The iPad Mini 7th-gen is built for Apple Intelligence, but it’s still a better realization of Apple’s tablets for most users.

The bigger iPads are increasingly competing with your laptop; the Mini very much still complements it. The Mini has always felt like an afterthought — updated only occasionally, forced to run apps and an OS clearly designed for larger screens — but the one-handed iPad was the one for me anyway.

The most important thing about the new iPad mini is that, on the one hand, it’s a pretty minimal update. It got a better processor—the A17 Pro from last year’s Pro iPhones—and Apple supposedly fixed a display refresh problem that previously caused what is known as “jellyscrolling” where one side of the display refreshes slower than the other.

The last mini arrived in 2021 and it was the first smaller iPad to be an all-screen device, meaning it took the Touch ID home button from the front of the tablet and mounted it in the power button on the edge.

Apple's new iPad mini, featuring the A17 Pro chip and Apple Intelligence support, offers an affordable entry point to experience Apple's AI features.