The Perfect iPad You Never Knew You Needed

When I bought my iPad mini 7, I wasn’t sure what to expect from it.

It was my first iPad mini — in fact, it was only my second iPad full stop. A few months before I got my hands on the iPad mini, I’d bought the iPad Pro. I was wondering if the mini would always feel inferior – the poor relation, or could it carve out its own niche?

I remember when Apple released the iPad mini last year, there were the normal cries of nothing’s changed – the haters will always hate! But, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, right? After all, for many, the iPad mini is the perfect iPad. What’s so wrong with iterating on an already great device? A case of giving us more of the good stuff!

Apple sure aren’t guilty of going overboard on changing the outer aesthetics of the iPad mini, that’s for sure. In fact, I think adding the word mini on the back was about it.

Before moving on, just looking at the design briefly, although we have the signature iPhone-esque boxy, squared-off design, we still have fairly chunky bezels, unlike, say, the iPad Pro. But somehow, on the mini, because of its notebook qualities, it kind of works – it doesn’t annoy. The iPad mini is often held in portrait or upright mode, so those wider bezels give you something to grip onto.

iPad mini 7 — is it still relevant?

Well, I think so, yes.

Considering the mini sits on my desk alongside the iPad Pro, it’s surprising how much more I tend to reach for the smaller option. The iPad Pro has many, many strengths, but I tend to only use it for work-related stuff.

For general iPadie stuff, it’s always the iPad mini that I pick up. For watching content on the sofa, browsing, reading and note-taking in particular, it’s the iPad mini every time. I think part of its appeal is that it’s just that bit bigger than my iPhone and feels a very natural lead on. The iPad Pro is an altogether different beast in a class by itself.

Apple, as normal, also sells Smart Folio cases that pretty closely match the colours of the current iPad mini lineup – Space Grey, Blue, Purple (which is what I went for) and Starlight. And the good news is, if you are trading up from the 6th-gen iPad mini, then your current case will fit – the magnets are in exactly the same places.

Storage now starts at 128GB with options of 256GB and 512GB available as well. Getting rid of the 64GB option was smart. In a clever marketing move, Apple didn’t increase the price either – you get a 128GB iPad mini for the same price as the 64GB. I’ll always take something for nothing!

The cheapest iPad is still the 10th gen iPad at £329, but you only get the A16 chip, and it’s not Apple Intelligence ready. The mini kicks off at £499, but you’ll get the quicker A17 chip inside.

I’d have liked to have seen the position of the 12MP ultra-wide front camera swapped to the long edge. I know the mini tends to get held in the upright position a lot, but when it comes to making calls, it would make more sense if you could stand it on the desk in its case. Was that a mistake, an oversight or just pure laziness?

Display

Carrying on with that theme of either if it ain’t broke or laziness, is the display.

Nothing meaningfully changed with it, meaning it is still the same LCD 8.3-inch P3 wide colour, True Tone display that you’ll be getting. I would like to have seen them crank up the brightness, too, this time around. The iPad mini will end up being used a lot away from home and outdoors, and for that reason I’d love to have seen the 500 nits increased to 1000.

Outdoors, it struggles on bright days and in bright sunshine. Apple were keen to throw Nano texture at a lot of their products last year, and I think having that option on the iPad mini would’ve been a smart move. It would have been a £100 option I’d have gone for. As it is, I use a Paperlike screen protector on mine to reduce glare and reflections.

OLED has not yet made its way to the iPad mini, which I get because of the price point, but then we have to mention the fact it’s still only a 60Hz panel. Pinning my colours to the mast here – I don’t have an issue with it, but there are plenty that think it’s indefensible.

ProMotion and refresh rates don’t keep me awake at night, and I also happen to think that it makes more difference with larger displays, too. The way that the iPad mini will end up being used, I don’t think it being a 60Hz panel is that much of an issue. And no, jelly-scrolling is something else I think is over hyped too! Put it this way, I’ve never noticed it in the year or so I’ve been using it.

Another feature that got overlooked was Face ID. If the iPhone 16e got Face ID, then why not the iPad mini as well? In many ways, they are aimed at very similar people, I’d have thought. Sometimes I just don’t get some of the choices that Apple make.

