By: Nick Gambino
The iPad mini is getting an update for the first time in years. The new iteration of the budget, palm-sized iPad is set to be the most powerful yet.
Fitted with the A17 Pro chip that’s also found in the iPhone 15 Pro, the seventh-generation iPad mini sports a doubled-up 16-core Neural Engine designed to handle Apple Intelligence. In fact, the introduction of Apple’s own AI is probably the whole reason for updating the mini.
“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,” VP of Worldwide Product Marketing at Apple, Bob Borchers, said in a press release statement. “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.”
Now, we’re currently on the iPhone 16 so an iPad mini featuring a chip that’s in the 15 means the budget tablet device won’t be as powerful as the newest iPhone. In fact, as noted by 9to5Mac, they seem to be using a binned version of the A17 Pro processor chip.
What that means is it’s a chip not operating at its full potential. Apparently what they do is take chips that are acting up, deactivate the core that isn’t working properly and then use them one or two cores down.
Per Apple’s website, the seventh-gen iPad mini has a 6-core CPU and 5-core GPU. A fully operational A17 Pro chip should have a 6-core GPU, indicating they are using the binned version.
In addition to the processor chip and Neural Engine ripe for Apple Intelligence, the new iPad mini finally receives support for the Apple Pencil Pro. This is a first for any Apple tablet mini.
You can preorder the iPad mini 7 now from Apple, Walmart, Best Buy or Amazon. Prices start as low as $499 for the WiFi only version with 128 GB of storage. The official launch is on October 23rd.
