Apple slyly announces new iPad Mini variant with an A17 Pro and a storage upgrade

Apple has casually announced a new iPad Mini tablet with minimal fanfare. And no, it doesn't come with a mini LED screen as stated by previous rumours. Instead, it sticks to the time-tested 8-3.inch LCD panel found on 2021's iPad Mini. Additionally, its base storage is upgraded to 128 GB, like the new iPad Airs, which get a much-needed boost to 256 GB.

Prices start at $499 for the Wi-Fi model and $649 for the 5G version. Apple offers the new iPad Mini in four colourways: Blue, Purple, Starlight and Black. Other than the storage update, it also gets a USB-C port (10 Gbps) and a new Apple A17 Pro SoC at its core. However, it has to make do with the lower-binned 5-core GPU instead of the 6-core version found on the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max.

The upgraded SoC (and a stealthy RAM upgrade Apple refuses to talk about) allows Apple Intelligence to run on the tablet natively. Of course, not all the features will be available immediately at purchase. The new iPad Mini comes with iPadOS 18, allowing users to get a near iPad Air level of experience out of it. You can pre-order the new iPad Mini now and deliveries will commence tomorrow.