I Ordered the NEW iPad mini A17 Pro So YOU Don't Have to.

Apple dropped the new iPad mini 7th gen without fanfare, and it’s the only A17 Pro powered iPad that exists. And I’ve ordered one. But why???

iPad mini, the first generation was my first iPad. And I still have it. And honestly, probably still a great form factor for an iPad. If you want a big screen, and you’re not doing art, the MacBook is a better cal in most circumstances. But iPad mini as a notepad and pocket computer? I don’t think it can be beaten.

Now this is not the iPad mini I was hoping for. I 100% think Apple has dropped the ball here. And to know why, we HAVE to look at the iPad landscape it’s coming into.

And no, I wasn’t hoping for an iPad mini Pro, I don’t care about the refresh rate going above 60hz, and neither do 90% of the potential buyers. It just doesn’t matter to most people, regardless of what the people commenting on a tech video think.

I’m not going to lie, I was on the fence. Should I just get the last generation iPad mini, or wait for this. Then, Apple didn’t make it a clean and clear yes to the new one.

I thought we’d get M2, and I know that’s not what people expected but hear me out. The 11” iPad with M2 is 599. The 13” with M2 is 799. Make the iPad mini a 9” Air and 499 is overpriced if anything, all else being equal. And it is. 128gb storage. Laminated display. TouchID. Yet, Mini gets an iPhone chip, which most expected, but why? I mean, I’m not gonna multi task… but can I run Final Cut or logic? Unclear. But from the looks of things, Logic yes, Final Cut, sadly no. And regardless of whether I could or not, I’d certainly not be using the car crash that is Stage Manager.

I’ll get Apple intelligence, but will I get iPhone 16 level Apple intelligence? The visual intelligence features? Will that come on the similarly priced iPhone SE4 which will be smaller, have a probably better camera, and A18? Or will that get A17 Pro too if Apple can still make it? Or are they making A17 Pro on a different node but calling it that do marketing reasons? There are so many questions. And that’s probably a question that will have to wait until iFixit or the like get their hands on one and pull it apart.

Should I even be buying this? I genuinely don’t know. But buying a used last gen model would give a 2 year older chip without Apple Intelligence, and half the storage, forgetting the fact that the battery will be in less optimum shape compared to a new one. At the same time, A17 is presumably around the performance of M3 assuming they’re still producing it on the same node as A17 Pro from last year’s iPhone 15 Pro, so for most of what you’d do on an iPad it’s probably faster for 95% of tasks, if you’re not using it for video exports and heavy multithreaded workflows.

Would I love to try some Final Cur Pro on iPad mini? Yes. Will likely not being able to really matter? No, there’s always things like LumaFusion or CapCut that can fill the gap.

Right now I use iPad for watching YouTube, reading books and referencing music during singing rehearsals, and for that, iPad mini will be just as good as the first gen, 11year old first generation iPad Air I’m using for those things right now. But I’m hoping I can also use it for gaming, art, as a decent 2nd camera or filming monitor, web browser and a bunch of other stuff too. And if I can, amazing, it’s fully worthwhile. So stick around to see how we get on, and what else we’re expecting from Apple on the Mac side of things in the coming months. It’s the first time I’m not really sure if it’s a good purchase - the smallest iPad alongside the biggest iPhone in the same year, so interested to hear your thought.

Thanks for staying all the way to the end, and thanks to all my very generous, and attractive patreons. Look how pretty they all are.

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Join the conversation

[michaelwoolcock]

I will be ordering one! I have been waiting to upgrade my mini 4. Though I feel bad for peeps that recently paid 499.00 for the 64 gig mini 6. P.S. the mini 6 case is on eBay for 25.00. It is compatible with the mini 7. Bought a new one in burnt orange before people twig and the prices shoot up!

[pug_]

Currently using the 5th Gen (originally released in March 2019), so definitely upgrading to the 7th. The lack of Pro Motion means I can buy the regular iPhone 16 - or 17, if I decide to hold off upgrading my 13 Mini. I was originally looking at getting the 15 or 16 Pro, if the iPad Mini didn’t get a refresh this year.

