The iPad Mini, Apple’s smallest tablet, just got a rather simple upgrade, as Apple announced in a press release. The update is a pretty standard spec bump, including the A17 Pro chip, which debuted in the Pro iPhone 15 models in 2023, support for the new Apple Pencil Pro, 128GB base storage, an “updated” 12MP rear camera, and a faster USB-C port. The new iPad Mini starts at $499 and is available for pre-order at writing, with sales starting October 23.
In terms of devices, this is a pretty standard spec bump that brings the now-ageing iPad Mini on par with Apple’s newer devices while also making it compatible with all the Apple Intelligence features the iPhone maker is going to ship. The only design change here is the colour options—purple and blue. Apple has been a lot more colourful in its 2024 device lineup as a whole.
As for the internals, you now get a faster iPad mini. The A17 Pro has a 30 percent faster CPU, 25 percent faster GPU, and a Neural Engine twice as fast as the previous generation. Apple also claims the new iPad supports hardware-accelerated ray tracing, so games should look and play well.
The base model now gets 128GB of storage instead of 64. The WiFi 6E chip inside is faster, with Apple claiming twice the performance over the previous iteration. Cellular connectivity remains the same, and you’ll still need an eSIM for that. The USB-C port is also twice as fast, supporting data transfers of up to 10Gbps. While Apple claims that the rear camera has been updated, the rear and front cameras are still 12MP, so don’t expect a big difference.
There’s also support for the new Apple Pencil Pro in addition to the regular Apple Pencil, which is nice for artists looking for a smaller canvas. That said, most of the update is about bringing the iPad Mini up to the mark for Apple Intelligence features. The rest of the iPad lineup was updated earlier in May at the company’s Let Loose event, which also included the launch of the latest M4 chip in the new iPad Pro.
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