The iPad Mini has always felt like an outlier in Apple's iPad lineup. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles like the iPad Pro, it's not the cheapest iPad, and unlike the iPad Air, it's a little too small to use for work. That size is its biggest strength though -- if you really want a tiny tablet to tote around everywhere, the iPad Mini doesn't have strong competition and remains the best. The latest iteration maintains that ethos and brings the tablet up to speed with Apple's other new products: Apple Intelligence and Apple Pencil Pro.
With double the storage over its predecessor (128 GB), the seventh-generation iPad Mini retains its $499 price. That makes it the most affordable way to wade into Apple's artificial intelligence features and the Pro stylus. (Fun fact: Apple seems to be stepping away from using "generations" to identify its iPads and is instead using processor names; not clunky at all.) There are a few questionable choices with this new iPad but none impact its overall usability. It's still the same great tiny tablet we know and love, even if I'm not the target demographic. I use my iPad to watch too much TV, and this fun-sized screen is a little too small for my taste.
The sixth-generation iPad Mini from 2021 got a major makeover, shedding the home button and chunky bezels around the screen for the modern look we're accustomed to today. Naturally, that means the seventh-gen iPad Mini looks virtually identical. It's compact enough to use one-handed (great for reading ebooks!) and easily fits into bags big and small. I had no trouble with the 2K-resolution display, even when using the Mini outdoors -- it gets plenty bright.
But I can't talk about the iPad Mini display without going over the infamous "jelly scrolling" fiasco on the 2021 model. iPad Mini owners bemoaned that one side of the screen refreshed slower than the other when scrolling up and down on the display. I didn't experience this with my Mini, but Apple did make it a point to optimize the LCD in the latest model to alleviate this issue. Apple was tight-lipped on exactly what it changed, but for what it's worth, I once again have yet to see any problems on my test unit.
The display still has a 60-Hz refresh rate. (You can read more about what this means here, but a higher refresh rate makes everything on the display appear smoother; Apple calls this "ProMotion" on the iPad Pro.) This isn't surprising considering the new iPhone 16 also didn't get bumped to 120 Hz, but it's frustrating, as most phones and tablets have 90- or 120-Hz panels at this price, like the OnePlus Pad 2. It would've been nice to see a 90-Hz refresh rate at the least.