec'd the way I want it would be 3K - a good chunk of change for sure. I would be interested to see how it would do over the course of say an 8 year life span.

Many PC laptops have come a long ways in the past few years. I am actually pretty impressed with what $800 will get you now a days.
 
CC268 said:
Well said - I would agree. And actually if you compare say the new Dell XPS 15 (higher spec'd versions) - the price isn't THAT far off from a new MBP 15. A new MBP 15 spec'd the way I want it would be 3K - a good chunk of change for sure. I would be interested to see how it would do over the course of say an 8 year life span.

Many PC laptops have come a long ways in the past few years. I am actually pretty impressed with what $800 will get you now a days.
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Yeah, we still have to get written permission to waste money on MacBook Pros for those who "must" have them again now.

For a while it was a wash and we fought hard to allow folks to use whatever they wanted, but I can't make the case anymore on the new ones.

Stupid expensive for no real benefit. And more proprietary than around 2011. More stuff glued shut. They're continually going backward.

We just ordered a LOT of Dells to refresh the desktop users who can live without the Apple logo on their gear.

The folks who run Linux or Windows or a combo are getting screamers of laptops now for lower prices overall than the Apple users. They're having fun poking the Apple users for having to wait on their machines to do stuff in heavy hitter development and VM use.

Now if we could just wean them off of Ubuntu. Ick. LOL.
 
denverpilot said:
Yeah, we still have to get written permission to waste money on MacBook Pros for those who "must" have them again now.
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I have only allowed one Mac in our entire organization of about 200 computers, ever. The 'graphics' guy. He said he MUST have it. There used to be an argument for that, but nowadays PC is just as good for graphics..in my opinion. He sweet talked...well actually Bullshidded the CEO and the decision was made.
A 27" at over $3000.
I build (almost) all of our computers by hand. Typically for about $370 (monitor/software not included). This includes SSD drives, 4-8Gb Ram, etc.
They run great and no one complains ever.
He recently asked for a PC so he could do other things. I laughed. Then he asked if he could run windows parallel on his Mac. I laughed again.
 
Palmpilot said:
Which flavor of Linux distribution(s) do you recommend?
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Haha. Wellllll...

I'm a hard core Debian guy from way back. But I don't expect non server dudes to use it really.

And our whole environment is CentOS because "RedHat"...

So I pick on the GUI kids with their Ubuntu, but whatever. It's "supportable" so I mostly pick on them in jest. And at least it's kinda... loosely these days... and for a long time... a Debian derivative. ;)

Most of the kids nowadays don't know that "yum" came from YellowDog Linux, and I ran it. Not in production but it made for a nice re-use of an original iMac with the TV tube for a while at home as a little test server. Haha.

They also look at me funny when I fix their dependency hell with aptitude in character mode instead of apt or the GUI stuff. I've had all the keybindings for that memorized for years and it still does a better job of keeping unnecessary cruft packages off of a Debian box when used properly. ;)
 
P.S. I lost the battle to use AWS's native images on Production. The newbies are scared of anything that isn't CentOS on servers.

Oh. And systemd can suck it. What an abomination of *nix that thing is. Ugh. It's the emacs of startup scripts.
 
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