iPad mini is the iPad mini the last "high-end" device without an M1 chip?

[Pezimak]

I think you meant 8.4”.

lol yes I did.

 

[TinaBelcher]

Since we are placing bets, I am going to bet the Mini 7 has a version of the A17 and not the A18. If they fix the screen orientation controller or whatever it's called to address jelly scroll I will replace mine. If all they did was replace the screen I would replace mine. I sold my 5 as the 6 was on the way and first few minutes I was bummed. I still have it and use it daily but it's been the one thing I dislike from the beginning and I still see it. Everything else about my 6 covers my needs. I hope they retain the exact size too. It does not need to be any bigger.

Smaller bezels would’ve been nice, though.

 

[gsmornot]

Smaller bezels would’ve been nice, though.

That would be fine too. Keep the body size but push the screen to the edge like iPad Pro. I want the body the same so I can selfishly use my dash mount with the new model. My car does not have CarPlay so the Mini provides a similar function.

 

[TinaBelcher]

That would be fine too. Keep the body size but push the screen to the edge like iPad Pro. I want the body the same so I can selfishly use my dash mount with the new model. My car does not have CarPlay so the Mini provides a similar function.

i cannot wait to do this when I buy the mini! Can October Come any sooner!? I need to know if there’s gonna be a 7 or not this year so I can buy the 6 if not.

 

[jdb8167]

Since we are placing bets, I am going to bet the Mini 7 has a version of the A17 and not the A18.

Bad bet. It is very unlikely that Apple wants a SoC based on TSMC N3B which is what the A17 is built on for a device that they keep for 3+ years. N3B is a stop gap and is rapidly being phased out. It is going to be either an A18 or A18 Pro.

 

[Andy_2341]

for me, i look at a long term point where an apple Watch and an iPad Mini could represent all that i need from apple.
the Watch is more than capable of taking over from the iPhone for communications/payments/notifications. and the iPad Mini could be the only device i need to view things on a larger screen than the Watch can provide, including how well it works as a base computer to display on larger screens.

I had the exact same idea! If only Apple would allow it.

 

[Boil]

...an apple Watch and an iPad Mini could represent all that i need from apple.
the Watch is more than capable of taking over from the iPhone for communications/payments/notifications. and the iPad Mini could be the only device i need to view things on a larger screen than the Watch can provide, including how well it works as a base computer to display on larger screens.

I had the exact same idea! If only Apple would allow it.

100% this...!

 

[Cuesca]

I'm seeing videos on youtube that the 7 is being delayed until early 2025, and a 'rumor' of a Pro version. Honestly if there's an iPad besides the pro that deserves the 'Pro' moniker it's the Mini simply by the number of times I see one being used by:

Commercial pilots/Astronauts
Doctors
Architects/Construction crews

To me as a frequent flyer I've seen them often used by the pilots as well as the flight crew. That being said the ones I've seen is usually the last iteration of the Mini; the ones with the home buttons but on newer planes like the Boeing 777x or 737-Max it's either the Mini 6 or an iteration of the Pro being used. And I can see why, the portability of the Mini is a huge plus, it's probably the most versatile iPad Apple has atm replacing my Kindle.

I recently traded in my 6 for a 13 Pro M4, which I ended up returning. The tantem OLED is amazing and has caused me to change all of my monitors to OLED but it is just too big to lug around comfortably for me. That being said for the Mini I never really cared for the OLED screen or even the 120hz, I just wanted more battery life.

 

[gsmornot]

Bad bet. It is very unlikely that Apple wants a SoC based on TSMC N3B which is what the A17 is built on for a device that they keep for 3+ years. N3B is a stop gap and is rapidly being phased out. It is going to be either an A18 or A18 Pro.

Well, A17 it is.

 

[JPack]

Well, A17 it is.

Most people don’t seem to realize it’s a billion dollars for the development of the N3B chip that costs the most. Apple wants to recover that NRE cost by putting it in more products. The variable cost of 3nm wafers and extra EUV steps is nothing.

 

[stocklen]

I'm seeing videos on youtube that the 7 is being delayed until early 2025, and a 'rumor' of a Pro version. Honestly if there's an iPad besides the pro that deserves the 'Pro' moniker it's the Mini simply by the number of times I see one being used by:

Commercial pilots/Astronauts
Doctors
Architects/Construction crews

To me as a frequent flyer I've seen them often used by the pilots as well as the flight crew. That being said the ones I've seen is usually the last iteration of the Mini; the ones with the home buttons but on newer planes like the Boeing 777x or 737-Max it's either the Mini 6 or an iteration of the Pro being used. And I can see why, the portability of the Mini is a huge plus, it's probably the most versatile iPad Apple has atm replacing my Kindle.

I recently traded in my 6 for a 13 Pro M4, which I ended up returning. The tantem OLED is amazing and has caused me to change all of my monitors to OLED but it is just too big to lug around comfortably for me. That being said for the Mini I never really cared for the OLED screen or even the 120hz, I just wanted more battery life.

well that aged like milk

 

[jdb8167]

Well, A17 it is.

Yup. I was completely wrong. I guess the TSMC N3B node was less of a stopgap than previously reported.

 

[gsmornot]

Yup. I was completely wrong. I guess the TSMC N3B node was less of a stopgap than previously reported.

It's not like I knew anything, I was just placing my bet. I would have been happy to be wrong and thought I might be after you shared your view but anyhow, thats why the emoji has shades. It's all in good fun.

