While the iPhone 13 isn’t exactly a huge upgrade from the iPhone 12, the iPad Mini 6 is quite the bump up from the 2019 iPad Mini 4. The new model’s official name is “iPad Mini (2021)” and it increases the diagonal, brings a new CPU and an ultrawide selfie camera.
The iPad Mini 6 has an unibody metal case, flat edges and also curved corners. It has narrower bezels and also ditches the Home button in favor of a Power button moved towards the top and integrating a Touch ID sensor. The screen moves from a 7.9 inch panel to an 8.3 inch one and we also get True Tone support, as well as 500 nits of brightness. Apple included stereo speakers with a landscape orientation this time.
For productivity we get support for Apple Pencil 2nd gen, which snaps to the side using magnets. Inside we find an Apple A15 CPU, the same one from the iPhone 13 series, bringing a 40% jump in performance from the iPad Mini 2019, plus an 80% bump from the same unit. The main camera is a 12 MP shooter with True Tone flash and F/1.8 aperture, while the front camera is a 12 MP ultrawide lens shooter, with a special feature that keeps you in focus during video calls, even if you move around a lot.
There’s also a swap for the Lightning port, replaced via an USB-C. There’s Wi-Fi 6 too and a 5G version is now the cellular one. The base version is priced at $499 with 64 GB of storage and it goes up to 256 GB. The product is up for preorders now and it ships from September 24th. It comes in Space Gray, Pink, Purple and Starlight.
