Apple has now revealed yet another addition to its family of gadgets – an updated version of the popular iPad Mini. This marks the first time the device has got a significant upgrade in the over three years. The device includes a faster A17 Pro chip, more storage, Apple Intelligence, and more.
“There is no other device in the world like iPad mini, beloved for its combination of powerful performance and versatility in our most ultraportable design. iPad mini appeals to a wide range of users and has been built for Apple Intelligence, delivering intelligent new features that are powerful, personal, and private,” Bob Borchers, Apple’s VP of Worldwide Product Marketing, commented on the matter.
“With the powerful A17 Pro chip, faster connectivity, and support for Apple Pencil Pro, the new iPad mini delivers the full iPad experience in our most portable design at an incredible value,” he added. There are new colour options as well – users can buy the latest Mini in either muted blue or purple. The front-facing camera remains in portrait mode, while the rear camera is a 12MP wide-angle lens with Smart HDR 4.
The A17 Pro chip is no stranger to Apple devices, and has been present in the company’s iPhone 15 Pro series. According to Apple, the chip brings a boost of 30% in the 6-core CPU performance, alongside an improvement of 25% in GPU performance as compared to the A15 Bionic chip. Furthermore, there is a faster Neural engine to bolster AI-focused features such as improved Siri responses.
Another feature that will be able to leverage the A17 Pro is Apple Intelligence – the company’s suite of AI-powered tools and features. This is unsurprising, given that Apple has been going all out on AI across its product lineup. The company notes that the first set of Apple Intelligence features will be made available in US English later this month, and it itself remains integrated into iPadOS 18. With the new and powerful chip, Apple Intelligence will be able to leverage generative AI models to provide improved writing tools, generate image from text-based prompts, and provide enhanced task automation.
Storage has been a point of concern for many iPad Mini users in the past, and the new iPad Mini seems to have the answer. Apple, for the new device, has doubled the base storage to 128GB, and offers 256GB and 512GB storage configurations for interested users as well. The device now supports Wi-Fi 6E, offering faster internet speeds, as well as a better USB-C port, which allows for faster data transfer speeds, reaching up to 10 Gbps. Furthermore, the new iPad Mini also comes with support for the new Apple Pencil Pro, which brings features like pressure sensitivity, gesture controls, and haptic feedback, and a magnetic charging area on the Mini’s side to charge it.
Interested users can pre-order the new iPad Mini, and deliveries will commence next week, from October 23. The device starts at $499 for the Wi-Fi-only version with 128GB of storage, while the Wi-Fi + Cellular model begins at $649.
