Apple just announced the new iPad Mini in a somewhat subdued way via a press release. This is the first upgrade for Apple’s smallest tablet since 2021. Prices for the new Mini start at $499. Pre-orders are currently being accepted and will be released next Wednesday.
The new Mini is mainly about improved specs. It’s powered by the new A17 Pro chip, which Apple says has a 30% faster CPU, 25% faster GPU, and a Neural Engine that’s twice as fast as its predecessor. The device also supports the new Apple Pencil Pro, which is a boon for mini tote artists, and the base model comes with 128GB of storage instead of 64GB. (Those AI models need all the space they can get.) The Wi-Fi 6E chip is faster, the USB-C port is faster, and everything about the iPad Mini is the same as before, but this time. It’s just faster.
The only real design change in the new Mini is the color. This year, Apple is getting more colorful with many of its products, with the Mini coming out with new purple and blue models. However, don’t expect eye-popping new colors on the iPhone 16, as the colors look muted rather than vibrant in the photos.
The previous generation Mini received a fairly significant overhaul, adding a new design and USB-C port, as well as a number of spec upgrades. It’s not too surprising that this Mini looks a lot like the last Mini, considering it was the first redesign since the original Mini in 2012. It’s no surprise that the specs have improved significantly. As Apple goes all-in on AI and Apple Intelligence, it needs all the power it can get in essentially every device in its lineup. Apple also said in the release that the new devices will be able to run hardware-accelerated ray tracing, which will make some high-end games look better, but this is clearly an AI-focused upgrade. is.
The Mini, like the iPhone SE, has always been an oddity in Apple’s tablet lineup. The Mini has fans who love its small size, but Apple has always hinted that there aren’t that many of them. Sure, pilots love the iPad Mini, but it seems clear that most people prefer a larger screen to a smaller one.
Apple updated the rest of its iPad lineup earlier this year, adding the ultra-powerful M4 chip to the Air, redesigning the Pro, and lowering the price of the base model to $349. As always, the Mini seemed like the weirdest tablet to come out, leading some to wonder if Apple actually intended to keep making it. But Apple seems content to keep the Mini updated at a slightly different frequency than other tablets.
