The tech giant’s smallest tablet offers faster performance and enhanced creativity tools.
It goes without saying that every year, Apple’s latest releases grab the tip-top spot of millions of wish lists around the world. In the Philippines alone, Apple users are all thrilled to take hold of the AI-equipped iPhone 16 series announced last month.
Now fans of the US gadget giant are expected to make more room on their shopping list, as the company has just unveiled the iPad mini 7 which promises faster performance and Apple Intelligence features.
The new iPad mini, announced via press release on Tuesday, is beefed up with an A17 Pro processor, which is the same chip that powers the iPhone 15 Pro. It’s quite a huge jump from the Mini 6’s A15 Bionic SoC, as the A17 Pro is equipped with 30 percent faster 6-core CPU, 25 percent faster 5-core GPU, a Neural Engine that twice as fast as the previous model, and 25% faster graphics across apps and intensive AAA games.
Another big upgrade comes in the Mini 7’s support for Apple Intelligence, the tech giant’s new suite of artificial intelligence features which will begin rolling out in the iPhone 16 series, iPhone 15 Pro models, and any iPad or Mac with an M1 chip.
Apple Intelligence works with the tablet’s operating system, iPadOS 18, to understand personal context and “deliver intelligence that is helpful and relevant while protecting user privacy,” the company said. Apple Intelligence’s features include Writing Tools that can rewrite, proofread, and summarize texts in every app. In addition, Siri can now perform tasks with users typing them on the device instead of using voice prompts.
The system also allows you to easily create content for social media, as the Memories feature in the Photos app can now create movies with users just typing a description on it. Meanwhile, the new Clean Up tool promises to remove distracting objects in a photo’s background easily.
Other Apple Intelligence features coming to devices in the next months are the Image Playground which enables you to create playful images in Moments, Image Wand which turns a rough sketch into a polished image, Genmoji where you can create personalized emojis, and the integration of ChatGPT in Siri and Writing Tools.
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Artists can likewise make better use of the Mini 7 as it supports the new Apple Pencil Pro which turns the tablet into a portable sketchbook. With the stylus, you can scribble and write notes with fluidity and flexibility. The Smart Script feature will also refine your handwriting in real time and paste text from other apps into your own handwriting.
As for the cameras, the Mini 7 features the same 12MP wide-angle rear camera and 12MP selfie shooter as its predecessor. This time, though, the system is boosted with Smart HDR4 that creates “natural-looking photos with increased dynamic range” and enables you to scan documents without shadows.
Mini 7 is powered by an 8,827mAh battery which Apple says could last throughout the day. Its base model comes with 128GB of storage which is twice its predecessor’s 64 GB. In terms of connectivity, the Mini 7’s base model has a faster Wi-Fi 6E chip, while the Wi-Fi + Cellular model connects via Wi-Fi and 5G through an eSIM.
The new iPad mini comes in two new colors — blue and purple — in addition to Space Gray and Starlight. Its 128GB model is priced at P34,990, while the 256GB and 512GB variants will retail for P41,990 and P55,990 respectively. Pre-orders began on Oct. 15 in the US, with the models hitting shelves on Oct. 23. Apple has yet to announce Mini 7’s availability in the Philippines.
