iPad Mini 7 Benchmarks Confirm 8GB RAM, 5-Core GPU's Slower Speeds

[poematik13]

My Mini 6 has never lagged, but it does reload apps a lot because of the limited RAM so looking forward to the 7 i ordered that Im picking up wednesday.

Also a bonus- the smart folios are the same so I saved $60 there lol And got the pencil pro for $50 net after selling my old pencil 2 and getting the pro on amazon for $90

 

[subjonas]

44% more screen area on the iPad Mini vs 16PM

Also a phone you carry all the time, and not everyone wants to carry a huge phone all the time.

 

[shurcooL]

That’s great but the mini 6 has never once not been up to any task I have put it up to. No reason to upgrade unless you’re coming from a much older device.

Maybe you haven’t tried to run Resident Evil 4 Remake on it, but that’s one example of something the A15 chip wasn’t up to.

 

[bodonnell202]

But theoretically those unused chips had all 6 GPU cores already built into them, no?

Yes, but more than likely one of the GPU cores had a defect that prevented it from being used in an iPhone 15. Rather than throw those chips out they saved them for the iPad Mini.

 

[bodonnell202]

It's a smart move for sure -- we all heard the rumors the initial 3nm N3B yields were bad, so it makes sense they were stashing a ton of binned chips and looking for somewhere to use them... Makes me wonder if this could be the next iPhone SE chip as well, or perhaps the next Apple TV (since it's a much lower volume product).

Also curious that the metal score is nowhere close to 5/6 of the iPhone 15 Pro. I suppose iPad mini is pushing those cores a bit harder to compensate, and/or the cooling is better.

The iPhone SE will likely be higher volume than the iPad Mini so unless they have an enormous stash of A17s that didn't make the cut for the 15 Pro the SE will probably still go with the A18. Apple TV could be a possibility too for binned A17s (since it currently uses binned A15s) but we'll probably see that in a year with binned A18 chips...

With regards to the metal score I'm guessing that the Mini has more thermal headroom than the 15 Pros had so the GPU can sustain higher clocks a little longer to compensate.

 

[NoobishMe]

If I project my iPhone 16 onto my new Mini7 (and can I do this using usb-c?) what would happen?

 

[RALentz]

It's just one score. There is a ton of variability in Geekbench CPU scores.

Thanks, but the article citation was for multiple scores: "The new ‌iPad mini‌'s Geekbench scores reveal a range between 2,710 and 2,840 in single-core performance and 6,274 to 6,982 in multi-core performance"

All of both ranges are below the iPhone 15 Pro's average score on each benchmark, according to the article.

-R

 

[iPay]

When it doesn't make sense as to why Apple's product lineup sometimes doesn't make sense. I am reminded that they put chips that weren't good enough for their phones in other products. Thats why they stick around but aren't treated like priority devices. They are just there to take the rejected iPhone chips once they pile up enough of them.

How it goes:
- Customers: Hey, we want a new Ipad Mini! Current one is so outdated, no AI, little RAM, jelly scrolling blah blah blah.
We want a new one with Tandem OLED display, topnotch chips and functions, etc.
- Apple: groan
- TSMC: Dear Apple, hope you enjoyed your 6-core chips for iPhone 15 Pro. Meanwhile, we have truckloads of
5-cores that you - ahem - agreed to buy at bargain price. Remember?
- Apple: Aw, fine. Just stuff'em into Ipad Mini and add up some RAM, ok? We call it Project Shepherd's Pie

 

[bodonnell202]

How come a mini is cheaper than an iPhone lmao

Lots of reasons for that. It may have a larger screen but it is inferior tech to what is currently used in iPhones (excluding iPhone SE). Here's a few things that keep the price down
-LCD screen, 500 nit peak brightness
-No cellular modem (but can add one for $150 which gets it over the price of an iPhone 14 and close to the price of an iPhone 15)
-Inferior cameras
-Touch ID instead of Face ID
-No wireless charging

Honestly the only things that cost more in this compared to a (non Pro) iPhone are the battery and the aluminum (just because there is more of it).

 

[GraXXoR]

All I know is that iJustine is going to LOVE THIS THING!!!!!!!!!!!

