ZDNET’s key takeaways
- The iPad Mini 7 is obtainable now for $500, although you will get a $100 low cost for a restricted time.
- The compact iPad Mini 7 has gone all over the place with me this previous week, becoming simply into luggage and purses with out weighing them down; it additionally helps Apple Intelligence and the Apple Pencil Professional.
- Except for the extra highly effective A17 Professional chip, the iPad Mini 7 is not a lot of an improve, particularly for Sixth-gen customers; its show tops out at 60Hz, which might annoy some customers.
extra shopping for selections
I’ve used many tablets in my day however by no means thought of getting an iPad Mini. Due to its dimension, the small 8.3-inch pill has at all times been the go-to for my nieces and nephews, and I by no means actually noticed a necessity for a small pill once I have already got a 6.7-inch iPhone 14 Pro Max.
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Nonetheless, my notion modified once I started utilizing the not too long ago launched iPad Mini 7. I’ve at all times liked a giant show on a pill, however I underestimated simply how handy a compact iPad could be in my each day life. I’ve taken the iPad Mini 7 all over the place this week, in a position to slip the 8.3-inch machine into my purse with out it weighing down — or protruding of — my bag.
Because of this, I’ve used the iPad Mini in several conditions the place I’ve discovered myself searching for leisure, together with throughout lengthy medical infusions that required me to take a seat in a chair for practically 5 hours.
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Sadly, that is the place the iPad Mini 7 hits its limits: leisure. This small pill is not an influence person’s dream or a distant employee’s take-anywhere answer. In truth, it is simpler to work on my cheaper iPad 10th Generation than on the $500 iPad Mini 7, so it is onerous to justify the worth for a pill that is largely good for taking part in video games and consuming media.
The iPad tenth Era’s bigger display offers me extra actual property to edit photographs and movies, and there are lots of respected keyboard options for writing and enhancing paperwork. Nonetheless, the iPad tenth Era would not help the Apple Pencil Pro or Apple Intelligence, which the iPad Mini 7 does.
The iPad Calculator’s Math Notes will make calculations for you and inform you if you make a mistake (in purple).
Maria Diaz/ZDNET
The iPad Mini 7 options the A17 Professional chip, the identical processor discovered within the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max, and can also be appropriate with Apple Intelligence.
I attempted Apple Intelligence options within the iPad Mini 7 as soon as iPadOS 18.1 was launched just a few days in the past. This software program replace contains Writing Instruments, the redesigned Siri, Precedence Notifications and Messages, Summarization instruments, Sensible Reply, and the Clear Up software in Pictures.
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I discovered extra glitches in Apple’s Game Mode than I did utilizing Apple Intelligence, however I wasn’t wowed by the iPad Mini’s generative AI options. Within the iPad Mini’s protection, the Sport Mode glitches look like an iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 challenge relatively than a device-specific challenge. I’ve encountered the identical ones in my iPhone 14 Professional Max since updating to iOS 18.
As somebody who makes use of ChatGPT and different generative AI instruments each day, I discover the Apple Intelligence options should be extra polished and additional developed. This is not all that stunning since Apple has notoriously fallen behind within the AI race, however I, like many different Apple customers, hoped for extra.
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For that reason, and provided that the discharge date for the remainder of Apple Intelligence options is TBD, I might not advocate shopping for an iPad Mini 7 merely due to the AI options. However I like to recommend it to somebody searching for a future-proofed leisure pill that may go virtually anyplace.
ZDNET’s shopping for recommendation
The iPad Mini 7 is compact and quick, and its Apple silicon processor is constructed to final for years. Whereas I would not purchase it for the AI options or to edit media, it is a superb companion pill for Apple customers searching for a tool that may go along with them. It additionally performs nicely for fast work, like enhancing a video in CapCut or a social media publish in PS Express.
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Apple seems steadfast in making Apple Intelligence its future, however the street has been filled with obstacles and stumbles. Whereas Apple guarantees an awesome generative AI toolset, the corporate has lots of balls within the air. In case you’re on the fence, purchase the iPad Mini 7 for the leisure pill it’s and never what Apple guarantees it may very well be. In case you’re an influence person searching for a extra succesful pill, you’d do finest to look elsewhere.
