Today, Apple quietly announced the new iPad Mini (7th Gen). One of the major highlights of the new iPad Mini is the inclusion of the A17 Pro chipset. We’ll talk about the performance improvements later on. First, let’s take a look at the specs.
The new iPad Mini comes with a faster processor and is ready for Apple Intelligence
The new iPad Mini sports the 8.3-inch Liquid Retina display that comes with 2266 x 1488 pixels resolution same as its predecessor. Sadly, Apple hasn’t bumped the refresh rate and capped it to 60Hz yet again. In addition, the dimensions of the new device are identical to the previous model. The only design change is related to the color of the device. Apple offers the new small iPad in blue, purple, starlight, and space gray colorways.
Talking of cameras, you’ll still find the same old 12MP Ultra Wide front-facing camera in portrait orientation with support for Center Stage. Besides, there’s a 12MP rear-facing camera for your photography needs as on the last iPad Mini. While most of the outer looks are identical, the new iPad Mini features a significant upgrade on the inside.
Apple has used the A17 Pro SoC in the new iPad Mini and readies it for Apple Intelligence. Let’s not forget that’s the same chipset used in the iPhone 15 Pro models. So, that also means whenever Apple Intelligence rolls out, you can use features like smarter Siri, Writing Tools, Image Playground, and Genmoji on this tablet.
The new Apple tablet is available for pre-order now
Apple claims that the new processor for the tablet offers a 30 percent and 25 percent boost in CPU and GPU performance, respectively. Additionally, the Neural Engine is now twice as fast compared to its predecessor. Besides, the new iPad Mini now supports the new Apple Pencil Pro. Before you get too excited, let’s be clear that this is not the iPad that would run the “homeOS” hinted at by Mark Gurman in previous reports.
The Cupertino giant has bumped the base storage to 128GB. So, you get double the storage on the new one as compared to the previous base model. Let’s not forget that there’s a new variant with 512GB storage as well. The new iPad Mini is available for pre-order at $499 (128GB, Wi-Fi) and $649 (128GB, Wi-Fi + Cellular). Moreover, it will go on sale next Wednesday i.e. October 23.
