Apple suddenly introduced a new iPad mini with an old design, a powerful chip and AI support

Apple unexpectedly published a press release announcing the updated iPad mini – the company did without a loud presentation. This is the first update to Apple’s smallest tablet since 2021 – the device retains the same design, but received new, more powerful hardware, including ray-traced graphics and an AI accelerator for Apple Intelligence.

Image source: apple.com

The updated iPad mini is mainly distinguished by improved technical characteristics: the tablet runs on the new A17 Pro chip, which has a 30% faster central processor (2 productive and 4 efficient cores), a 25% more productive 5-core graphics subsystem and twice as fast speed. compared to the previous Neural Engine model. The device supports the new Apple Pencil Pro stylus, which will please artists who use the iPad mini; and the minimum amount of built-in storage has increased from 64 to 128 GB – options with 256 and 512 GB are also available. A faster wireless chip with support for Wi-Fi 6E has appeared, and connections via the USB Type-C port have been accelerated. The range of colors has expanded – lilac and blue versions have appeared, but the colors are not as bright as those of the iPhone 16.

Retaining most of the functions, but improved technical characteristics makes sense: now the manufacturer is relying on the Apple Intelligence package of artificial intelligence functions – their support should be on almost every device in the line. In addition to a faster AI accelerator, hardware acceleration of ray tracing has appeared, which will have a beneficial effect on the quality of graphics in high-end games.

Apple’s iPad mini has always been something of an oddity in the company’s lineup alongside the iPhone SE: the device has fans who love it for its compact size, but the company has always noted that there aren’t very many of those fans, and most prefer a big screen to a small one.

This year, Apple refreshed the rest of its iPad lineup and slashed the price of the base model to $349, while the new iPad mini will start at $499 for the Wi-Fi-only model and $649 for the Wi-Fi and cellular option. The company, obviously, is not going to abandon this model, but it plans to support it at a slightly different pace compared to other tablets. Pre-orders have already started, and the updated iPad mini will go on sale next Wednesday, October 23.