New iPad mini 7 gets A17 Pro, Apple Intelligence
The iPad mini 7 is here, equipped with the A17 Pro chip, Apple Pencil Pro support, and Apple Intelligence.
The new iPad mini with A17 Pro
When Apple redesigned the iPad miniin 2021 with flat sides and no Home Button, it changed the tiny-device game. That diminutive tablet is back with a host of upgrades aiming to make the best iPad-as-a-tablet even better.
For its seventh iteration, Apple has gone with the A17 Pro. This was the chip Apple used in the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max models last year, and is one generation behind the current-gen iPhone 16.
This gives the iPad mini a better CPU and GPU and a twice-as-fast Neural Engine, allowing it to support Apple Intelligence. The chip offers a 30% CPU performance boost over the previous generation.
The 5-core GPU is also better, providing a 25% performance improvement according to Apple. It also includes hardware-accelerated ray tracing, Dynamic Cachine support, and hardware-accelerated mesh shading.
This time, the 8.3-inch Liquid Retina display has been given support for the Apple Pencil Pro, adding its more advanced stylus features to the company's smallest tablet.
Storage is another big change, with the new model starting at 128GB with 256GB and 512GB upgrades available. Previously, the capacities were 64GB and 256GB.
The rest of the specifications are largely identical to the previous generation, including the 12MP rear and front cameras, landscape stereo speakers, Touch ID, and USB-C usage.
There are some other differences, including upgrades to Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3, and the removal of the Nano-SIM.
The new iPad mini will be shipping on October 23, priced at $499 for the 128GB model.
Read on AppleInsider
Comments
I'll try it at an Apple store but will likely end up with a reMarkable Pro this year.
So Wifi 6E is now suddenly "useless" cause 7 exists? What % of users will actually be able to tell the difference? 0.001%? Has almost zero bearing on vast majority of people, so your comment is utterly absurd in its extremism. As for bezels, thinner ones can negatively affect the user experience considering the size of the screen and how you hold it. As for the camera, again, most people won't give a damn what orientation it's in. Love how you ignore the mountain of other actual meaningful improvements in order to proclaim its mediocrity and make your big statement. Sounds like you have zero reason to upgrade, if those are your nitpicks.
The iPad and remarkable pro are completely different products. The A17 Pro likely completely wipes the floor with whatever CPU the remarkable is using, and basing your decision on the CPU alone seems pretty insane considering the other massive differences between the 2 products and their functionality.
Not a stylus compatible bigger iPhone…for the technology and component available by now, as Apple can squeeze most advance function into the iPhone Pro (Max), iPad mini must has more potential and real estate to step up to another level, a more portable “Computer” than M4 iPad Pro, and far beyond a iPhone Pro (Max).
This New iPad mini with Apple Intelligence is a basic model for future proof, any user with the 5th gen. or before is good enough, but not for “New Customer”.
The Mini is my goto device for office visits, barber shop and other activities where portability is more important than having my M4 2TB Cellular iPad Pro powerhouse along.
Another bonus is that the Mini will use the same Apple Pencil Pro as my M4 and I can pass along the Pencil for the v6 Mini. There will be only one Pencil laying around.
If Apple does a folding iPhone (which nobody really knows) the iPad mini may suffer the same fate as the iPod Touch. Also, the latest 11" iPad Pro is actually quite svelte for the massive upgrade in processing, graphics, memory, storage, and screen improvements it delivers over the mini. But the 11" iPad Pro does weigh about 5.3 oz more and it is obviously not a single-handed device, and it costs a lot more.
There is still a place for the iPad mini in Apple's lineup, but it's obviously not going to get the same level of attention as the base model iPad or the iPad Pros. For a very large number of iPad buyers the base model iPad is still an incredible bargain. Can't wait to see what the 11th Gen offers. I'd be very surprised if Apple withholds support for Apple Intelligence in the next gen base model iPad.
Weird. You decry the inclusion of 6E, but lament the lack of 7. Since the vast majority of people are using neither of those standards yet, it'll be just fine.
An OK update.