After three long years, we finally have an update to YouTube’s favorite iPad, the iPad Mini. On first glance, this doesn’t seem like much of an update because it looks the same (which is really the only thing most reviewers care about). But just like a spec bump for a laptop, these internal changes end up being more impactful than you’d think.

External Changes

This refresh gives us a few updated colors. There’s a new blue color, which replaces pink, and a refreshed purple joining the existing Space Gray and Starlight (not Sliver).

Just like the rest of the iPad lineup, the inscription on the back of the device contains the model name instead of just “iPad”. Just in case you forget which iPad you own, I guess 🤷‍♂️.

The “jelly scrolling” effect that was noted on the Mini 6 may or may not be fixed. Supposedly, Apple flipped the display controller to the landscape side of the device instead of the portrait side, which somehow fixes the issue. Early reviewer reactions range from “no jelly scroll at all” to “the jelly scrolling is exactly the same as the last model”. Apple hasn’t made a comment on this, so we’ll have to wait for an iFixit teardown to be sure. I’ve never seen this effect on the Mini 6, and I don’t see it on the Mini 7, but at the same time, I don’t try very hard to see it. Very much willing to live in blissful ignorance here.

The USB port gets upgraded to support USB 3.1 Gen 2, which gives the Mini support for transfers up to 10 Gbps, up from 5 Gbps in the previous model.

The cameras are exactly the same, although it looks like we do get support for the improved document scanning capability that debuted in the 2024 iPad Pro. This combines multiple shots taken with the true tone flash with AI to improve the clarity of your scans.

Otherwise, the iPad Mini is largely unchanged on the outside. The screen size, screen technology and refresh rate are the same. There is no 120 hz support as many were hoping, and it thus far doesn’t seem to be on the horizon. Credible rumors suggest that the next big update we’ll get us OLED, but likely only at 60 hz. Maybe one day Apple will stop seeing a high refresh rate display as a “Pro” feature.

Internal changes

Things gets more interesting when we look at internal improvements. The new Mini receives the A17 Pro chip, last seen in 2023’s iPhone 15 Pro line. This yields some pretty impressive performance improvements over the previous chip, which is what you’d hope after three years.

The CPU is up to 30% faster, and the GPU is up to 25% faster, which should make pretty much everything more responsive. This is probably what I’m looking forward to the most, because the Mini 6 is conveniently just reaching the point where its starting to feel a little pokey for me, and I didn’t even update mine to iPadOS 18.

The updated GPU also gives Mini users access to hardware-accelerated ray tracing. I know a lot of people use the Mini as a portable gaming device, and the few games that implement ray tracing should look incredible, within the limitations of the display.

Its worth nothing that the version of the A17 Pro chip in the Mini is slightly downclocked, and has one less GPU core compared to the iPhone 15 Pro. I wish I could say I felt like this is a big deal, but even the “cut down” version of the A17 Pro is still a big upgrade over the A15 Bionic in the previous model.

Another huge update the new chip brings is double the amount of RAM, jumping from to 4 GB to 8 GB. This is apparently necessary for Apple Intelligence support, which unofficially seems to have a requirement of at least 8GB of RAM. Mini users really benefit here, because I imagine Apple would have kept it at 4GB if they could.

The updated chip also brings Smart HDR 4 for improved pictures from the 12 mp rear camera, There are seemingly no hardware changes to either camera.

Wireless Connectivity also gets improved with support for Bluetooth 5.3 and Wi-fi 6E, which is not the latest, but is a step up from Wi-fi 6 support on the Mini 6.

If you’re opting for the cellular model, like I did this time around, the Mini 7 is eSIM only, like the other recently updated iPads. There’s no more nano sim support, which is going to be a problem if you switch sims a lot. This is one of those areas where eSIMs should be more convenient, but really aren’t at all.

Apple Pencil Pro

The new Mini gets support for the Apple Pencil Pro. This brings along one of my favorite pencil features, Apple Pencil Hover, as well as the new features like Squeeze and Barrel Roll. Unfortunately, if you have an Apple Pencil 2 from the Mini 6, its not going to work here. In theory, this is because the magnet placement in the Pencil Pro necessitated repositioning the magnets in the iPad Mini. But since this iPad doesn’t get the repositioned front camera the larger models did (and I don’t think it should), it feels like Apple could have worked out a compatibility solution for the Pencil 2 if they really wanted.

Surprise! Final Cut Pro Support Is Here!

If want another demonstration of how much of a beast the A17 Pro is, look no further than the fact that the 2024 iPad Mini now supports Final Cut Pro. Arguably the most demanding of Apple’s Pro apps on iPadOS, it had been limited to M-Series iPads. I edited a small YouTube Short on it, and it was a bit cramped, but totally usable. Performance was in the ballpark of the M1 and M4 iPads I’ve been editing with, but I won’t really get a good feel until I edit something longer on it.

You wouldn’t be wrong to think that Final Cut support might mean opening up the Mini to more of pro capabilities of iPadOS. Alas, there’s no official support for either Stage Manager or proper external display use on this tiny tablet.

This iPad Could Be Great

The iPad Mini (A17 Pro) ends up being a good tablet overall, and the best small tablet on the market. But after three years, why isn’t this a bigger update? Its one thing to not expect much from a year over year upgrade, but with this long between revisions, you’d hope to see even more improvements.

Well, that’s because it didn’t have to be. The iPad mini essentially has no competition.

Amazon still has its Fire tablets that are around this size, and I think Lenovo has some smaller tablets they sell, but those products are geared toward being kids devices or portable televisions.

Between the grunt of the A17 Pro, the capabilities of iPadOS, and the massive ecosystem of iPad apps, there are some people that could make the iPad mini a primary device. Or maybe their only primary device. And you can’t say that about those other tablets. The iPad mini is still the best small tablet you can buy.

Having no real competition lets Apple get away with not doing much. It lets them get away with using an LCD display of this quality vs. any newer technology. Its lets them get away with delivering a 60hz display instead of something with ProMotion. It lets them get away with not including Face ID. Apple doesn’t have to try very hard with the iPad mini, and it’s still the best small tablet you can buy. And it turns out, when you don’t have to try very hard to win, sometimes you don’t.

Final Thoughts

There’s actually more to this update that you’d think looking at it. The internal updates are pretty significant for the Mini. I continue to maintain that the lower end of the iPad line needs to significantly bumped up if we want to see more Pro apps. This has largely happened for the Mini, but we are still waiting on a similar update for the base iPad (hopefully in 2025).

Many continue to wish Apple would consider the idea of an iPad Mini Pro had all of the features of the Pro like and OLED display, and ProMotion. I do wonder how many Pro users would actually opt for a machine smaller than the 11 inch Pro. I can’t think of too many workflows that would be any better on a display that tiny.

If you’re looking to upgrade from the iPad Mini 6, you’re likely better off waiting for the next upgrade, assuming the battery in your current iPad is still serving you well. But if you’re looking to downsize your iPad, or pick up your first iPad, the iPad Mini (A17 Pro) is certainly worth considering.