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Oct 15, 2024

Apple introduces powerful new iPad mini built for Apple Intelligence - Apple

Text of this article October 15, 2024 PRESS RELEASE Apple introduces powerful new iPad mini built for Apple Intelligence The ultraportable iPad mini is more capable and versatile than ever with the

Text of this article

October 15, 2024

PRESS RELEASE

Apple introduces powerful new iPad mini built for Apple Intelligence

The ultraportable iPad mini is more capable and versatile than ever with the powerful A17 Pro chip and support for Apple Pencil Pro

CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA Apple today introduced the new iPad mini, supercharged by the A17 Pro chip and Apple Intelligence, the easy-to-use personal intelligence system that understands personal context to deliver intelligence that is helpful and relevant while protecting user privacy. With a beloved ultraportable design, the new iPad mini is available in four gorgeous finishes, including a new blue and purple, and features the brilliant 8.3-inch Liquid Retina display. A17 Pro delivers a huge performance boost for even the most demanding tasks, with a faster CPU and GPU, a 2x faster Neural Engine than the previous-generation iPad mini,1 and support for Apple Intelligence. The versatility and advanced capabilities of the new iPad mini are taken to a whole new level with support for Apple Pencil Pro, opening up entirely new ways to be even more productive and creative. The 12MP wide back camera supports Smart HDR 4 for natural-looking photos with increased dynamic range, and uses machine learning to detect and scan documents right in the Camera app.

The new iPad mini features all-day battery life and brand-new experiences with iPadOS 18. Starting at just $499 with 128GB — double the storage of the previous generation — the new iPad mini delivers incredible value and the full iPad experience in an ultraportable design. Customers can pre-order the new iPad mini today, with availability beginning Wednesday, October 23.

“There is no other device in the world like iPad mini, beloved for its combination of powerful performance and versatility in our most ultraportable design. iPad mini appeals to a wide range of users and has been built for Apple Intelligence, delivering intelligent new features that are powerful, personal, and private,” said Bob Borchers, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “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.”

A17 Pro Unlocks Powerful Performance

The new iPad mini gets a major update with A17 Pro, delivering incredible performance and power efficiency in an ultraportable design. A17 Pro is a powerful chip that unlocks a number of improvements over A15 Bionic in the previous-generation iPad mini. With a 6-core CPU — two performance cores and four efficiency cores — A17 Pro delivers a 30 percent boost in CPU performance.1 A17 Pro also brings a boost in graphics performance with a 5-core GPU, delivering a 25 percent jump over the previous generation.1 A17 Pro brings entirely new experiences — including pro apps used by designers, pilots, doctors, and others — and makes it faster than ever for users to edit photos, dive into more immersive AR applications, and more. The new iPad mini brings true-to-life gaming with hardware-accelerated ray tracing — which is 4x faster than software-based ray tracing — as well as support for Dynamic Caching and hardware-accelerated mesh shading. From creating engaging content faster than ever in Affinity Designer, to playing demanding, graphics-intensive AAA games like Zenless Zone Zero, users can take the powerful performance and ultraportable iPad mini anywhere.

Built for Apple Intelligence

With the power of the A17 Pro chip, the new iPad mini delivers support for Apple Intelligence. Deeply integrated into iPadOS 18, Apple Intelligence harnesses the power of Apple silicon and Apple-built generative models to understand and create language and images, take action across apps, and draw from personal context to simplify and accelerate everyday tasks. Many of the models that power Apple Intelligence run entirely on device, and Private Cloud Compute offers the ability to flex and scale computational capacity between on-device processing and larger, server-based models that run on dedicated Apple silicon servers.

