Apple has taken every flagship piece of tech from the larger iPad Air and squeezed it into the '''iPad Mini'''. From its Retina Display - at 2048x1536 with 326ppi on a 7.9-inch screen it’s as sharp if not sharper than the Air - to the 64-bit A7 processor and clever M7 coprocessor, it’s all there.

Thanks to all that iPad Air-matching spec the new Mini is noticeably faster and slicker than its predecessor. The Wi-Fi + Cellular version is also the proud recipient of a 4G upgrade. Wi-Fi connectivity seemed a little more robust to us, but nothing to email home about. There’s also the new option of a massive 128GB hard drive. The cameras are unchanged, but a five-meg sensor with 1080p video on the rear is still pretty good.

We thought the iPad Air was a stunning piece of tech, but the [http://www.store.etblive.com/tablet-reviews/most-wanted-apples-new-ipads-apple-ipad-air-ipad-mini iPad Mini] has taken everything that’s good about the Air and condensed it into a more pocketable form. If you crave a bigger screen then the Air’s your guy, but we’ll take the Mini.

That 7.9-inch Retina really shines with amazing clarity. It’s small, but perfect for reading and web browsing

====Apple’s A7 and M7 processors - should you believe the hype?====

The Mini’s all-round performace has clearly improved. Whilst playing around with video-mixing app vJay; we had two simultaneous video mixes streaming live via Apple TV without any glitches. That’s impressive. Graphics chops have also had a boost, with Infinity Blade III producing some incredible lighting and shading effects. We gave the M7 coprocessor a workout, too, using The Day One app to count steps and add them to our journal. It produced accurate results without unduly draining the iPad Mini’s battery. A conclusive result, then. Believe that hype.