Apple’s Latest iPad Mini Is a Small but Future-Proofed Update for the AI Future

The iPad Mini has always felt like an outlier in Apple’s iPad lineup. It doesn’t have all the bells and whistles like the iPad Pro, it’s not the cheapest iPad, and unlike the iPad Air, it’s a little too small to use for work. That size is its biggest strength though—if you really want a tiny tablet to tote around everywhere, the iPad Mini doesn’t have strong competition and remains the best. The latest iteration maintains that ethos and brings the tablet up to speed with Apple’s other new products: Apple Intelligence and Apple Pencil Pro.
With double the storage over its predecessor (128 GB), the seventh-generation iPad Mini retains its $499 price. That makes it the most affordable way to wade into Apple’s artificial intelligence features and the Pro stylus. (Fun fact: Apple seems to be stepping away from using “generations” to identify its iPads and is instead using processor names; not clunky at all.) There are a few questionable choices with this new iPad but none impact its overall usability. It’s still the same great tiny tablet we know and love, even if I’m not the target demographic. I use my iPad to watch too much TV, and this fun-sized screen is a little too small for my taste.
The sixth-generation iPad Mini from 2021 got a major makeover, shedding the home button and chunky bezels around the screen for the modern look we’re accustomed to today. Naturally, that means the seventh-gen iPad Mini looks virtually identical. It’s compact enough to use one-handed (great for reading ebooks!) and easily fits into bags big and small. I had no trouble with the 2K-resolution display, even when using the Mini outdoors—it gets plenty bright.
But I can’t talk about the iPad Mini display without going over the infamous “jelly scrolling” fiasco on the 2021 model. iPad Mini owners bemoaned that one side of the screen refreshed slower than the other when scrolling up and down on the display. I didn’t experience this with my Mini, but Apple did make it a point to optimize the LCD in the latest model to alleviate this issue. Apple was tight-lipped on exactly what it changed, but for what it’s worth, I once again have yet to see any problems on my test unit.
The display still has a 60-Hz refresh rate. (You can read more about what this means here, but a higher refresh rate makes everything on the display appear smoother; Apple calls this “ProMotion” on the iPad Pro.) This isn’t surprising considering the new iPhone 16 also didn’t get bumped to 120 Hz, but it’s frustrating, as most phones and tablets have 90- or 120-Hz panels at this price, like the OnePlus Pad 2. It would’ve been nice to see a 90-Hz refresh rate at the least.
Another thing that would’ve been nice? Moving the front camera to the center in landscape mode. This is now the only iPad in Apple’s lineup with an awkward left-side placement when holding the device in landscape orientation. This isn’t as big of a deal here since the Mini is so small that it’s often easier to use in portrait mode, and at the very least, you get access to Center Stage with the 12-megapixel camera, which automatically keeps you in the frame during video calls. Still, I didn’t like having to look off to the side on video calls.
The rear camera now supports Smart HDR 4, an updated image-processing algorithm that can detect and scan documents from the Camera app. I’ve been using this feature with the M4-powered iPad Pro a lot (previously I used the document scanner through the Notes app on my iPhone), so I appreciate that it’s now available on more iPads.
Sixth-gen cases will work with the seventh-gen iPad Mini, giving you lots of options in the accessory market. I’ve been using Apple’s official Smart Folio case ($59) for this model, and it works well to keep the slate propped up. But if you’re upgrading from an older iPad and have a second-gen Apple Pencil, bad news: You have to get the new Apple Pencil Pro because the tablet is not backward compatible with the second-gen Pencil. That means your old stylus is useless even if it works perfectly fine. Sell or give it to a friend instead of dooming it to the landfill!
I like the Pencil Pro mainly for its new “squeeze” capability that triggers the tool palette. It feels more intuitive than double-tap, especially while quickly jotting notes down. It also has a built-in gyroscope sensor, which lets you change the orientation of the tools as you twist them, giving you finer control. You could save some cash and get the Apple Pencil USB-C instead, which the iPad Mini also supports, but that model skips many important features like wireless charging, pressure sensitivity, double-tap, and squeeze.
The Pencil Pro often dips to $95 on Amazon, so the $26 difference is easily worth it. But it bears repeating: Would it have killed Apple to maintain second-gen Apple Pencil support?
Powering the iPad Mini is the A17 Pro, nearly the same processor as the one in the iPhone 15 Pro. Nearly. The chip inside the iPhone 15 Pro has a six-core CPU and six-core GPU, whereas the iPad Mini has a six-core CPU and five-core GPU. That means a small hit to graphics performance, but in reality, you’ll likely never notice this unless you’re playing the most graphically demanding games.
Not too long ago, I started reusing the older 2021 Mini (I needed a small tablet to watch TV on during a hospital stay with a family member), and honestly, I haven’t noticed a big leap in performance with the 2024 model—at least, with the everyday tasks most people are using these tablets for. I’ve used the seventh-gen Mini for note-taking, streaming Gilmore Girls in the background throughout the workday, checking emails when I don’t feel like grabbing my laptop, reading an ebook on the Kindle app, and watching YouTube videos. It can handle all of these tasks with ease.
It’s Apple Intelligence, coming in iOS 18.1, that will transform the experience, even if slightly. Apple’s artificial intelligence features include capabilities like a Clean Up Tool (to erase objects from the background in Apple Photos), Writing Tools (it proofreads your copy or changes the tone of your sentences), and audio transcribing services in the Notes and Voice Memos app. There’s more interesting stuff, like a ChatGPT integration within Siri, the Image Playground app to generate images, plus Genmoji, which lets you create new kinds of emojis, but these are coming at a later date.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t use Apple Intelligence because review units were running iOS 18.0, and Apple encouraged us not to update to the public beta version of iOS 18.1 (I imagine it’s very buggy). No matter, my colleague Julian Chokkattu already did a deeper dive into Apple Intelligence and its capabilities in his iPhone 16 Pro review, and the experience should largely be the same here. It’s worth noting that Apple will likely release iOS 18.1 next week, but these iPads ship on October 23 with iOS 18, so keep an eye out for the update very soon.
Anyone with a sixth-gen iPad Mini will find few reasons to upgrade to this 2024 model. If you are constantly downloading and playing the latest mobile games and could use the graphical boost, then sure. Or maybe you really want to try the new capabilities of the Pencil Pro. Apple Intelligence in its form doesn’t make this slate that much more enticing.
For newcomers or anyone with an older Mini, this is otherwise a great tiny tablet. With a modern chip that supports the latest software smarts and accessories, the iPad Mini has been future-proofed for the next few years.