The new iPad mini 7 is a surprisingly small update – why is that?

Yesterday saw the announcement of the new iPad mini 7, and the biggest news here is that, three years after the launch of its predecessor, it’s not much of an upgrade.

It feels like Apple did pretty much the minimum necessary here, which includes using the oldest possible processor capable of running Apple Intelligence …

The new iPad mini 7 processor specs

We yesterday walked through the differences between the iPad mini 7 and its predecessor, starting with that processor – with the A17 Pro from last year’s iPhone 15 Pro models replacing the A15 Bionic, and seemingly a binned version at that.

Apple highlighted the differences between the two:

A17 Pro delivers a 30 percent boost in CPU performance. A17 Pro also brings a boost in graphics performance with a 5-core GPU, delivering a 25 percent jump over the previous generation.

But it seems clear that the goal here was to produce an iPad mini capable of running Apple Intelligence, and do no more than that. This does mean the device is virtually guaranteed to have 8GB RAM (up from 4GB), as that’s a requirement for AI, but it’s otherwise a very modest upgrade.

Other improvements

The new device supports Apple Pencil Hover, as well as wireless charging support for the Apple Pencil Pro.

There are some connectivity upgrades: 10Gbps USB-C connectivity (from 5Gbps), Wi-Fi 6E (versus Wi-Fi 6), and Bluetooth 5.3 (over 5.0), but none of these provide a compelling upgrade argument for most.

Perhaps the best thing outside of Apple Intelligence is a doubling of base storage from 64GB to 128GB for the same price, but that again feels like something Apple had to do by this point.

But it’s mostly the same device

The form factor is the same, bar a new (very muted) color, so it’s not smaller or lighter, nor does it have any design enhancements.

Battery life is unchanged.

The camera is the same, other than a tiny upgrade from Smart HDR 3 to 4. It’s also still on the short edge, though this is perhaps more understandable on a device which is most typically used in portrait orientation.

The display is completely unchanged: it’s the exact same 8.3-inch 2266 x 1488 pixel panel, with the same maximum brightness of 500 nits.

Why such a small upgrade?

There are a couple of possible explanations here, led by price.

Price, especially for the corporate market

The biggest market for the iPad mini is believed to be businesses, rather than consumers. The device has proven popular for tasks like warehouse inventory and digital menu pads for wait staff, where the compact size is key for something designed to be held in one hand.

This means price is key. While a consumer might look at more impressive upgrades and decide they are worth a price bump, businesses buy the devices in bulk, and even a small unit price increase can act as a significant barrier to purchase. The A17 Pro is a cheaper chip than an A18, or the M2 used in the iPad Air.

It’s also why Apple doesn’t change the form-factor lightly. It’s common for business users to use bulk charging stations, for example, as well as some mounting docks – and no business wants to have to replace these to accommodate a new device. This was likely the main reason Apple took so long to update the iPad mini to the modern all-screen format in the first place.

Supply and demand of A-series chips

Jason Snell has another theory about the A17 Pro chip: Apple may have had an excess supply of these sitting around, while it needs all the A18 chips it can get to meet iPhone 16 demand.

Apple ended up with excess A17 Pro chips after discontinuing the 15 Pro. [Or] these are all just binned versions (with five GPU cores instead of six) that didn’t make the cut for the iPhone and were sitting around to be repurposed in another product. [Or] Apple has a contract with TSMC that includes enough capacity for them to continue building this chip until that deal runs out. [Or] Apple didn’t want to divert any of a presumably limited quantity of fresh A18 chips to the iPad mini when it had iPhone 16s to build.

Snell also shares my view that this is something of a holding measure, and that there has to be a new new iPad mini in the works sooner rather than later. Apple can’t really keep this version on sale for another three years.

Should you buy one?

If you currently own the iPad mini 6, almost certainly not. The only real reason to upgrade is if you must have access to Apple Intelligence on the device, and you need it now.

That said, this alone could be reason enough for some. Not those who own any device already capable of running Apple Intelligence. If you own an iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 16; any M-series iPad; or any M-series Mac, then there’s likely no real reason to also want AI features on your iPad mini.

But if you don’t currently own an AI-capable device, then the iPad mini 7 does have one thing going for it: It’s now the cheapest Apple device giving access to Apple Intelligence. That might be its most compelling selling point.

Photo: Apple