Doesn't matter what it is ... what the specs are ... any drawbacks...
None of that matters

ITS AMAZING!!
GO APPLE GO!

Who tf is iJustine? They’ve got an i in their tag so I’m guessing they’re a bit of an Apple fan?

 

[bodonnell202]

Thanks, but the article citation was for multiple scores: "The new ‌iPad mini‌'s Geekbench scores reveal a range between 2,710 and 2,840 in single-core performance and 6,274 to 6,982 in multi-core performance"

All of both ranges are below the iPhone 15 Pro's average score on each benchmark, according to the article.

-R

You see that pretty consistently with devices with the same chip and (supposedly) the same clock speeds. For example the iPhone 14 Pro average geekbench score is a little higher than the iPhone 15 even though they both use the A16. Not sure if it comes down to some minor binning, differences in thermal headroom in different devices (causing them to throttle sooner or later under load) or just differences in the timing/iOS version of the test (the bulk of the tests for the iPhone 15 Pro were done when it was new under iOS 17 versus iPad Mini tests all being with iOS 18.

 

[EugW]

Who tf is iJustine? They’ve got an i in their tag so I’m guessing they’re a bit of an Apple fan?

Very popular* tech blogger/influencer, that Apple always gets to review their products, but she doesn't only review Apple products. (*On YouTube she has multiple millions of subscribers for example.)

She is not very technical in her reviews, but presents well with polished videos, which is probably why she is popular with mainstream consumers and not so much with geek types at MacRumors.

 

[Astuces iOS]

Faster USB C speeds if you need them. Now 10GBPS I think?

Yeah I forgot to say... This is another reason...

 

[ApplesAreSweet&Sour]

The best thing about Apple Intelligence is all the extra compute power those of us who don't care about Apple Intelligence are getting.

We really would probably have gotten another couple of 4GB-6GB RAM devices across Apple’s product lines if it weren’t for AI.

Even if Apple Intelligence turns out to be mediocre or terrible, at least we’re getting some good spec upgrades because of it.

 

[coolfactor]

Slight jelly 😵‍💫 Do you enjoy the pain every time you use your IPhone? I tend to not to buy or keep products that ruined the experience for me.

I've got the 13 Pro, and have never seen this jelly scrolling issue. Does it only show up for larger screens?

 

[coolfactor]

We really would probably have gotten another couple of 4GB-6GB RAM devices across Apple’s product lines if it weren’t for AI.

Even if Apple Intelligence turns out to be mediocre or terrible, at least we’re getting some good spec upgrades because of it.

It continues being a false goal to get more RAM. Endless RAM leads to lazy developers releasing boated apps, and suddenly that 16GB is no better than 4GB. I've appreciated Apple keeping a lower ceiling for longer.

 

[EugW]

Thanks, but the article citation was for multiple scores: "The new ‌iPad mini‌'s Geekbench scores reveal a range between 2,710 and 2,840 in single-core performance and 6,274 to 6,982 in multi-core performance"

All of both ranges are below the iPhone 15 Pro's average score on each benchmark, according to the article.

Thanks. I missed that. They all seem to be below 7000 multicore. Note that there are a ton of iPhone 15 Pro Max scores below 7000 as well but as you mentioned, the average is somewhat higher. We will see if this persists after a few more dozen benches come in.

The best thing about Apple Intelligence is all the extra compute power those of us who don't care about Apple Intelligence are getting.

We really would probably have gotten another couple of 4GB-6GB RAM devices across Apple’s product lines if it weren’t for AI.

Even if Apple Intelligence turns out to be mediocre or terrible, at least we’re getting some good spec upgrades because of it.

I really hope that carries over to the 11” iPad next year. Before Apple went all-in with AI, I was convinced the next upgrade to the iPad would be to 6 GB. Now I’m cautiously optimistic for 8 GB.

That’s also why I have not been swayed by any of the recent sales on the existing iPads.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

If I project my iPhone 16 onto my new Mini7 (and can I do this using usb-c?) what would happen?

You might want to clarify "project."

If you mean can you basically duplicate the app lineup/layout onto an iPad Mini 7, yes you can.

If you mean can you restore an iPhone 16 to an iPad 7 to basically replicate iPhone 16 into a bigger-screen device, no you can't. The "phone" app by Apple is only available for iPhone. There are other phone apps for iPads- search for VOIP apps- to make it double as a phone but not Apple's core iPhone app.

