Apple today unveiled its sixth-generation iPad mini, which sports a larger 8.3-inch Liquid Retina display, four finishes, a new A15 Bionic chip which Apple says delivers up to 80% faster performance than previous-generation models, 5G connectivity, and more.
A new USB-C port allows faster connectivity, and cellular models with 5G bring more flexible mobile workflows. New advanced cameras, Center Stage, and support for Apple Pencil (2nd generation). The new iPad mini features a Touch ID sensor embedded into the Power Button.
“With its ultra-portable design and wide range of uses from everyday tasks to creative and enterprise applications, there’s nothing else like iPad mini,” said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “With a new all-screen Liquid Retina display, massive boost in performance, new advanced cameras on the front and back, Center Stage, USB-C, 5G, and support for Apple Pencil, the new iPad mini is a huge leap forward that can be held in the palm of your hand.”
iPad mini features a larger 8.3-inch Liquid Retina display with narrow borders, allowing for a larger display while keeping the same compact footprint as previous models. Advanced display technologies include 500 nits of brightness, a P3 wide color gamut, anti-reflective screen coating, True Tone, and full lamination New landscape stereo speakers also make an appearance.
The iPad mini now supports Apple Pencil (2nd generation), which attaches magnetically to the iPad mini for wireless charging and pairing.
The new A15 Bionic chip delivers all-day battery life. Apple says the 6-core CPU delivers a 40% jump in performance, and the 5-core GPU delivers an 80% leap in graphics performance compared to the previous generation of iPad mini.
Advanced machine learning (ML) functions are powered by a 16-core Neural Engine and new ML accelerators in the CPU, delivering 2x faster ML tasks than its predecessor. Combined with the CPU and GPU, the Neural Engine enables apps to deliver next-level experiences, such as image recognition and natural language learning. With iPadOS 15, powerful new ML features include Live Text, which uses on-device intelligence to recognize text in photos that users can take action on, and even translates text from photos into seven different languages.
An updated Ultra Wide front camera with a new 12MP sensor and a much larger field of view enable Center Stage, which automatically pans the camera to keep users in view as they move around. When others join in, the camera detects them too, and smoothly zooms out to easily include them in the conversation.
The new sixth-generation iPad mini starts at $499 and will be available for pre-orders starting today and will be available on Friday, September 24.
