The seventh era of Apple’s tiniest iPad is lastly right here, three years since its final refresh. There was no fancy pretaped or stay occasion—the corporate quietly introduced the new pill via its on-line newsroom. The headline characteristic encapsulating this gadget? Apple Intelligence. Apple’s synthetic intelligence options nonetheless aren’t accessible for the iPhone 16, however they’re as a result of arrive this month through iOS 18.1.
Beginning at $499 for the bottom mannequin, the seventh-gen iPad Mini has the identical chassis as its predecessor, however with just a few upgrades together with a brand new processor, help for Apple Intelligence, and double the storage. It additionally works with the most recent Apple Pencil Professional. It is accessible for preorder now and ships October 23.
Courtesy of Apple
It is What’s Inside
The sixth-generation iPad Mini obtained a serious facelift in 2021, so it is not stunning that Apple stored the exterior options the identical on this iteration. This pill packs an 8.3-inch LCD display, slim bezels, and a 12-megapixel selfie digital camera, together with a USB-C port (now with 10-Gbps knowledge switch speeds). The rear digital camera has a 12-megapixel sensor with help for Sensible HDR 4, an up to date picture processing algorithm with the potential to detect and scan paperwork from the Digicam app (a characteristic we noticed launched again in Might with the M4-powered iPad Professional).
The extra vital adjustments are inside. Apple upgraded the processor from the A15 (the chipset contained in the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Professional fashions) to an A17 Professional, the exact same that is within the iPhone 15 Professional. With a six-core CPU, the corporate claims it delivers a 30 p.c enhance in CPU efficiency whereas the five-core GPU gives a 25 p.c soar in comparison with the earlier mannequin. In the meantime, the neural engine is twice as quick.
Placing this chip contained in the iPad Mini means it could help Apple Intelligence—a set of synthetic intelligence instruments coming in iOS 18.1. It makes the iPad Mini the most cost effective pill of the lineup to have these options. Different supported fashions embody the fifth-gen M1 iPad Air, sixth-gen M2 iPad Air, fifth-gen M1 iPad Professional, sixth-gen M2 iPad Professional, and seventh-gen M4 iPad Professional.