I use a VOIP app with cellular 6 myself as both my iPad and my phone and have for 11+ years (including iPad Mini 2 before this 6). It works just fine as a phone... just as iPhone works just fine as (also) a camera, a map, a flashlight, etc. Telephony is just an app... not necessarily a hardware form factor. Macs can be a 'phone' with VOIP apps too. iPod touch could be a "phone" too.

 

[ThailandToo]

The best thing about Apple Intelligence is all the extra compute power those of us who don't care about Apple Intelligence are getting.

The newest SoC is less than 15% faster. And the regular iPhones 15 and even prior would run Apple Intelligence by ChatGPT just fine. Apple by Tim just wants to force obsolescence and make MONEY for himself and shareholders. This is a fact. Don’t be fooled by marketing hype.

 

[raghu8912]

How come a mini is cheaper than an iPhone lmao

phone is water resistant, has lot of antennas, has a modem, better processors, better camera.

 

[Allen_Wentz]

The seventh-generation iPad mini has now appeared on Geekbench, confirming that it has 8GB of memory and revealing how the 5-core GPU version of the A17 Pro chip performs.

The new iPad mini, identified as iPad 16,2 on the Geekbench database, includes the same A17 Pro SoC first introduced in the iPhone 15 Pro series last year. The six-core chip is clocked at 3.78 GHz, which matches the iPhone version, but with a key distinction—a five-core GPU, which is one core less than the version found in the iPhone. This suggests that the iPad mini 7's A17 Pro chip is likely a "binned" version.

The new iPad mini's Geekbench scores reveal a range between 2,710 and 2,840 in single-core performance and 6,274 to 6,982 in multi-core performance, positioning it slightly below the iPhone 15 Pro in both metrics. For comparison, the iPhone 15 Pro's A17 Pro typically scores around 2,888 in single-core and 7,169 in multi-core tests.

Nonetheless, the benchmarks confirm that the new iPad mini offers a substantial performance upgrade over its predecessor. The sixth-generation iPad mini from 2021 achieved approximate single-core scores of 2,121 and multi-core scores of 5,367.

	Chip	GPU cores	Memory	Single-Core CPU Score	Multi-Core CPU Score	Metal GPU Score
iPad mini 6 (2021)	A15 Bionic	5	4GB	2,121	5,367	19,486
iPad mini 7 (2024)	A17 Pro	5	8GB	2,840	6,982	25,895
iPhone 15 Pro (2023)	A17 Pro	6	8GB	2,888	7,169	27,144

The Geekbench listings also confirm the seventh-generation iPad mini's adoption of 8GB of memory. While this was expected due to Apple Intelligence's 8GB memory, it was not actually known until now. The previous-generation iPad mini featured just 4GB of memory, marking a substantial upgrade on the latest device.

Article Link: iPad Mini 7 Benchmarks Confirm 8GB RAM, 5-Core GPU's Slower Speeds

Bad click-bait headline. More honest and appropriate would be iPad Mini 7 ~one-third faster than iPad Mini 6. That is kind of a big deal. As written the headline takeaway implies slower, which is false and misleading.

 

[Allen_Wentz]

It can't have features that the iPad Air don't have dude

Why not? Size clearly differentiates the Minis.

 

[Allen_Wentz]

That’s great but the mini 6 has never once not been up to any task I have put it up to. No reason to upgrade unless you’re coming from a much older device.

Unless you are like me, where access to WiFi 6E is a very big deal. Or if one has interest in AI. Or if one's apps have use for more RAM.

 

[EugW]

Bad click-bait headline. More honest and appropriate would be iPad Mini 7 ~one-third faster than iPad Mini 6. That is kind of a big deal. As written the headline takeaway implies slower, which is false and misleading.

I see where you’re coming from, but I disagree. I immediately understood what the headline meant.

 

[Allen_Wentz]

Doesn't every new generation of an Apple product have better performance than it's predecessor?

Yes normally faster, despite the totally misleading headline of 'slower speeds.' The one-third faster new Mini is actually quite a lot faster. Why MR chose to bury that fact I cannot fathom.