Hello, please bear with me, Im not here to make another x vs y post on the internet. Im looking for benchmarks, stats and experiences of the others, of which I cant find on the internet. Its all consumer slop.
I never had an Apple device before however now that I’ve been using the Foreflight web version Im looking into it buying one from 2025, either the air or just the normal version.
I would like to know what is the difference in performance between the M3 and A16 (easily the hardest benchmark to find), battery life while using foreflight throughout the entire flight, ergonomics of the 11’ diagonal screen, gps accuracy / reliability, how reliable the device is / how easy it is to brake it, if it has problems at high or low temperatures, how well the anti-reflective screen works when in clear sky…etc
I’m having a hard time to find feedback more insightful then “the mini is more portable, just pick that”
I can’t say anything about the differences, but i’ve bought an iPad Mini 7 last year, running Garmin Pilot.
Battery life in use is about 4 to 5 hours, no temperature related failures so far. I’m carrying it on a kneepad, which is in the stream of an airvent.
I have a Mini 6. Everything about it is good EXCEPT that it overheats way too easily. Living in the south of France, it’s rare to complete a flight in summer without it shutting down – a nuisance when VFR, and potentially serious when IFR. Other than that: battery life, visibility, display size, compute power, internal GPS are all up to the job.
I have a MyGoFlight fan thingy, which I suspect makes overheating worse (and costs several fortunes), and an air vent in the right place. By next summer I plan to try one of the Peltier effect solutions as suggested here by @IO390.
The IPad Pro with nano-texture thingamy never makes one even think about reflections on the screen, on a Cessna 210 (so not bubble canopy). It overheats (rarely) only really in strong direct sunlight even when charging the battery (again not a bubble canopy). Battery in flight at maximum brightness maybe 3 hours, not sure since I keep it connected to onboard power constantly (double/triple that being just at home without constant GPS / lower brightness). I have no experience with other models, sorry.
11" inch is definitely big/unwieldy, and about the maximum size to have constantly on one’s thigh.
Do take a mobile data capability equipped one (even without a mobile data subscription), as the WiFi-only models do not have an internal GPS.
Mine are rather old. I have an iPad pro 10 inch (I think it’s series 2) which used to run far more than 6 hours on Foreflight, but it has decreased a lot lately. It’s still running smooth.
I also have an iPad Mini 4 which I bought second-hand 5 years ago for 100 Euro, but do not recommend it any more, as Foreflight isn’t updated on the device any more and it gets a bit slow. However other than that it works just fine.
No need to buy a new device for Foreflight. However, the devices are discontinued from update service at a given time. So if you consider this, a new device isn’t really more expensive per use time than an older device.
Consider the available cockpit space. The iPad mini isn’t actually bad, to the contrary. I prefer the bigger display when viewing the georeferenced approach chart, but it wouldn’t be so much worse on the small iPad.
If I were to start again I’d buy the iPad mini.
This Sporty’s ipad news, which is constantly updated, has very practical and useful advice for pilots together with helpful tips for ‘advanced’ use.
My advice – get as much data space as you can afford, and get the model with the 5G “cellular” data option for both data (obviously) and built-in GPS.
Figure out where you will put it (kneeboard, suction mount, panel mount) and get the size that works best for you.
Title edited to add Foreflight.
We have various similar threads e.g. which Ipad for Skydemon.
I have the Ipad Mini 4. It is sort of OK but as described here it shuts down readily in sunlight (TB20 windows) especially when charged which is unavoidable for nontrivial flights. The shutdown issue is solved with a holder containing forced air cooling (various threads).
The IPad Pro with nano-texture
That’s interesting, because the sunlight readability of mine is poor, but the Pro is a HUGE tablet. I could spread my breakfast on it 
I use a ‘refurbished’ Ipad mini 6 cellular, running SkyDemon. Bubble canopy, mounted directly in front of one of the air outlets, always connected to a power bank. Never had an issue with the ipad overheating in flight, not even in southern france – but on the ground, once.
I use the current iPad Mini with forelfight. It works perfectly fine. I don’t mount it on the windows so it never gets too hot.
I would say get the celular version and plenty of memory as you’ll need space for charts. I have 256Gb so I can afford to have every single AIP pre downloaded.
