iPad Mini 7 Launches Tomorrow: Here Are 12 Changes to Know About
Earlier this month, Apple announced a new iPad mini for the first time in three years. Ahead of the device launching this Wednesday, we have outlined 12 new features and changes with the seventh-generation iPad mini compared to the previous model.
Here's everything new with the iPad mini 7:
- A17 Pro chip: Introduced in the iPhone 15 Pro models last year, the A17 Pro chip is now available in the iPad mini 7, although it has a 5-core GPU instead of a 6-core GPU. Apple says the iPad mini 7 offers up to 30% faster CPU performance compared to the previous iPad mini with the A15 Bionic chip.
- 8GB of RAM for Apple Intelligence support: The new iPad mini is compatible with Apple Intelligence, which will be available starting with iPadOS 18.1 next week. Geekbench results confirmed that the device is equipped with 8GB of RAM, the minimum requirement for Apple Intelligence. That's up from 4GB of RAM in the iPad mini 6.
- Apple Pencil Pro support: The new iPad mini is compatible with the Apple Pencil Pro.
- Apple Pencil hover: This feature lets you preview the Apple Pencil's stroke on the canvas before the accessory touches the screen.
- "Jelly scrolling" fixed? Most reviews said "jelly scrolling" is much less noticeable or fully absent on the new iPad mini, but one prominent technology website disagreed, so we await teardowns for further confirmation.
- Faster USB-C port: The USB-C port on the iPad mini 7 supports data transfer speeds of up to 10 Gbps, compared to 5 Gbps for the iPad mini 6.
- eSIM only: All cellular models of the iPad mini 7 lack a nano-SIM card slot worldwide and instead rely solely on digital eSIM technology.
- Wi-Fi 6E support: The new iPad mini supports the faster Wi-Fi 6E standard, which extends the capabilities of regular Wi-Fi 6 to the 6 GHz band. You will also need a router with Wi-Fi 6E support.
- Double the base storage: iPad mini now starts with 128GB of storage, compared to 64GB for the previous model.
- Final Cut Pro support: Final Cut Pro is compatible with the new iPad mini.
- Improved HDR photos: The new iPad mini supports "Smart HDR 4," whereas the previous model supports "Smart HDR 3." Apple says Smart HDR 4 makes photos look "even more detailed and vivid."
- "iPad mini" inscription: The new iPad mini has an "iPad mini" inscription on the back of device. Previous models of the device are inscribed with "iPad."
Popular Stories
Apple is planning to announce several new features for the Messages and Phone apps on iOS 26, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
In a lengthy report outlining his WWDC 2025 expectations today, Gurman said that the two main changes in the Messages app will be the ability to create polls, as well as the option to set a background image within a conversation.
9to5Mac was first to report...
While the so-called "iPhone 17 Air" is not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the ultra-thin device.
Overall, the iPhone 17 Air sounds like a mixed bag. While the device is expected to have an impressively thin and light design, rumors indicate it will have some compromises compared to iPhone 17 Pro models, including worse battery life, only a single ...
While the spotlight has been on CarPlay Ultra lately, the regular version of CarPlay is set to receive some enhancements alongside iOS 26.
Apple will announce iOS 26 at WWDC 2025 next week, and the software update is expected to upgrade the CarPlay experience in at least two ways.
The first iOS 26 beta should be seeded to developers shortly after Apple's keynote, and the update will...
The Apple Watch provides highly accurate measurements of heart rate and step count, but their estimates of calories burned can be significantly off, according to a new peer-reviewed meta-analysis conducted by researchers at the University of Mississippi (via CNET).
The study reviewed 56 previously published studies evaluating the Apple Watch's performance against gold-standard clinical tools ...
If the Mail app on your iPhone is not working lately, you are not alone.
A growing number of iPhone users are seeing a blank screen in the Mail app, according to comments posted across the MacRumors Forums, Reddit, Apple Support Community, and other online discussion platforms. Affected users are unable to view any emails in their inboxes, and the app can also become glitchy and...
In a lengthy report outlining his WWDC 2025 expectations today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman shared more details about iOS 26's rumored new design.
According to Gurman, iOS 26 will feature a "digital glass" design inspired by visionOS, the operating system for Apple's Vision Pro headset. That is a well-known rumor by now, but he goes on to provide some more specific details, as listed below:There ...
macOS 26 will drop support for several older Intel-based Mac models currently compatible with macOS Sequoia, according to a private account on X with a proven track record of leaking information about Apple's software platforms.
macOS 26 will be compatible with the following Mac models, the account said:MacBook Air (M1 and later)
MacBook Pro (2019 and later)
iMac (2020 and later)
Mac...
