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What just happened? Apple has introduced an updated version of the iPad mini powered by the A18 Pro, the same chip found in the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max. While it is not the latest SoC from Cupertino, the year-old SoC will be fast enough to power Apple Intelligence starting later this month.
The new Apple iPad mini features an 8.3-inch Liquid Retina display – an LED backlit multi-touch screen with IPS technology that operates at a resolution of 2,266 x 1,488 (326 PPI). It boasts 500 nits of brightness and supports Apple Pencil and Apple Pencil Pro.
The A17 Pro consists of two performance cores and four efficiency cores. According to Apple, the chip delivers a 30 percent boost in CPU performance compared to the A15 Bionic found in the previous generation iPad mini. The A17 Pro's five-core GPU, meanwhile, is said to offer a 25 percent jump in graphics performance.
Apple Intelligence on the iPad mini will afford writing and image creation tools, and it can even take action across apps to accelerate everyday tasks. Much of the processing for Apple Intelligence happens locally on-device, although it can also tap into more powerful models that run on dedicated Apple servers in the cloud.
The new iPad mini will ship running iPadOS 18. Apple said the first set of AI features will be available via a free software update with iPadOS 18.1 due out this month.
Other noteworthy features include support for Wi-Fi 6E, a faster USB-C port that supports data transfers up to 10Gbps, and a 12-megapixel rear-facing camera with Smart HDR 4. Battery life from the 19.3Wh unit is rated at up to 10 hours of web surfing / video consumption.
The 7th generation iPad mini is available to order now starting at $499 for the Wi-Fi model with 128 GB of storage and topping out at $949 for a cellular variant with 512 GB of onboard storage. Look for it to ship / hit retail on October 23.