The new 2024 iPad Pro and Air are forces to be reckoned with. But the iPad Mini has become my reliable travel companion, and I love it.
I’ve tried and failed to find use cases for iPads in recent years. In 2021, I replaced my old iPad with the iPad Air 4 with the hopes of integrating it into my workflow. But that didn’t happen. And being a remote worker who is always on the go, I’ve found my iPad Air resting in a drawer for the better part of its life. I can’t remember the last time I felt the need to use it.
But I knew I needed a smaller tablet for media consumption and reading on my travels. That’s why I picked up the iPad Mini after my most recent CES trip, and it has since become a part of my daily life. Unlike the fancier, more expensive iPad, the Mini works for me because it isn’t trying to be a MacBook replacement but is instead an extension of my phone and laptop.
In 2024, with Apple finally launching the next generation of iPad Pro and Air models, here’s why I’m sticking with the smaller but still mighty iPad Mini.
My use case with iPads is browsing, reading, and watching videos — and in that order for priority. When I first tried the iPad Mini, I didn’t expect to prefer it over my iPad Air or the foldable phones being tested at the time.
