iPad mini 7

Apple has been working on an upgrade for the iPad mini for some time now, or at least that is what the rumors say. And if they’re right, we might see the new seventh-generation iPad mini as soon as next week.

While major new iPad releases typically come after Apple’s iPhone events, Apple already did those earlier this year with the M2 iPad Air and M4 iPad Pro. Lower-end iPads are often showcased at the same September events as the new iPhones, so it’s quite possible Apple will launch the brand new iPad mini next week and possibly a new eleventh-generation iPad as well.

Design-wise, the new iPad mini shouldn’t change that much. Apple is expected to keep it the same on the outside while focusing on the inside. The biggest speculation is that Apple will add Apple Intelligence support on the iPad mini, which makes a lot of sense since it would be odd to release new hardware that doesn’t support Apple’s new AI features.

This means Apple could add an M-series silicon chip to the new iPad mini, or at least something on par with the iPhone 15 Pro’s A17 Pro chip.

While we don’t expect Apple to use an M2 chip as it did on the new iPad Air models, the M1 chip is still powerful enough to handle all the new AI features that Apple Intelligence offers.

If the rumors are true, we might see the new iPad mini during the September event. If not, we may still see it this year, as Apple will likely still hold another event in October to unveil its new M4 Macs.