My first reaction when I picked up the new iPad mini last Thursday morning was that it felt heavier than my 11” iPad Pro. Obviously, that was not the case – it’s nearly 150 grams lighter, in fact. But after several months of intense usage of the new, incredibly thin iPad Pro, the different weight distribution and the thicker form factor of the iPad mini got me for a second. Despite being “new”, compared to the latest-generation iPad Pro, the iPad mini felt old.
The second thing I noticed is that, color aside, the new iPad mini looks and feels exactly like the sixth-generation model I reviewed here on MacStories three years ago. The size is the same, down to the millimeter. The weight is the same. The display technology is the same. Three minor visual details give the “new” iPad mini away: it says “iPad mini” on the back, it’s called “iPad mini (A17 Pro)” on the box, and it’s even called “iPad mini (A17 Pro)” (and not “iPad mini (7th generation)”) in Settings ⇾ General ⇾ About.
I’m spending time on these minor, largely inconsequential details because I don’t know how else to put it: this iPad mini is pretty much the same iPad I already reviewed in 2021. The iPadOS experience is unchanged. You still cannot use Stage Manager on any iPad mini (not even when docked), and the classic Split View/Slide Over environment is passable, but more constrained than on an iPad Air or Pro. I covered all these aspects of the mini experience in 2021; everything still holds true today.
What matters today, however, is what’s inside. The iPad mini with A17 Pro is an iPad mini that supports Apple Intelligence, the Apple Pencil Pro, and faster Wi-Fi. And while the display technology is unchanged – it’s an IPS display that refreshes at 60 Hz – the so-called jelly scrolling issue has been fixed thanks to an optimized display controller.
As someone who lives in Italy and cannot access Apple Intelligence, that leaves me with an iPad mini that is only marginally different from the previous one, with software features coming soon that I won’t be able to use for a while. It leaves me with a device that comes in a blue color that isn’t nearly as fun as the one on my iPhone 16 Plus and feels chunkier than my iPad Pro while offering fewer options in terms of accessories (no Magic Keyboard) and software modularity (no Stage Manager on an external display).
And yet, despite the strange nature of this beast and its shortcomings, I’ve found myself in a similar spot to three years ago: I don’t need this iPad mini in my life, but I want to use it under very specific circumstances.
Only this time, I’ve realized why.
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Federico
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