iPad mini (A17 Pro) Review: Do we really need it?

By Sagar

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iPad mini A17 Pro Review

iPad mini 7th generation

Apple iPad mini 7 or iPad mini 2024 or iPad mini (A17 Pro) was recently announced by Apple in a press release, and users can buy from Flipkart in India. It has the same design, shape, and size with new hardware, which is the iPhone 15 Pro chipset A17 Pro inside the iPad Mini 2024.

Why has Apple silently announced the iPad Mini 7th generation? Apple has introduced two new features. Both the new Apple Pencil Pro and the Apple Pencil USB-C, which is essentially an Apple Pencil gen 1 with a USB C connector for charging and does away with the bothersome dongles, are incompatible with the new iPad mini.

The biggest upgrade we see in the iPad mini is the processor; this time Apple used the A17 Pro chipset for the iPad mini 2024 (7th generation), which was earlier used in the iPhone 15 Pro. This is great news for users, as A17 Pro will support all Apple Intelligence features, and soon it will be available to iPad Mini via update.

Read the whole iPad mini A17 Pro Review and lets see if there’s anything unique about it.

iPad mini (2024) Specs

Unfortunately, the new iPad mini does not include an AMOLED display. Instead, Apple opted for an IPS LCD panel, which is a poor decision given that we are in 2024 and everyone knows how crucial a display is. Users can also guess what might be the refresh rate; just close your eyes and guess, and guess what you are right, it has a 60Hz refresh rate. The same is with the iPhone 15 and 16. Other than that, it has 327PPI with wide color P3 support.

The new iPad Mini 7th Gen is powered by an Apple A17 Pro chipset, which is a 3nm-based chipset and has a clock speed of around 3.78 Hz. Out of the box, we get iPadOS 18 and soon users will get Apple intelligence features thanks to the A17 Pro chipset.

Itย featuresย aย singleย 12MPย cameraย onย theย backย thatย canย recordย videosย atย 4K@24/25/30/60ย framesย perย secondย andย 1080p@25/30/60/120/240ย framesย perย second.ย Theย frontย camera,ย oftenย knownย asย theย selfieย camera,ย isย alsoย 12MPย andย isย anย ultrawideย cameraย thatย canย recordย atย upย toย 1080p@25/30/60ย framesย perย second.

The iPad has same battery as iPad mini 2021 which is 5078mAh, it is almost identical to previous iPad mini the only difference is the new chipset. It supports 20W wired charging and it does not support wireless charging.

iPad mini 7 Design and Displayย 

Prior to a few years ago, iPads featured buttons; however, they now have an all-screen design with no buttons. Even if you choose the least costly model, you’ll still get the feeling that it’s a modern iPad from the same line as the pros since the lineup is constant. It appears to be a scaled-down iPad Air.

It weighs about 293 g (Wi-Fi), has a compact, thin body, and feels light in your palm. Aluminum, which is already used in other Apple products, makes up the body and frame. However, titanium frames are used in select Apple iPhone Pro models. Artists who wish to use the iPad mini for sketching and graphic design on the road will value its professional features, such as a P3 wide color gamut. Naturally, iPadOS comes with the standard color temperature settings, True Tone and Night Shift, which you may turn on for more comfortable viewing and reading.

iPad mini A17 Pro Camera

Tablets are not made for taking photos; the iPad Mini comes with a 12 MP primary camera, and it takes decent photos. Tablet cameras are mainly used for scanning documents. The photos come out decent and don’t have detailing if you zoom. On the other hand, it has a 12 MP ultra-wide selfie camera, which is mainly for video calling. Apple’s software allows the camera to follow you by automatically panning and zooming in and out when two faces appear in the picture. We enjoy using it since it keeps you from being confined to one uncomfortable location throughout a lengthy discussion, which makes it very amazing.

It also has voice isolation mode, which clears up background noise, and users can hear voice clearly without any external noise.

iPad mini A17 Pro Performanceย 

The iPad mini is powered by the A17 Pro chipset, which was used in the last year’s iPhone Pro model, and does support Apple intelligence. Apple launched the iPad mini because they want to release Apple intelligence for iPads. Right now, not all Apple processors support Apple Intelligence. Naturally, the A17 Pro version includes the Image Playground, ChatGPT integration, Clean Up in Photos for generative object deletion, and text support with AI spellchecking, reply generation, and email rephrasing.

Apple also made a smart move by using the A17 Pro; we all know how powerful the chipset is. With this new chipset, the new iPad Mini 2024 can run console-like games, and right now only a few games are supported, like Assassin’s Creed, Resident Evil, and Death Stranding. Now iPad Mini 2024 is directly in competition with Steam Deck, ROG Ally, and Nintendo Switch, though they support more games than iPad Mini, but in the future, iPad will support more console games.

The iPad mini may be used as a portable game console, a tiny drawing device, and an e-book reader thanks to iPadOS support for third-party controllers.

Also Read: Bixby voice assistant with AI capabilities

Also Read: Apple Intelligence: iPhone 16 AI Features and Supported devices

iPad mini A17 Pro Software

iPadOS, which is essentially iOS with some added capabilities like split-screen viewing and Apple Pencil compatibility, comes pre-installed on iPads. To get all these features update your iPad to iPadOS 18.1.

Users have been pleading for certain customization choices for years, and the iPadOS 18.1 finally provided them. Specifically, you can now customize how your home screen looks. App icons can be placed wherever; they don’t have to be in rows.

The Control Center may also have additional screens and panels added, which is really a little perplexing because we believe that most users would remain with the original Control Center and not play about with it too much. Users can also set app icons to monochrome look with this new update.

With the latest iPadOS 18.1 users will experience new AI features. A lot of features will be coming next month with the iPadOS 18.2 update. In iPadOS 18.1 we get few AI features, and most of them are related to text, like reply generation, spell check, changing tone of email, etc. Just like Google Magic Eraser, Apple came with a different name but does the same thing, which is the Clean Up tool, which can delete objects or people with the use of Apple Intelligence. This AI will also add or regenerate the background.

iPad mini A17 Pro Battery

The iPad mini battery capacity is 5078mAh which is not that big but compared to other tablets in the market like Google Pixel tablet and Galaxy Tab S9. They have more battery capacity but iPad mini performs better than both of them. Google Pixel Tablet has 7020mAh battery and Galaxy Tab S9 has 8400mAh battery capacity.

It does not have fast charging so for 30 mins charging you will charge up to 20% with 45W charger.

Verdict

For a very certain kind of user, the iPad mini is a pretty specialized gadget. It’s a high-end iPad that has been downsized for individuals who want such a little tablet, not an iPad that has been made smaller to save money.

To put it another way, you most likely have your mind set on it if you are among those who might find use for it. Actually, it’s likely that you have a sixth-generation iPad mini. Is this one superior and worthwhile? If you want to accomplish it on a small screen, it will undoubtedly work well using Final Cut and Logic for iPad.ย  With AI built into Apple Notes and the new Apple Pencil Proย  they may also anticipate some further value.

Users can buy iPad mini 2024 from Amazon page

Prices– 8GB/128GBย  $499ย  ย  ย ย  โ‚น49,900

ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  8GB/256GBย  $599ย  ย  ย  ย โ‚น59,900

ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  8GB/512GBย  $799ย  ย  ย  ย โ‚น78,099

Sagar

I am an tech enthusiast. Here on this website, I share my unbiased reviews on products. Techdroit360 is a site that offers news about smartphones and technology, including the most recent advancements in the PC and mobile sectors. Reviews for mobile devices are included in this as well.

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