iPad mini (6th generation)
Flat sides, USB-C, Apple Pencil 2 and an 8.3-inch screen, plus the jelly scroll that reviewers argued about for months.
Released September 24, 2021 · Discontinued October 23, 2024 · From $499 (64 GB, Wi-Fi)
The mini finally got the modern design. Flat sides, uniform bezels, no home button, Touch ID in the top button, USB-C, and an 8.3-inch screen that grew without the body growing. Apple Pencil 2 attaches magnetically to the side. Then came jelly scroll. The display refreshes line by line down the screen in portrait, fast enough to be invisible on most devices and just slow enough here to show as a slight lean in scrolling text. Apple said it was normal LCD behavior. Reviewers agreed it was, and also that it was more noticeable on this one than on anything else Apple sold, which is a fair summary of the whole argument.
Reviews & Reception
Reviewers judged it the best small tablet available and framed the decision as whether an 8-inch tablet fits your life at all. This review went out on 22 September 2021, before the jelly scroll reports began circulating later that month.
The iPad mini remains the best small tablet out there and you probably already know if an 8-inch tablet has a place in your life.
But for those who have a hole in their lives where a small tablet could fit, you (still) can't get better than the iPad mini.