iPad mini 2024 review: A familiar friend gets an A.I. refresh
Getting my hands on a new iPad mini always feels a little bit like a happy reunion. I use an iPad Pro all the time, so I haven’t handled an iPad mini since I gave back the 2021 model three years ago.
The new 2024 iPad mini, powered by the A17 Pro chip curiously taken from last year’s iPhone 15 Pro, is mostly the same iPad I reviewed way back then. The new processor is really the point, as it makes the iPad mini the latest Apple device to be ready for Apple Intelligence.
Beyond that, though, it’s pretty much the same iPad mini as three years ago. Apple appears to be content to let the iPad mini operate at relative feature parity with the iPad Air, a notch above the generic iPad but also a notch below the iPad Pro. Those who pine for an iPad mini Pro (and the terrifying capitalization regime that would follow) are going to go away disappointed—probably forever.
The iPad mini is already a niche product within a niche product line; it’s likely that Apple will never want to slice things even thinner than it already has. That said, the iPad mini’s got a comfortable niche: it’s great for kids, for people who prioritize reading over productivity, and generally for anyone who can fit an iPad into their lives—but there’s not a whole lot of space to fit into.
As I reported three years ago, iPad hardware is so fast that you can basically do anything you set your mind to do. I edited podcasts and wrote articles on the old iPad mini, and this one’s even more powerful, thanks to that new processor. The additional ray-tracing features of the M3/A17 processor generation mean that it’s even more capable when it comes to graphics-intensive games—though you’ll be playing them at 60 frames per second because ProMotion is a feature reserved for Pro-level Apple products.
In terms of sheer single-core performance, the A17 Pro processor will beat the M2 iPad Air, thanks to the superior processor core inside the one-better A17 Pro generation. But since the M2 has more processor cores than the A17 Pro, the iPad Air beats it out on other tests. Still, it’s not really important—the iPad mini is fast enough for anything. And, most importantly, it’s got enough system memory to run Apple Intelligence features when they arrive later this month. (The iPad mini I tested shipped with iPadOS 18.0, which, of course, doesn’t offer any of those A.I. features.)
When I hold the iPad mini in my hands, I’m reminded that it works incredibly well as a vertical/portrait-oriented device. That, and the fact that it’s just too small in any orientation to support a proper add-on keyboard, is probably why Apple has chosen to leave the FaceTime camera on the short side of the device rather than move it to the long side as on other iPads. I agree with the decision. Keeping the volume buttons to the top of the iPad, opposite the sleep/wake/Touch ID button, still seems odd to me, but it’s necessary to add proper magnetic charging support for the Apple Pencil.
With support for that Pencil—along with the standalone-charging USB-C model introduced in 2023—Apple’s Pencil story keeps getting simpler. Eventually, there will only be a couple of Pencil models supported across the line, but we’re not quite there yet. Still, since no iPhone supports the Apple Pencil, this iPad mini is the smallest device available for those who wish to write, draw, or drive the interface of other apps using Apple’s stylus.
A sign that I’m getting used to Apple’s modern iPhones and iPads is that I was a bit taken aback by the size of the bezels around the iPad mini’s display. Every other Apple device seems to have sucked in its gut a bit and either expanded its display, contracted its physical dimensions, or some combination of both. While the iPad mini’s bezels aren’t huge, relatively speaking, they feel enormous compared to those on my iPad Pro, let alone my iPhone.
I’m also disappointed with what Apple’s done with the colors of these models. After a set of vibrant colors on the previous generation, apparently the Fun Police have arrived and decreed that all colors should be watered-down versions indistinguishable from silver. I don’t understand modern Apple’s relationship with color, nor can I understand how a company that got it so right with the last iPad mini, the iPhone 16, and the M1/M3 iMacs can get it so wrong with a boring, washed-out color palette like this. I’ve been using a purple one, but if I hadn’t looked it up in my email, I wouldn’t have been able to tell that it wasn’t just silver.
One bit of good news, I think: Many users of the previous-model iPad mini complained about a “jelly scrolling” effect, where scrolling content in portrait orientation could lead to a visual artifact where one side of the screen updated before the other side. It’s my understanding that the new model’s display circuitry is different from the old model, and I couldn’t detect any “jelly scrolling” in my use. It doesn’t mean it’s for sure gone, and I’m looking forward to eagle-eyed “jelly scrolling” experts reporting back with their results, but I sure couldn’t see it, even when I recorded myself scrolling at a high frame rate and played it back frame by frame.
So beyond the goose for Apple Intelligence, I’m not sure what there is to say about the iPad mini that I didn’t say in 2021. It’s a great little iPad, capable of pretty much anything you can throw at it. It’s fun to hold in one hand. It makes an excellent device for reading, though it doesn’t replace my e-reader due to the e-reader’s lack of display glare, waterproofing, and distraction-free reading environment. It’s too small for typing, really. That’s okay.
What’s great about the iPad mini, ultimately, is also what limits it. It’s a small iPad with plenty of power. It fits in places other iPads just don’t. Depending on what you want to use an iPad for, it might very well be the perfect iPad. The jury is still out on Apple Intelligence—and may be for some time—but I’m glad that Apple cares enough about the iPad mini and the people who love it that it’s made sure that the iPad mini is ready to use those features on day one.
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