Apple recently announced the iPad mini 7, marking three years since the release of the iPad mini 6. While the design of the new iPad mini remains identical to its predecessor, the real upgrade is found inside: the A17 Pro chip.
What’s New Inside?
The iPad mini 7 is powered by a binned version of the A17 Pro chip, originally introduced with the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max. While the iPhone 15 Pro uses a 6-core CPU and a 6-core GPU, the iPad mini 7 comes with a slightly modified version featuring a 6-core CPU but a 5-core GPU. This is a common practice known as “chip binning,” where manufacturers deactivate certain cores in chips that don’t meet the highest performance standards, rather than discarding them.
Despite having one less GPU core compared to the iPhone, the iPad mini 7 still delivers exceptional performance for most tasks. It is paired with 8GB of RAM, making it ready to handle the latest Apple Intelligence features that will be available with iPadOS 18.1.
Why Does It Matter?
The introduction of a binned version of the A17 Pro chip doesn’t significantly affect the everyday performance for most users. The iPad mini 7 will continue to perform smoothly in gaming, productivity, and multimedia tasks, making it a reliable and powerful device.
Conclusion
Though the changes in the iPad mini 7 may seem subtle at first glance, the new A17 Pro chip with its slightly reduced GPU core count still packs enough power to meet the needs of users. If you’re looking for a compact yet powerful tablet, the iPad mini 7 delivers solid performance with the latest hardware and software advancements from Apple.
