Apple gave the iPad mini a surprise refresh with faster internals and other minor upgrades. A highlight is support for Apple Intelligence, which brings Apple’s suite of AI tools to the smallest iPad.
So should you ditch your iPad mini 6 for these upgrades, or hold off on it for another year or two? Check out the comparison between iPad mini 7 and iPad mini 6.
Comparison of iPad mini 7 and iPad mini 6
The iPad mini 7 looks exactly like its successor. There are very few visible design differences. But under the hood, Apple’s latest iPad mini includes some significant upgrades, including a switch to the faster and more efficient A17 Pro chip. This new SoC enables support for Apple intelligence, making the new iPad mini on par with Apple’s M-series iPad Air and iPad Pro.
But should you upgrade to an iPad mini 7 just for Apple Intelligence and a faster chip?
Table of Contents: Comparison of iPad mini 7 and iPad mini 6
design and display
Photo: Apple
- iPad mini 7: 195.4 x 134.8 x 6.3mm, 293 grams. 8.3-inch Liquid Retina display, 500 nits SDR brightness, Apple Pencil hover
- iPad mini 6: 195.4 x 134.8 x 6.3mm, 293 grams. 8.3-inch Liquid Retina display, 500 nits SDR brightness
iPad mini 7 and mini 6 have the same dimensions and weight. There is no difference here. That’s why it includes a power button with integrated Touch ID, a USB-C port on the bottom, and horizontal stereo speakers.
The display size and maximum brightness are also unchanged, with Apple using an 8.3-inch Liquid Retina panel for the new iPad. There were rumors Apple will use The next iPad mini is expected to have a 120Hz ProMotion panel, but unfortunately that’s not the case.
Although unconfirmed, Apple probably A new generation panel that prevents the iPad mini 7 display from experiencing jelly-like scrolling issues such as: Its predecessor. We’ll find out when the first reviews are published.
The only notable display upgrades are Apple Pencil Pro and Apple Pencil Hover support. This means you can use Apple’s latest Apple Pencil with your iPad mini 7 and enjoy all its benefits, including haptic feedback. It also supports Apple Pencil (USB-C). iPad mini 6 supports Apple Pencil (2nd generation) and USB-C versions.
iPad mini 7 processor and storage
Photo: Apple
- iPad mini 7: A17 Pro (3nm fab), 6-core CPU, 6-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine, dedicated AV1 decoder, USB-C controller, 2nd Gen Ultra Wideband chip, up to 1 TB storage
- iPad mini 6: A15 Bionic (5nm fab), 6-core CPU, 4-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine, up to 512 GB storage
The biggest upgrade to the iPad mini 7 is the new, more efficient A17 Pro chip. This is a notable step up from the iPad mini 6’s A15 Bionic chip. Apple claims the new SoC delivers a 30% increase in CPU and 25% increase in GPU performance. The Neural Engine is also 2x faster, significantly accelerating AI and machine learning tasks.
Thanks to a faster chip, iPad mini 7 supports Apple Intelligence. When iPadOS 18.1 is released, new iPad minis will have access to features like writing tools, natural language photo search, suggested replies to messages, and more. You can try out the first 10 Apple Intelligence features and see what we think about them.
In addition to the new A17 Pro SoC, the new iPad mini has twice the base storage of its predecessor. The entry-level model ships with 128GB, and the other two options are 256GB and 512GB. For comparison, the iPad mini 6 ships with 64GB of base storage, while other variants only have 256GB.
Unlike the iPad Pro, the iPad mini doesn’t have a dedicated AV1, ProRes, or video encode/decode engine to process video files faster. However, gamers can be pleased with the support for hardware-accelerated ray tracing, which is four times faster than software-based ray tracing, as well as support for dynamic caching and hardware-accelerated mesh shading. .
front camera and rear camera
Photo: Apple
- iPad mini 7: 12MP wide camera, f/1.8 aperture, True Tone flash, Smart HDR 4; 4K 60fps video recording, 1080p@240fps slow motion. 12MP ultra-wide camera, f/2.4 aperture, center stage, smart HDR 4
- iPad mini 6: 12MP wide camera, f/1.8 aperture, True Tone flash, Smart HDR 3; 4K 60fps video recording, 1080p@240fps slow motion. 12MP ultra-wide camera, f/2.4 aperture, center stage, Smart HDR 3
Despite being released three years later, the iPad mini 7 has the same camera as its predecessor. It has a 12MP shooter on the back and another 12MP camera on the front. The only notable upgrade is support for Smart HDR 4. This increases dynamic range and improves overall image quality.
connectivity
Photo: Ian Fuchs/Cult of Mac
- iPad mini 7: Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3, 5G, Gigabit LTE, eSIM, USB-C
- iPad mini 6: Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.0, 5G, Gigabit LTE, nano-SIM, eSIM, USB-C
iPad mini 7 has two important connectivity upgrades with support for the faster Wi-Fi 6E standard and Bluetooth 5.3. Compared to Wi-Fi 6 on iPad mini 6, the new Wi-Fi standard delivers higher bandwidth and improved throughput. Other iPads in Apple’s lineup also support Wi-Fi 6E, but only the iPhone 16 series is compatible with Wi-Fi 7.
Another small change is that the iPad mini 7 doesn’t have a dedicated nanoSIM slot. Instead, it only works with eSIMs.
price
- iPad mini 7: From $499. $649 for cellular version
- iPad mini 6: From $499. $649 for cellular version
The iPad mini 7 maintains the same price as its predecessor even though it has a faster processor, twice the base storage, and faster connectivity. Therefore, Apple’s latest iPad mini offers much better value for money than the iPad mini 6. You can also configure the machine with up to 512GB of storage, which is useful if you want to use your iPad mini as a laptop replacement.
iPad mini 7 and iPad mini 6 conclusion: You shouldn’t upgrade.
Other than the changes mentioned above, the iPad mini 7 is very similar to the iPad mini 6. The sensor, color options, horizontal stereo speakers, etc. arrangement is the same. The upgrade to the faster A17 Pro chip is a big deal, especially in: Brings Apple Intelligence support.
But that’s not enough reason to ditch your iPad mini 6 and upgrade to a newer model. There is no need to upgrade as the changes are too small. Unless you think Apple Intelligence will significantly improve your iPad workflows, wait for the next iPad mini update.
buy now
iPad mini 7: apple