 

[jdb8167]

It's not like I knew anything, I was just placing my bet. I would have been happy to be wrong and thought I might be after you shared your view but anyhow, thats why the emoji has shades. It's all in good fun.

I think what happened is that the A17 Pro in the new iPad mini is binned with 5 GPU cores instead of 6. Because TSMC N3B yields were not great, Apple had a lot of binned A17 Pro chips available (no iPhone model used anything but full spec A17 Pro SoCs). The iPad mini is not a particularly high selling model so those binned SoCs will last through the end of life of the iPad mini 7. So Apple will still shutdown the N3B line very soon if they haven’t already.

 

[JPack]

I think what happened is that the A17 Pro in the new iPad mini is binned with 5 GPU cores instead of 6. Because TSMC N3B yields were not great, Apple had a lot of binned A17 Pro chips available (no iPhone model used anything but full spec A17 Pro SoCs). The iPad mini is not a particularly high selling model so those binned SoCs will last through the end of life of the iPad mini 7. So Apple will still shutdown the N3B line very soon if they haven’t already.

M3 iPad Air is still due next year. It costs nothing to keep the N3B "line" open. Only the variable costs apply. TSMC will happily make a run of 40nm chips if anybody asks for them.

Teardowns of the iPad mini 7 will tell us what week the chips are packaged. I suspect they will be new, not previously binned chips. Apple tuned down the GPU requirement and possibly clocks to reach higher yields.

In general, it doesn't make sense to stockpile chips. If errata are found, such as those related to security, Apple will need to make new masks and new chips. We know Apple goes back and does this. For example, in 2020, Apple went back to update A12 chips (originally launched 2018) to add Secure Storage Component 2.

 

[jdb8167]

M3 iPad Air is still due next year. It costs nothing to keep the N3B "line" open. Only the variable costs apply. TSMC will happily make a run of 40nm chips if anybody asks for them.

Teardowns of the iPad mini 7 will tell us what week the chips are packaged. I suspect they will be new, not previously binned chips. Apple tuned down the GPU requirement and possibly clocks to reach higher yields.

In general, it doesn't make sense to stockpile chips. If errata are found, such as those related to security, Apple will need to make new masks and new chips. We know Apple goes back and does this. For example, in 2020, Apple went back to update A12 chips (originally launched 2018) to add Secure Storage Component 2.

Well it’s not nothing. Multi-patterning takes significantly longer to produce and lower yields also cost money. There is no real reason to believe a M3 iPad Air is imminent.

 

[subjonas]

It's not like I knew anything, I was just placing my bet. I would have been happy to be wrong

This is irrelevant but kinda funny—my friend likes to bet against the team he’s rooting for, that way he wins either way. He also loses either way, but he only bets as much as he’s willing to pay to have his team win 😆.

 

[Homme]

Yes… it is the last of its kind iPhone, high end iPad ( even if the budget iPad gets the A18 or higher in the future since that just beats the M1 that iPad will forever never be high end), Mac, Vision Pro you name it

But giving it a pro chip gave it a huge difference over the Air lineup because it’s ANE is miles better than M2 and even M3 and is on par with the M4/A18’s ANE.

The Mini is a combination of Air and Pro. It should be renamed iPad Pro though because it looks more pro than the air ( for me it’s the flash camera)

 

[Treborray]

The iPad Mini would be awesome if it had an M series chip. I thinks its coming cause they arent going to leave it out in the cold

whenever they do this I will grab a mini for the first time

 

[Apple_Robert]

Why do so many here want an M chip in the mini? Is it for bragging rights? Putting the M chip in the mini would not really do much at all as to actual use.

 

[sparksd]

This is irrelevant but kinda funny—my friend likes to bet against the team he’s rooting for, that way he wins either way. He also loses either way, but he only bets as much as he’s willing to pay to have his team win 😆.

lol. Like being a pessimist - you're right a lot of time and when you're wrong, you're happy about it.

 

[Abstract]

Not sure why people are so fixated on the M1.

Do people know that the M1 is actually a lot slower (roughly 30%) than the A17 Pro for single-core processing?

The M1 is faster for multi-core, but only around 10-15% faster.

I really wish Apple put the A18 in it to really improve the battery life in the Mini (A17 Pro was not good in this regard), but as far as processing power is concerned, I’m pretty happy with the A17 Pro.

 

[TinaBelcher]

Not sure why people are so fixated on the M1.

Do people know that the M1 is actually a lot slower (roughly 30%) than the A17 Pro for single-core processing?

The M1 is faster for multi-core, but only around 10-15% faster.

Because we had hoped for stage manager when using with a monitor

 

[Abstract]

Ah, right.

I didn’t know people were hooking up the Mini to external monitors.

 

[snipr125]

Not sure why people are so fixated on the M1.

Do people know that the M1 is actually a lot slower (roughly 30%) than the A17 Pro for single-core processing?

The M1 is faster for multi-core, but only around 10-15% faster.

I really wish Apple put the A18 in it to really improve the battery life in the Mini (A17 Pro was not good in this regard), but as far as processing power is concerned, I’m pretty happy with the A17 Pro.

The battery life and heat issue with the A17 Pro was well blown out of proportion. The over heating was due to a version of ios 17 when the 15 Pro was released, but other iphone models were also heating up. After an update that heat issue was resolved completely, and i have had very good battery life on my 15 Pro, the Mini 7 has large battery so should be completely fine.