Apple iPad Mini 3

“The Apple iPad mini 3 is a superb small-screen tablet, but the modest upgrades, combined with a healthy discount for last year's nearly identical model, make it difficult to recommend wholeheartedly. The mini 2 is 25 percent less expensive than the mini 3, and I can't make a strong case for Touch ID or Apple SIM warranting the $100 premium. The two new features are convenient, but ultimately expendable. The iPad has always been about the apps, and the app experience between the mini 2 and mini 3 will be largely the same.If this year's iPad stratification is the new normal, that means Apple no longer makes one tablet in two sizes, but now has two distinct classes of iPad. The iPad mini is the smaller, value-driven option. To that end, the iPad mini 2 offers much better value than the mini 3.”

“As we try to think dearly about Apple’s intent with the iPad mini 3, we’re still having trouble rationalizing the reasoning behind its $400 cost. In all fairness, it’s a pricey investment considering that the only notable new addition is the Touch ID fingerprint sensor – while the rest of the tablet largely remains the same. In fact, it sport’s the same Retina Display, iSight camera, and processor of its predecessor, which of course, is still quite a formidable thing, especially for something that’s now attached with a $300 cost.Sure, there’s now a gold colored option to select from, but the iPad 3 lacks any meaningful changes to warrant the upgrade – more so if you’re holding onto the iPad mini 2. Beyond that, we can’t forget to think about Apple’s other tablet, the iPad Air 2, which seems more valuable with its starting price of $500.”

“The iPad mini 3 is nothing more than an iPad mini 2 with Touch ID and Apple Pay, a gold option, and cheaper 64GB and 128GB models. Whether you're looking to buy your first iPad or upgrading from a previous model, the iPad mini 3’s enticement factor will depend entirely on how much you value Touch ID or want gold or more storage, all in that 7.9-inch form factor.”

“The iPad mini 3 is by no means a bad tablet. In fact, it's a rather great one, but it's a bit of a rotten deal. We'd find it difficult to recommend buying the iPad mini 3 when the iPad mini 2 is available for £80 less and is almost exactly the same, and the hugely more powerful and impressive iPad Air 2 is just £80 more. The only reason to buy the iPad mini 3 over the other iPads available is if you're set on a 7.9in screen, are desperate for a gold model and you think you can't live without the Touch ID. If that's you then you won't be disappointed by this tablet, but a new processor and some other spec upgrades would have certainly have been appreciated.”