With the Apple iPad mini 7 announced and scheduled for release just before Halloween, deciding between the iPad mini 7 and iPad mini 6 is harder than ever.
That’s because the potential savings of purchasing older models for the holidays are high. Apple’s Black Friday sales are already happening early, making the iPad mini an attractive gift idea.
But while the new iPad mini 7 looks very promising, the potential improvements over the still excellent iPad mini 6 (2021) are smaller than expected, and much of the value of the upgrade will depend on how you feel about Apple Intelligence. Masu.
With that in mind, here’s everything you need to know about choosing between the Apple iPad mini 7 and iPad mini 6.
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iPad mini 7 and iPad mini 6: Pricing and availability
The new iPad mini 7 can be ordered from Apple or a supported retailer for a starting price of $499.
That’s the same price it would have cost to buy yourself an entry-level model of the old iPad mini 6, but it only came with 64 GB of storage. Apple’s iPadOS 18 operating system takes up a lot of space.
That’s why it’s a big deal that the entry-level iPad mini 7 comes with at least 128GB of storage space. Not only do you get twice the storage for the same $499 starting price, but you also get two new color options. Blue and purple iPad mini 7 models are now available in addition to the traditional Starlight and Space Gray.
iPad mini 7 and iPad mini 6: specs
| Header Cell – Column 0 | iPad mini 7 (2024) | iPad mini 6 (2021) |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | From $499 | From $499 |
| screen | 8.3 inch Liquid Retina (2266 x 1488 pixels) | 8.3 inch Liquid Retina (2266 x 1488 pixels) |
| chipset | A17 Probionic | A15 Bionic |
| storage options | 128GB, 256GB, 512GB | 64GB, 256GB |
| camera | 12MP wide camera, 12MP selfie camera | 12MP wide camera, 12MP selfie camera |
| color | blue, purple, starlight, space gray | starlight, space gray |
| wireless | Wi-Fi 6E, 5G | Wi-Fi6, 5G |
| size | 7.69 x 5.30 x 0.25 inches | 7.69 x 5.30 x 0.25 inches |
| weight | 0.65 pounds | 0.65 pounds |
iPad mini 7 and iPad mini 6: The biggest changes
A17 Pro performance improvements
The big upgrade Apple is giving the iPad mini 7 in 2024 is under the hood, and it’s called the A17 Pro.
It’s the same slice of Apple silicon found in the iPhone 15 Pro Max, a phone that can run games like Assassin’s Creed Mirage just fine.
A big reason for this is that the A17 Pro’s GPU has six cores. This is a small but significant upgrade compared to the A16’s five cores.
Apple claims the 17 Pro’s GPU is up to 20% faster than previous models, unlocking “new experiences” thanks to hardware-accelerated ray tracing support and custom shader architecture.
Simply put, the best iPad games optimized for the A17 Pro run much better on the new iPad mini 7 and iPad mini 6.
apple intelligence
A big part of the A17 Pro’s value is the fact that it supports Apple Intelligence features when it comes online with iPad OS 18, while the older A15 Bionic in iPad mini 6 does not.
Devices that support Apple Intelligence enable all sorts of small features, such as writing tools to generate or edit text, and photo upgrades that let you edit or search images using AI.
More features are likely to come in the future, including upgrades to Siri that will improve the reliability and functionality of your digital assistant. But with no release date in sight for Apple Intelligence, at the time you’re reading this you’ll have no idea how useful these features will be on the iPad mini 7, and if you’re ready to buy an iPad mini 6 with them. I’m not sure if it’s worth the cost savings.
Apple Pencil Pro support
Finally, the last big difference between the iPad mini 7 and iPad mini 6 is the fact that the older model doesn’t support the new Apple Pencil Pro ($129).
Pencil Pro launched earlier this year as a more premium version of the basic Apple Pencil, offering haptic feedback and support for new squeeze and barrel roll gestures.
Apps that support these features can respond when you squeeze or rotate the stylus, making editing tools easier or more natural to interact with.
So, while you can use your older USB-C Apple Pencil with your iPad mini 7 or mini 6, only newer models support the Apple Pencil Pro.
iPad mini 7 and iPad mini 6: Outlook
As you can see, the differences between the iPad mini 7 and iPad mini 6 are admirable, but cosmetically subtle. The new color scheme is great, as is the discontinuation of the woefully small 64GB storage option from the iPad mini line. It’s also worth noting that the new iPad mini 7’s Wi-Fi 6E connection is slightly faster.
However, iPad mini 6 owners don’t need to rush out to upgrade unless they want to check out Apple Intelligence as soon as it becomes available. And from what I’ve seen so far with early versions of iPadOS and macOS Sequoia, there’s no need to rush. Apple is taking a slow and steady approach to AI deployment.