Pencil support & I/O

You get two choices of Apple Pencil for this iPad – the fancy Pencil Pro at £129 or the USB-C Pencil, which costs £79.

You’ll know the kind of iPad user you are and how much, if at all, you’ll be using the pencil, so I guess that will be the decider as to which one you go with. I don’t think I’d buy one for the mini – and if I did, I’d go for the cheaper option for sure.

I’ve never connected my mini to the TV, but I use it a lot with an external display. You can only mirror the display, but it means you are working on a bigger screen. With the new iPadOS 26 being just around the corner, using an external display will become commonplace. Multitasking is finally a thing for all iPads!

This was supposed to be a refresh year, and although changes were scant, there were at least some. The Wi-Fi is quicker, but more usefully, so to is the USB-C port. It now supports USB 3.1 with transfer speeds of up to 10 Gbps, so if you regularly transfer files via an external SSD, that will come in useful for you. Again, with the new OS coming, I think that port will start to be used even more. The iPad is growing up in front of us!

The SIM card tray is a thing of old – now the iPad mini is eSIM only.

A zero-to-full charge takes under two hours, but you won’t be reaching for the charger that much. Unlike the ultra-thin iPad Pro, the mini’s battery seems to be a winner.

Apple Intelligence

That A17 chip I mentioned was a hand-me-down from the iPhone 15. It feels plenty quick enough and fit for the task. It has a 16-core Neural Engine, a 6-core CPU with 2 performance cores, 4 efficiency cores and a 5-core GPU.

But the real importance of that A17 chip is that at £499, the iPad mini 7th gen remains your cheapest route to Apple Intelligence. Now I know that those last two words have become a bit of a joke, but at WWDC last month, Apple showed signs they are on the right track.

Why or how Apple missed the first wave of AI, we’ll never truly know. But, I’ve always believed that when Apple finally catch up & gets it right, they would nail it – and do it their way. I’m happy enough to wait, and if the system-wide integrations we saw being shown at WWDC play out, then I think we’re finally back on track.

Final thoughts

I think what I’ve enjoyed most about the iPad mini is that it’s honest. It’s good, very good at what it does, and doesn’t try to pretend to be what it’s not. It hasn’t got small iPad syndrome!

While the iPad Air and iPad Pro inhabit similar spaces and have obvious overlap, the iPad mini stands alone. If you want an ultra-portable iPad with day-long battery life that you’ll barely know is with you, the iPad mini is the only choice. And will do everything you could want of it.

When we get the iPhone Air later this month and then the foldable iPhone further down the road, the iPad mini may have met its Waterloo, but until then, it’s safe and I love it!

As I mentioned, the iPad Pro somehow feels formal. If I reach for that, I know I’m going to be working – retouching photos or writing. While I could do either of those things on the mini, I wouldn’t.

No, reaching for the mini kind of signifies it’s ‘me’ time and that’s how I want to keep it! I’m not of the camp calling for Apple to give us a keyboard for the iPad mini – just let it be what it is. Apple knows who buys iPad minis, and I think they’ve worked out exactly who and what it’s for. Sure, they could have put an M series chip in it – but why? The A17 already delivers more than enough power.

Pilots, doctors, nurses, and teachers all love the iPad mini, and this latest version has simply taken all that was already right with it and made it better. What with iPadOS 26 and Apple Intelligence both coming to iPads over the next few weeks and months, I think now is the time for iPad to finally shine.

Who should be looking to buy one? Well, if you’ve used your iPad mini 5 or earlier to death, and the battery is starting to suffer, it’s a no-brainer. The 7th gen is for you.

But if you already have an iPad mini 6th Gen, which is still in good shape, then I don’t know if there are enough compelling reasons to switch. There’ll be improvements, but few and far between.

Also, check the Apple Refurbished store. Checking today, I found a 256GB iPad mini 6 for only £459 or a 64GB model for £379. Although they’re not Apple Intelligence ready, they are still great iPads – and at those prices, a bargain too!

The iPad mini is still very relevant and is still the most iPad of all iPads. Strange as it sounds, I think the iPad has finally found its place and is set to fly!