Just a heads up, if you buy something through our links, we may get a small share of the sale. It’s one of the ways we keep the lights on here. Click here for more.Apple just announced its latest iteration of the iPad Mini in the most unceremonious way, through a press release, considering it’s the first upgrade to the company’s smallest tablet since 2021. The new iPad Mini is available for pre-order. It will cost $499 and go on sale next Wednesday, the 23rd. About the new iPad Mini with an A17 Pro chip Image: KnowTechie The new iPad Mini is mostly a spec bump. The only real design change is the new colors, which aren’t as eye-popping as the iPhone 16’s, but the new Purple and Blue colors look decent. The last-generation iPad Mini, however, received a significant overhaul with a new design, a USB-C port, and upgraded hardware. This is reasonable, as it was the first design upgrade since the very first iPad Mini in 2012. So, it isn’t really surprising that the new Mini looks like the last one. But the spec bump is real, and it’s meant to accommodate Apple Intelligence. Image: Apple The new iPad Mini runs a new A127 Pro chip, and according to the press release, it has a 30 percent faster CPU, 25 percent faster GPU, and a Neural Engine twice as fast as the previous model. Apple’s new mini tablet can perform hardware-accelerated ray tracing, which would undoubtedly make demanding…Apple announces a new iPad Mini with A17 Pro chip at $499