iPad mini iPad Mini 7 - Biggest Internal Upgrade Launched Quietly

[AppliedMicro]

„So how much do you want me to mute the hues on our new colour picks for the mini, boss?“

„Yes!“

 

[thadoggfather]

„So how much do you want me mute the hues on our new ‘mini colours, boss?“

„Yes!“

It is genuinely impressive

 

[ThunderSkunk]

No 120 display, no sim, sardine can design, 30% price increase since Mini 5.

Mini5 stays.

 

[jwolf6589]

Apple has released new iPad Mini 7; it seems no changes in outlook design but the real upgrades are the doubling of RAM and storage capacity at the same SRP. That's why Apple is not making any event for iPad Mini 7 cause the deal is too good for consumers not shareholders.

We have been waiting for Apple to upgrade the base 4+64 to 8+128 and finally.....

We should turn to upcoming iPad 11th gen, which SoC should/would Apple choose with AI capability? M1 or ?

Happy with my Mini 6. However in due time Apple will release a iPad OS that slows it down so much I am forced to upgrade.

 

[lindros2]

I had to buy a new USB-C pencil for my M4 iPad … same dumb thing as mini 7.

 

[TigeRick]

Happy with my Mini 6. However in due time Apple will release a iPad OS that slows it down so much I am forced to upgrade.

Yep, iPad Mini 7 provides much longetivity due to 8GB memory and 128GB storage... And if iPad 11th comes with M1 featuring 8GB RAM and 128GB? as well, Apple would certainly raise the minimum requirement of iPadOS to 8GB...can't wait for iPadOS's advancement in the future

 

[TopWhiteboard]

I suspect the answer to this will be no, but does anyone know if the new specs will be enough to justify an extended desktop when plugging the Mini 7 into an external monitor? At the moment it will duplicate the display, and only the M-Series iPads can use the extra monitor space for an extended display.

 

[Moukee]

I’m so glad they finally put it out, so I can order one.
but seriously, what is THIS!? space grey gets black, blue gets blue, purple gets purple… but starlight gets a …. GREEN folio!? Why? i kinda like the color itself, but not for a folio! Why not make a stone colored folio? That would’ve looked nice and helped with the stains the white usually gets after a while… also, does the old folios not support the new mini? They’re externally the same iPad. But on apples website here branded as the “A17 Pro” folio…

View attachment 2437786

The "old" folio is still available and both list both the iPad mini from 2021 and this new one as compatible. They're probably identical, just in different colors.

Would've been nice to see the iPad itself come in a green finish similar to this folio.

I had the starlight iPad mini on preorder with this folio, but switched to blue with the blue folio.

 

[BeatCrazy]

I have the 64gb and it’s almost unusable for anything but web browsing. Unless you turn off Photos and iMessage. Even Notes takes up too much room for such a measly storage. Should have returned it right away but it just felt odd to spend so much more on a tiny extra bit of storage. Lesson learned.

Apple devices are almost all great but maxing out the storage makes them so much more usable. It’s always been the problem in a way. The old iMac with the Fusion Drive was the worst thing they ever made. SSD’s changed everything. The stinginess on storage is gross but there’s nothing that can be done about it, except vent on macrumors every few months. That’s working out ok for me tbh.

Hogwash! I have a iPad 8th generation with 32GB of storage, and it needs >12GB free space just for OTA iPadOS updates! Consider the existing OS and System takes up ~14GB, you can't have hardly anything on the thing if you want OTA updates. iCloud storage/offload doesn't even help with Photos, Messages, etc.

 

[Darren.h]

I wander if all the M4 Macs will just be a press release?

Course the M4 Mac mini is the only completely redesigned product.

 

[SamRyouji]

Apple has released new iPad Mini 7; it seems no changes in outlook design but the real upgrades are the doubling of RAM and storage capacity at the same SRP. That's why Apple is not making any event for iPad Mini 7 cause the deal is too good for consumers not shareholders.

We have been waiting for Apple to upgrade the base 4+64 to 8+128 and finally.....

We should turn to upcoming iPad 11th gen, which SoC should/would Apple choose with AI capability? M1 or ?

It might be the same as iPad mini: A17 Pro with 8GB of RAM. The storage? It might be starting at 128GB or stay at measly 64GB.
.
Apple indeed wants everyone to jump into Apple Intelligence bandwagon. I believe that move has caused an internal "turmoil" by having all their products sit dangerously close to each other (low and mid range product lines both have 8GB of RAM + 128GB of base storage at different price with very similar performance)

From my perspective, if Apple put A17 Pro with 128GB as base, that would easily eats up and cannibalised iPad Air as they both have same 60Hz screen, storage base and same-ish everything. A17 Pro could easily handle that as the M2 is a bit overkill.
.
On the most extreme case, I imagined that iPad Air and iPad will be merged into one single product category, slotted just $50 cheaper or the same as iPad mini in the future.

