(Credit: Apple)
Apple has unveiled a new iPad mini tablet with Apple Intelligence, the tech giant announced Tuesday.
The new iPad mini has an 8.3-inch screen and comes in four color options. It contains Apple's A17 Pro chip, which has a six-core CPU and five-core GPU that promises to make it faster than the previous iPad mini model. It'll also support hardware-accelerated ray tracing for gaming.
But the A17 isn't Apple's newest chip—the iPhone 16 Pro has an A18 Pro chip, and last year's iPhone 15 Pro has the A17 Pro.
The new iPad mini supports Wi-Fi 6E connections and can connect to 5G networks. Cellular versions use an eSIM instead of a physical SIM card. The tablet also comes with a USB-C port and a 12MP back camera.
It'll come preloaded with iPadOS 18, but users will have to update at home to get the upcoming AI features and an upgraded Siri expected to launch at the end of October. Using Apple Intelligence, the new iPad mini has writing assistance tools, a Memories feature that lets users generate videos, and a Clean Up tool that can remove distractions in photos.
The new operating system supports the Apple Pencil Pro and comes with a new way to do math by writing with Math Notes, an upgraded way to record voice notes, and a more customizable home screen. Apple's Photos, Messages, and Notes apps also get big updates as well.
Apple says its upcoming Image Playground, Image Wand, and "Genmoji" features—as well as its ChatGPT integration—will launch for the new iPad mini as well as compatible iPhones in the coming months.
The tablet comes with 128GB of storage and costs $499. It's available for preorder now, and will fully launch later this month on Oct. 23.