Thanks for the content.

[TheTekEffect]

Smaller bezels, and I'll pick one up.

[Evan_Rodgers]

IMO this is the Perfect time to buy an iPad mini. That beauty is going to last you many many years with the additions of 128Gb base storage, 3nm SOC, and Apple Pencil Pro support.

[darkguardian]

I usually update to the last gen iPads but iPad 6 is three years old...
I'm force to have to go to a 7 so next year after tax refunds.

[Tiffs-bookshelf]

I am sticking with my iPad mini 6, ive had it for 3 years and love it. no reason for me to upgrade at this point. I may in the future if my mini 6 goes bad, otherwise, mini 8 will definitely upgrade. I am planning to upgrade my phone next cycle to the 17 PM.

[iconredesign]

Unfortunately there isn't nearly as many of us for the Apple bean counters to finally put an OLED display in this thing, I love the size so much

[daisyintherain]

I’ve been waiting to hear what you thought before taking the plunge, Dave. This will be a replacement for my iPad mini 2 and iPad Air 5, which sadly expired with black screen syndrome. Hope hall is well with you and yours 😊

[Evan_Rodgers]

I suspect the mini doesn’t have the thermal capacity for M2

[Regantdarcy]

I have an iPad Pro for my main content creation & media consumption device at home. But I have an Pad mini as a digital sketchbook when I am on the go and want to travel light. Been waiting over 3 yrs for this update. Sure I would have loved face ID, a 120hz pro motion display, and an M2 chip…but I still love this update and will be getting the blue wifi cellular model with 512 gigs of memory. I think the M2 chip would be too hot for such a small iPad. An A18 Pro chip woulda been nice, but the A17Pro is still plenty fast.

[darkguardian]

I still have my iPad Mini 2 and it still works for Kindle and Good Reader PDF. Music and my vids... about it.

[techhubwiltsuk]

Cool opinions and video buddy. I think this is as good as this iPad mini is gonna get. I have ordered the cellular version for the first time of an iPad because of how portable this is. It’s annoying it’s esim only but luckily, I am with Sky mobile and I can convert my Sim plan to eSIM and use my piggy bank of data

[alexanderguerra]

Just get the 11 iPad Pro m4 … perfect for everything and then some !!

[movdqa]

Will be ordering one next week. Only decision is 256 GB or 512 GB. Also Apple Pencil 2. It would be nice if they made a keyboard case but they don't. Also need a phone for my wife and we're thinking SE4 next year. She needs a new battery after 18 months and I think that the CPU in her phone is just too inefficient to do normal stuff which is why she's wearing it out so fast. I'll give her my iPhone 7S or replace the battery one more time and then upgrade her next year. I'm still happy with my iPhone 13 mini but getting USB-C charging would be nice as it would mean not having to carry two sets of cables.

[Denvermorgan]

I thought I would add a comment if you run geek bench on your on your iPhone 15 pro it’s nearly equal to the M2 it actually beats the M2 in single core performance and almost equal it in multi core…let that sink inn.

[Denvermorgan]

I was hoping for M2 but it’s still a chip that can run AAA games…

[lavelezjr]

Since I don't have an iphone I am getting the new mini this month.

[stpav]

The air is 650$ and doesn’t have 120hz!! So why the 500$ would have one?

[akmgamingnicky]

It would been better to have 120 hz or even 90hz

[NetvoTV]

Hey Dave, my name is Johnny and I'm a freelance logo designer, I think I contacted you before but I have a really fun logo idea that match our brand name exactly and literally, i(Apple), Cave, and Dave, I think it will make your logo has more personality and giving it more approachable and friendly look to welcome more new viewers to click in, can you give this a chance and you might surprised by it and love it very much and open a new opportunity to use it as the proud image to print on your merchs let say T Shirt, I sure this logo will want to wear by many even myself! Let me know if you interested to have me make it happen for you!