Apple on Tuesday presented a new version of the updated iPad mini for the Apple Intelligence period. The newcomer is powered by the company's A7 Professional chip, providing compatibility with Apple Intelligence, the company's new generative AI offering.
The new arrival marks the first major update to the 8.3-inch device since 2021. Meanwhile, the A17 Professional was announced last year and arrived on the iPhone 15 Professional. That premium device, in turn, became the first Apple phone to officially support Apple Intelligence. That changed with a September event, which brought the feature to the recently announced iPhone 16 lineup.
The A17 Professional has a six-core CPU with two performance and four efficiency cores and a five-core GPU. Both should offer significant performance improvements over the A16 Bionic that shipped with the 2021 model. The big news on this front, however, is the Neural Engine, which provides access to Apple Intelligence through iPadOS 18.
The new iPad starts at $499 for 128GB of storage, which is double what its predecessor had. Meanwhile, the iPad mini with cellular connectivity starts at $649. The tablet can be pre-ordered today and will begin shipping on October 23.
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