Just over three years after the iPad mini (2021), Apple is finally bringing back the tiny tablet by announcing the new iPad mini 7. It has the A17 Pro chip for Apple Intelligence.
The new chip isn’t the only new feature on the 8.3-inch tablet. In addition to Starlight and Space Gray, Apple announced two new colors, blue and purple, to enhance storage options.
Storage for the mini 7 starts at 128GB and now also comes in 256GB and 512GB options. Naturally, it also runs the latest iPadOS 18. You can pre-order the iPad mini 7 today. Prices start from $499 / £499 / AU$799 for the Wi-Fi model and $649 / £649 / AU$1,049 for the Wi-Fi model. Wi-Fi and Cellular models.
Another big advantage of the mini 7 is that it supports Apple Pencil Pro. This makes it an attractive little digital notebook for creatives. Apple says the A17 Pro chip, which debuted in the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max, doubles the speed of the tablet’s Neural Engine compared to the mini 6, delivering a faster CPU and GPU.
As before, the iPad mini 7 has a 12MP rear camera, but this time it’s been upgraded to Smart HDR 4 processing. It also supports Wi-Fi 6E for faster wireless connectivity.
But the biggest enhancement to the software comes with Apple Intelligence support, which is expected to be fully rolled out in the US “later this month.” This includes new AI-powered writing tools in apps like Mail, Notes, and third-party apps, as well as image processing techniques like Apple’s Cleanup tool.
If you’ve been patiently waiting for the iPad mini 7, you can finally order it from the Apple Store. We’ll give you our full verdict soon on where this little tablet ranks in our best iPad guide.
Is it worth the wait?
Given that Apple almost gave up on releasing a new iPad mini, this new little tablet is great news, and the new model has everything we were looking for.
The main advantage is the new A17 Pro chip, which supports future iPadOS updates as well as Apple Intelligence. Even if you aren’t particularly impressed by Apple Intelligence features so far, it’s hard to recommend investing in the iPad mini 6 without improved specs.
The addition of support for Apple Pencil Pro is also a nice bonus. The previous iPad mini (2021) supported Apple Pencil, but Pencil Pro brings some big benefits for digital artists, including a barrel sensor and haptic support. The only downside is that it’s not bundled with the tablet and costs a hefty $129 / £129 / AU$219.
Apple also promises “all-day battery life” on the iPad mini 7, but there’s no estimate yet on how long it will last. This was a notable weakness of the previous model, so I’m looking forward to testing it.
These weaknesses aside, the iPad mini 7 has a strong reputation as, on paper, the best 8-inch tablet you can buy, and despite the increased size of the iPhone 16 and 16 Pro, Apple Good to see them sticking to the format.