 

[Ctrlos]

The amount of negativity over on The Verge for this is astounding. Thick bezels? You need something to hold on to. No M1? That's older than the A17Pro. No 120hz? Have you seen iOS lately.

I think they knocked it out of the park on this one to the point that I'd buy one over an iPhone 16 upgrade because it's infinitely more useful.

Set up a 4G Watch, carry the iPad Mini and leave the phone in a drawer. That's the fricking dream.

 

[Pbwallstreet]

Hope they fix the jelly scroll.

Ya me too. Also, it's funny when it comes to ProMotion... I have the M4 MacBook Air... and it doesn't have the ProMotion display. But I don't notice it too much like I do on iPads. iOS is more noticeable as there is a lot of touching and regular animations on the screen compared to using MacOS.

 

[LevorgPenmancho]

But they accidentally added a camera bump to a device they’re selling as a notepad.

 

[Aka757]

Ya me too. Also, it's funny when it comes to ProMotion... I have the M4 MacBook Air... and it doesn't have the ProMotion display. But I don't notice it too much like I do on iPads. iOS is more noticeable as there is a lot of touching and regular animations on the screen compared to using MacOS.

I have noticed this too. I feel it has something to do with the quality of the mini-LED displays on the MacBooks. While the colors are pretty good, it feels like the ghosting on them is pretty bad (plus the regular LCD displays are really good for what they are), so the difference between the Pro and Air displays isn’t as noticeable on Macs than it is on iPads or iPhones.

 

[Moukee]

No M1? That's older than the A17Pro.

The M1 is also the slowest chip to even support Apple Intelligence in terms of its NPU. It has 11 TOPS. The M2's NPU has 15.8 TOPS. The A17 Pro has 35 TOPS, just like the A18 and A18 Pro. Only the M4 is slightly faster on that front, with 38 TOPS.

So the A17 Pro is one of the top choices for Apple Intelligence, and even in single core it's faster than the M1 and M2. So for everyday usage, it's likely the better choice. The M2 then obviously beats it in all-core workloads and also on the GPU side (except for the lack of hardware-accelerated ray tracing), and it has features like "Virtual Memory Swap" (used by Stage Manager) that the A17 Pro lacks (although I'm not sure how this is so special that it's a "hardware" feature, but that's at least Apple's excuse why Stage Manager with external displays requires an M chip).

So I'm honestly fine with it being the A17 Pro, even though the speculation that this is because Apple has a bunch of lower-grade (binned) A17 Pro's sitting around doesn't 100% sit right with me when the device is as expensive as it is.

I'm not worried about "overheating" either. Some people seem to associate the A17 Pro with overheating as the iPhone 15 Pro (with the A17 Pro) had some issues during launch (and probably still is one of the hotter phones), it's still a more efficient chip than all of its predecessors, and the physically larger iPad mini will help with heat dissipation. Also, "hot" != "overheating".

 

[Ctrlos]

The M1 is also the slowest chip to even support Apple Intelligence in terms of its NPU. It has 11 TOPS. The M2's NPU has 15.8 TOPS. The A17 Pro has 35 TOPS, just like the A18 and A18 Pro. Only the M4 is slightly faster on that front, with 38 TOPS.

So the A17 Pro is one of the top choices for Apple Intelligence, and even in single core it's faster than the M1 and M2. So for everyday usage, it's likely the better choice. The M2 then obviously beats it in all-core workloads and also on the GPU side (except for the lack of hardware-accelerated ray tracing), and it has features like "Virtual Memory Swap" (used by Stage Manager) that the A17 Pro lacks (although I'm not sure how this is so special that it's a "hardware" feature, but that's at least Apple's excuse why Stage Manager with external displays requires an M chip).

So I'm honestly fine with it being the A17 Pro, even though the speculation that this is because Apple has a bunch of lower-grade (binned) A17 Pro's sitting around doesn't 100% sit right with me when the device is as expensive as it is.

I'm not worried about "overheating" either. Some people seem to associate the A17 Pro with overheating as the iPhone 15 Pro (with the A17 Pro) had some issues during launch (and probably still is one of the hotter phones), it's still a more efficient chip than all of its predecessors, and the physically larger iPad mini will help with heat dissipation. Also, "hot" != "overheating".

Nail on the head, friend.

Its also an iPad. Present an average person with an A12Z iPad Pro and an M4 iPad Pro and with 99% of tasks they'd struggle to notice any difference at all.

 

[S.B.G]

Please continue discussion in news thread.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/apple-unveils-new-ipad-mini-with-a17-pro-chip-and-apple-intelligence.2440111/