I just got my 64GB Space Gray from Walmart for $459 and I have to say I freaking love this little tablet! I am actually downgrading from the 11" iPad Pro to the Mini as I now have a 16" MBP, w/ it's gigantic screen, and really just use my tablet for reading the news and watching YouTube in the recliner or in bed (for which a smaller/lighter tablet is far more comfortable). Here is my take away so far:
1. The jelly scroll is a thing (particularly if you go looking for it) but only while scrolling in portrait mode. It makes blocks of text lag behind a little bit giving paragraphs a slightly angular look while scrolling. It's not as smooth and pretty as the 120Hz scrolling on the iPad Pro, but given that I am not actively reading text while scrolling pages up/down, and that thankfully I happen to read 95% of my content in landscape mode, I can let it slide given all the other benefits of the small form factor. Definitely worth a look in store if you have any level of OCD about this though lol. Here's a video about it: [url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJQiu6TTx94[/url]
2. I am now waiting on a replacement order for the 256GB model and will be exchanging because, try as I may to slim down the bloat to "the essentials", 64GB is not going to get it done for me lol. I work at sea and will use the iPad for watching saved YouTube/Disney /NetFlix episodes and Apple Music (as we do not have internet when any from land on my ship). I could not even get my existing load out of music and apps to fit comfortably before trying to download any video content. 128GB for entry level model would be ideal (Like my iPhone 13 Pro) and Apple knows that... So gonna cough up the extra $150 after all for what I'm sure will be "too much space" haha. Oh well, can't upgrade it later I suppose.
3. The new Mini is plenty powerful, has a beautiful and bright screen for a Non-Pro model, lightweight in the hands, semi-pocketable, supports Apple Pencil 2 wonderfully and seems to provide similar battery life to the full size iPad models and comparatively good quality and loud enough stereo audio as well (Still better than iPhone 13 Pro). Also, the CenterStage FaceTime camera provides excellent HD video quality and automatic tracking like the iPad Pro which is even better than using your iPhone. The 3:2 aspect ratio of the new Mini (as opposed to 4:3 from last ten and most other iPad lines) makes for a wider display which means narrower black bars top and bottom on 16:9 content. So basically, even though this screen is technically ~3", or 25%, smaller than the iPad Air/Pro 11 it certainly does not feel that much smaller. A very clever space optimization very akin to what Apple did shoving the System menu up and out of the way into the notch bar on the new 14" and 16" MacBook Pros.
Aside from my first 2 nitpicks above, overall I am quite pleased with the Mini and, though it surely is not the best bang for your buck (Regular iPad has got to be the best value for many and iPad Air