The first set of Apple Intelligence features will be available in U.S. English this month through a free software update with iPadOS 18.1, and available for iPad with A17 Pro or M1 and later. Apple Intelligence delivers experiences that are delightful, intuitive, easy to use, and specially designed to help users do the things that matter most to them:2

Additional Apple Intelligence features will be rolling out over the next several months:

Even Faster Connectivity

With faster wireless and wired connectivity, users can do even more on iPad mini while on the go. The new iPad mini supports Wi-Fi 6E, which delivers up to twice the performance than the previous generation,3 so users can download files, play games online, and stream movies even faster. Wi-Fi + Cellular models with 5G allow users to access their files, communicate with peers, and back up their data in a snap while on the go. Cellular models of the new iPad mini are activated with eSIM, a more secure alternative to a physical SIM card, allowing users to quickly connect and transfer their existing plans digitally, and store multiple cellular plans on a single device. Customers can easily get connected to wireless data plans on the new iPad mini in over 190 countries and regions around the world without needing to get a physical SIM card from a local carrier. The USB-C port is now up to 2x faster than the previous generation, with data transfers up to 10Gbps, so importing large photos and videos is even quicker.

Incredible Camera Experience

Great cameras, along with the incredibly portable form factor of iPad mini, enable powerful mobile workflows. The 12MP wide back camera delivers gorgeous photos, and with Smart HDR 4, they will be even more detailed and vivid. Utilizing the powerful 16-core Neural Engine, the new iPad mini uses artificial intelligence (AI) to automatically identify documents right in the Camera app and can use the new True Tone flash to remove shadows from the document. The 12MP Ultra Wide front-facing camera in portrait orientation, with support for Center Stage, is great for all the ways customers use iPad mini.

Magical Capabilities with Apple Pencil Pro

Apple Pencil Pro unlocks magical capabilities and powerful interactions, turning iPad mini into a sketchbook users can take anywhere. Apple Pencil Pro can sense a user’s squeeze, bringing up a tool palette to quickly switch tools, line weights, and colors, all without interrupting the creative process. A custom haptic engine delivers a light tap that provides confirmation when users squeeze, double-tap, or snap to a Smart Shape for a remarkably intuitive experience. Users can roll Apple Pencil Pro for precise control of the tool they’re using. Rotating the barrel changes the orientation of shaped pen and brush tools, just like pen and paper, and with Apple Pencil hover, users can visualize the exact orientation of a tool before making a mark. Apple Pencil Pro features support for Find My, and pairs, charges, and is stored through a new magnetic interface on the new iPad mini. iPad mini also supports Apple Pencil (USB-C), ideal for note taking, sketching, annotating, journaling, and more, at a great value.

iPadOS 18 Brings Powerful and Intelligent New Features

In addition to the groundbreaking capabilities of Apple Intelligence, iPadOS 18 brings powerful features that enhance the iPad experience, making it more versatile and intelligent than ever. iPadOS also has advanced frameworks like Core ML that make it easy for developers to tap into the Neural Engine to deliver powerful AI features right on device.

Better for the Environment

The new iPad mini is designed with the environment in mind, including 100 percent recycled aluminum in the enclosure, 100 percent recycled rare earth elements in all magnets, and 100 percent recycled gold plating and tin soldering in multiple printed circuit boards. The new iPad mini meets Apple’s high standards for energy efficiency, and is free of mercury, brominated flame retardants, and PVC. The packaging is 100 percent fiber-based, bringing Apple closer to its goal to remove plastic from all packaging by 2025.

Today, Apple is carbon neutral for global corporate operations and, as part of its ambitious Apple 2030 goal, plans to be carbon neutral across its entire carbon footprint by the end of this decade.

Pricing and Availability

Press Contacts

Tara Courtney

Apple

[email protected]

Skylar Eisenhart

Apple

[email protected]

Apple Media Helpline

[email protected]

Images in this article

Apple revolutionized personal technology with the introduction of the Macintosh in 1984. Today, Apple leads the world in innovation with iPhone, iPad, Mac, AirPods, Apple Watch, and Apple Vision Pro. Apple’s six software platforms — iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, visionOS, and tvOS — provide seamless experiences across all Apple devices and empower people with breakthrough services including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay, iCloud, and Apple TV+. Apple’s more than 150,000 employees are dedicated to making the best products on earth and to leaving the world better than we found it.

Tara Courtney

Apple

[email protected]

Skylar Eisenhart

Apple

[email protected]

Apple Media Helpline

[email protected]