Apple launches new iPad Mini with A17 Pro chipset, says it supports Pencil and is AI-ready

The buzz was growing strong that a new iPad mini is coming soon. And today it is here. Apple has launched the new iPad mini, globally as well as in India, with its price in India starting from Rs 49,900. Unlike the Air and the Pro variants of the iPad that use M series chipsets, the new iPad mini is powered by the A17 Pro, the same chipset that Apple used in the iPhone 15 Pro earlier. Apple says the the iPad mini is AI ready as well as supports Apple Pencil.
The refresh for the iPad mini was long overdue considering that the last one was launched in 2021. Consequently, the new iPad mini also seems like a big upgrade compared to its predecessor. Not only it has a much faster chipset but it also now starts with double the storage – 128GB – in its base variant.
“With the powerful A17 Pro chip, faster connectivity, and support for Apple Pencil Pro, the new iPad mini delivers the full iPad experience in our most portable design at an incredible value,” said Bob Borchers, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing.
In India Apple has launched its new iPad Mini with A17 Pro chip at a starting price of Rs 49900 for the Wi-Fi model, and Rs 64900 for the Wi-Fi + Cellular model. Users will be able to buy the new gen iPad mini in various storage options ranging from 128GB to 512GB, with special pricing available for students and educators. As for the colour options, the iPad Mini will be available in blue, purple, starlight, and space grey colour.
Preorders for the iPad mini are starting now. The sale will be live in stores and through authorised resellers starting October 23.
Given that the iPad mini was quite popular because of its handy size and lower weight, it is possible that with the new model Apple wants more of its customers to get on to its AI – aka Apple Intelligence – bandwagon. The AI features, which are going to be part of the iPadOS 18.1 that should start rolling out later this month.
The iPad mini is powered by the A17 Pro chip and it features an 8.3-inch Liquid Retina display. The weight of the new iPad is just around 290 grams, which is only 50 grams more than the weight of the iPhone 16 Pro Max. In terms of its design, Apple is following the flat sides and cleaner lines that it introduced earlier with the iPad Pro and the iPad Air.
Apple says that the A17 Pro chipset would allow the latest iPad mini to handle tasks that require high computing power, such as photo editing and immersive augmented reality (AR) applications, more seamlessly. The iPad mini with A17 Pro now also supports ray tracing in games, which enables more realistic lighting and reflections during gameplay.
As for the camera, the new iPad mini features a 12-megapixel wide rear camera. The front camera is also uses a 12 megapixel ultra-wide sensor that supports Center Stage, a feature that automatically adjusts the camera during video calls to keep the subject in the centre of the frame.