Apple iPad mini (A17 Pro) review – a mini update in most ways

Introduction

After three years, the smallest Apple tablet gets an update. Apple calls this one the iPad mini (A17 Pro) when distinguishing it from previous models. That’s apt, because the chip is pretty much the only new thing about it.

What does that mean for Apple’s ongoing attempt to give us a full iPad experience in an ultra-portable design? I put Apple’s smallest iPad through its paces to see whether evolution rather than revolution is enough.

Design: mini-mum change

If you’ve used an iPad mini during the past three years, you know what you’re getting, because this new model is almost identical to the 6th-gen version. In some ways, that’s good. If you’re familiar with any other iPad, the mini is disarmingly light by comparison. Yet it nonetheless also feels solid and expensive.

There are new colours – sort of. The line-up has changed from space grey, pink, purple and starlight to space grey, blue, purple and starlight. Yeah. Some of the ones with the same name are slightly different, though, so yay? If nothing else, you can now match a mini to your iPad Air (since the precise colours are identical) if you are determined to ‘complete the set’.

Elsewhere, Touch ID remains, which will irk Face ID fans (and, honestly, I’d have much preferred that tech make its way across from the iPad Pro). And the nano-SIM slot has gone, which means eSIM is your only cellular option.

Screen and sound: possibly less wobbly

Let’s first tackle the elephant in the room: jelly scrolling. The previous iPad mini got flack for this phenomenon, which made content look like it was warping as you scrolled. In reality, this affects all LCD panels to some extent, but it was more apparent on the mini due to the controller board orientation. (Don’t believe me? Put your 60Hz iPhone/iPad/iPad Air in landscape and watch the same thing happen.)

Apple reckons it’s optimised the display, but won’t provide any details on how. To my eyes, the jelly scrolling doesn’t look as bad as I recall it being last time, but bear in mind two things. First, I don’t have the old iPad mini to compare. Secondly, I wasn’t too fussed about this last time anyway.

Natch, Apple could have dealt with this by bumping the display to 120Hz (which makes jelly scrolling far less obvious), but it hasn’t. 60Hz is your lot, which is less galling for an iPad than an iPhone, but still irks in 2024. The display remains crisp and clear though – and is the sharpest of any iPad. You’ll need good eyes, mind. And since I turned ‘need reading glasses’ years old between iPad Mini generations, this model’s display does now feel small. Perhaps Apple should trim the bezels, although, to be fair, they’re only proportionately larger than the Pro’s. In millimetres (or US incherinos) they measure the exact same size.

Audio? Still fine. Output from the landscape stereo speakers isn’t as beefy as what you get from an Air, let alone a Pro. But I find it OK when I didn’t have headphones, as long as I didn’t ramp up the volume too much.

Cameras: it definitely has them

You’re not buying an iPad mini for its cameras, which is just as well. Nothing has changed here either. On the rear, you get a 12MP snapper, which is fine at a pinch, but you won’t want to use it for anything important. Around front, the 12MP ultra wide is good enough for video calls, and Centre Stage will follow you around the room if you want it to.

Software: great apps, iffy OS

I’ve long been frustrated by iPadOS. There’s untapped potential in Apple’s tablets, and it feels like the company holds them back, because it also wants you to buy a Mac. So apps like Files are underpowered. Or you end up with the shambles that is Stage Manager due to Apple for years avoiding bringing optimal external display support to its tablet.

When I wrote my iOS and iPadOS tips feature this year, there’s barely a mention of anything iPad-specific, because there’s not much to say. The main new things are improved handwriting correction, written maths notes – novel but I barely use them – and a dreadful tab bar redesign. Fortunately, Apple’s app ecosystem is unparalleled on mobile. And although high-end efforts may prove fiddlier on this smaller device, that you can use an iPad mini as everything from an edit suite to a painting canvas is impressive. (Apple Pencil Pro is also now supported, note.)

However, Apple’s big software story this year is Apple Intelligence. A pity, then, that it wasn’t even available in beta on the mini at the time of review. I will not review what I cannot use. And be mindful that while Apple Intelligence will roll out soon, that will be in drip-feed fashion. US English first. Other territories… who knows when? TL;DR: don’t upgrade to or buy this iPad for Apple Intelligence alone, unless you know for sure what Apple Intelligence can do for you.

Performance and battery life: lean, mean seventeen

The new iPad mini has the same chip as last year’s flagship iPhone. Minus a GPU core. With it throwing around a similar number of pixels, it won’t surprise you to find the mini benchmarks similarly to the iPhone 17 Pro, but lags on the graphics front just a bit. Which also puts it in broadly similar territory – if a little behind – the current M2 Air.

Compared to the previous mini, Apple reckons you’re getting a 30% increase in CPU grunt and 25% in GPU. Which means everything is faster. And the old mini was plenty capable anyway. So, yes, I found this new one dealt ably with day-to-day tasks, and had enough power to blaze through music making in Korg Gadget, video editing in LumaFusion and multi-layered image painting in Procreate.

Apple also suggests the iPad mini is popular with gamers, to which I might cough and suggest ‘citation required’. But, sure, games run well enough. I’d avoid the latest crop of AAA titles if you demand rock-solid frame rates. However, I did find it a pity none of my handheld controllers worked with the device. Only the GameSir X2S was wide enough (in soopah-sekrit ‘oh no did I break it?’ mode). But because Apple puts the volume buttons on the top of the iPad mini rather than on the side, any clamp-based controller squeezes them. Which means the sound turns all the way down (or up). Bah.

Elsewhere, Apple reckons there have been no changes to battery life, and I saw nothing to contradict that. Which means you’ll squeak ten hours with light use – or blaze through the battery in a matter of hours if playing high-end games.

iPad mini 2024 (A17 Pro) verdict

Honestly, I was half tempted to copy and paste my iPad mini 6th-gen review, and in all-caps add IT’S GOT AN A17 PRO NOW, before nipping off for an early lunch. Because barely anything else has changed. Apple might then point to Wi-Fi 6E over Wi-Fi 6 and add that it’s doubled the storage at each price point, the latter of which means the mini no longer starts with a miserly 64GB. These are good things. Neither moves the dial from ‘whatevs’ to ‘party time’.

But does that matter? Not really. Taken on its own merits, the new iPad mini is an objectively good – if pricey – tiny tablet with plenty of power. And although the small screen might degrade certain experiences – movies; complex games; writing; comics – it’s my favourite iPad for faffing about online, reading prose, casual gaming and doodling. 

That said, as an upgrade, it’s slight. Buy one if you’re wedded to the form factor and sporting a 5th gen. If your 6th gen does the job and you’re not desperate for Apple Intelligence, hold on to your cash until Apple next deigns to update the iPad mini.

iPad mini (A17 Pro) technical specifications