Built for Apple Intelligence: Four major upgrades in the new iPad mini

Apple has released the latest generation of the iPad mini, marking its first update since 2021. This upgrade primarily focuses on supporting the new Apple Intelligence features and is powered by the A17 Pro chip, also used in the iPhone 15 Pro series. According to reports from media outlets including 9to5Mac and Apple Insider, the iPad mini 7's upgrades allow it to support Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3.

Apple also announced that the new iPad mini supports the Apple Pencil Pro and the Apple Pencil (USB-C), but not the Apple Pencil 2. The device now features Pencil Hover, a capability first introduced with the M2 version of the iPad Pro, enabling various new gesture functions even without the pencil tip touching the screen. This report provides a comparative analysis between the new model and its predecessor.

Dimensions and weight

The new iPad mini's appearance remains largely unchanged from its predecessor, measuring 195.4mm in length, 134.8mm in width, and 6.3mm in thickness. It weighs 293g (Wi-Fi version) and 297g (Wi-Fi + Cellular version).

Display

The new iPad mini features an 8.3-inch Liquid Retina display with a resolution of 2,266 x 1,488 pixels at 326 ppi. Unlike the iPad Pro, it does not utilize OLED technology, maintaining a brightness level of 500 nits without high-end XDR brightness effects. However, it still provides P3 wide color and True Tone technology.

Cameras

The new generation product retains the 12MP wide main camera, featuring an f/1.8 aperture, 5x digital zoom, and True Tone flash. It supports 4K video recording at 60 fps and 1080p slow-motion recording at 240 fps. The front camera also has a 12MP ultra-wide lens, supporting Center Stage automatic framing, making it suitable for video calls. Compared to the previous generation's Smart HDR 3, the new model upgrades to Smart HDR 4, offering improved photo HDR performance.

Processor performance

The previous generation was powered by the A15 Bionic chip, which features a 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, and a 16-core neural engine (NPU) capable of executing 15.8 trillion operations per second.

The new iPad mini adopts the same A17 Pro chip found in the iPhone 15 Pro series, also featuring a 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, and 16-core NPU, but with performance improvements of 30% and 25%, respectively. The upgraded NPU can execute 35 trillion operations per second, enhancing support for Apple Intelligence.

According to Geekbench, the 6th generation iPad mini scored 2,120 in single-core and 5,370 in multi-core tests, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro Max scored 2,879 and 7,135, respectively (the 7th generation iPad mini currently lacks benchmark data).

Connectivity

The new generation iPad mini supports wireless connectivity up to Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3, but cellular connectivity remains limited to Sub-6GHz 5G. The USB Type-C connection speed has increased to 10 Gbps and supports 4K 60Hz display output. Unlike the previous generation, the iPad mini no longer supports physical SIM cards, only e-SIM.

Other notable aspects include the continued use of Touch ID instead of Face ID, audio support through a dual-speaker design, and the retention of the 19.3Wh lithium polymer battery capacity, enabling up to 10 hours of web browsing and video playback.

In conclusion, while the 7th-generation iPad mini shows minimal changes in appearance, its performance has significantly improved, particularly with support for Apple Intelligence. This marks the first update in three years, making it a worthwhile upgrade option for most users.

Source: Apple, Apple Insider, compiled by DIGITIMES (October 2024)