New iPad mini 7 gets A17 Pro, Apple Intelligence

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.