I doubt if most folks are as aware as you are and immediately understood what the headline meant. I did not, until I realized that they were talking about chip cores and comparing to phone chips instead of to iPad Mini 6.
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iPad Mini 7 Benchmarks Confirm 8GB RAM, 5-Core GPU's Slower Speeds
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I had heard there were production issues with that 3nm production...but is this actually what these variants of the A17 Pro are? Versions that have a 6th core still on the chip...but broken? I had assumed they kept the A17 Pro chip production from a manufacturing standpoint, but modified it for the Mini to have it lack the 6th core.
"Over the years" is mostly irrelevant. Presumably those of us buying a Mini7 at the end of 2024 want it to be capable of running 2025 and beyond app versions on it rather than what we ran on some tablet five years ago. Conversely, if 2019 apps still work there is no need to upgrade.
Apple has clearly telegraphed for years now that operations will be needing more RAM. E.g. the max RAM available in my 2016 MBP was 16 GB, but my M2 MBP has 96 GB in it, a 6x increase. Then M3 MBPs got 128 GB RAM available.
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Wafers have good parts and less good parts. Vendors efficiently plan on using the less good parts on their lower end devices.
Yes, this is N3B, which is the node which TSMC doesn't encourage companies to use. However, this chip was already in production for the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max, and using this binned chip with one failed (or deactivated GPU core) in the iPad mini allows Apple to salvage chips that might have otherwise gone into the dust bin.
There would be no point to create a second nearly identical chip with one less GPU core. The cost would be far, far too great, especially for something as low volume as the iPad mini. This chip may again be used for the higher volume 11" iPad (non-Air, non-Pro) in 2025, but even then the volumes would not justify creating that second nearly identical chip. It makes much, much more sense to just bin the chips by GPU core count.
I think at least one of those devices (next iPhone SE or Apple TV) will get an A18, possibly both.
It's certainly relevant for me and relating my story. Almost 6 years later my Mini 5 runs like a top in all aspects. Do I assume that will be the same when Apple release updated AI software? Of course not, that would be silly. I do remember the whines back then that 3GB was not enough at the time and Apple was evil. Turns out 3GB was perfect.
Same thing is happening today with 8GB of RAM in a Mini 7. People, apparently self-described AI experts, saying 8 GB won't be enough for running Apple's upcoming AI software, suggesting Apple's being nefarious/evil/sleazy. And their new iPad will be instantly obsolete. Yeah... that's a sure fire way to win customer satisfaction and long term loyalty to the brand.
To them I say don't buy it. Purchase a competitor tablet and find happiness.
OR... instead... wait for it: Don't purchase a Mini 7 on launch day. Simply wait a few weeks or a month to when Apple releases the updated AI software, and read the reviews before making a purchase decision. Apparently no one thought of doing that.
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Can you efficiently use an iPhone in landscape orientation as a computer? 🤔
And about screen area, some math:
- going from a 50" TV to a 60" TV, both with same 16:9 aspect ratio, the width is 20% bigger, the height is also 20% bigger, and the total area is 44% bigger not just 40% bigger
- an hypothetical 50" 4:3 TV would have more screen area than a 50" 16:9 TV
So the iPad mini's screen area is not just 44% bigger than iPhone Pro Max's, it's more than that, due to the aspect ratio being more close to a square on the iPad mini.
Let's calculate:
- iPad mini 7: 2266 x 1488 pixels at 326 ppi = 6.951" x 4.564" = 31.727 in2
- iPhone 16 Pro Max: 2868 x 1320 pixels at 460 ppi = 6.235" x 2.870" = 17.891 in2
31.727 in2 / 17.891 in2 = 1.773
So it's 77.3% more screen area!
And more: the iPad mini's aspect ratio, being more close to a square, makes that area more useful for computer tasks.
Just look at some Android tablets or Windows notebooks with 16:9 aspect ratio, although some of them have huge screens, they are not very good to work with.
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No it doesn’t. You basically invalidated your entire opinion, everything you just said, because jelly scroll doesn’t affect OLED displays, only LCD. That’s a fact.
You may be seeing jelly scroll, but that’s actually just your eyesight, or how your brain processes information. Maybe there’s a lag. 🤔
Not true. It would be nice if it was a global instant, but it’s not. Every screen refreshes pixel by pixel. It feels instant to most, but the average person can see from 60Hz OLED To 120Hz OLED. I am telling you some people can see it. My wife and I both see it on my iPad M4 with an OLED display also at 120Hz. Some displays are far worse than others. Probably depends on eyesight and brain processing. We are all in a matrix.
EDIT: Actually, one can see it on a high-speed camera recording also with a global shutter. Use one to record your OLED display of choice and see it. I do not see it on my Pixel 8 Pro, but it’s probably just minimized compared to my iPhone.
I thought OLED displays also refreshed from top to bottom? They can exhibit typical signs of this just as well, like tearing. Or am I missing something here?
Lol yes the binned chips have to go somewhere but the whole chip strategy feels so random nowI guess they have to do something to clear out the warehouse full of defective iPhone 15 Pro CPU's with a bad core...
Jelly scroll is due to pixels being updated one-by-one along a row, but starts all rows at the same time. No matter how Apple sets up hardware internally, LCDs will always exhibit “Jelly Scroll”. You aren’t going to get this effect with OLED, even if you scroll quickly.
All this talk about Apple “fixing” the issue, when the reality is that Apple cannot fix it. All they’re going to do is make jelly scroll happen in landscape mode instead of portrait.
I think people forget that the Mini has a larger chassis, so it the clock speed will remain at higher rates compared to iPhone under stress and heat.
Possibly because the Mini 6s GPU Also has 5 cores hence the decision.
Even when you mention heat the Mini’s size and thermals will help the A17 Pro better than the 15 pro models
Likely not. When we look at the leaked benchmarks, it's likely Apple compensates for the lack of a GPU core with higher GPU frequencies. Judging by how larger GPUs of the same architecture are usually more efficient under load (ex. a 4090 is more efficient than a 4080, relatively speaking), the mini's GPU probably requires more power for the same performance, or the same power for less performance.
Apple dropped a GPU core because they likely have millions of A17 Pro chips with a defective GPU core left over.
New iPad Mini 7 scores slightly lower than iPhone 15 Pro Max in an early Geekbench run
Apple quietly launched the new iPad Mini 7, which brings some notable hardware upgrades compared to its predecessor. The A17 Pro is one of the main highlights, but it scores slightly lower than the iPhone 15 Pro Max in early Geekbench runs.
www.notebookcheck.net
No! 16PM is crap - too small for ebooks and reading, and to big for a phone. Should be killed as a product, not sure why people keep buying them.
Really? I don't own a Mini but my mother does. When you grab a tablet that tiny it's natural to hold it in portrait and use your thumbs. Unless you have little hands, perhaps?
with a folio case on it is definitely easier landscape... but hey!
When I had my 7" tablet, I used it in landscape about 95% of the time.
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The slower GPU is not that much an issue because unlike the other iPads, the iPad mini is primarily sold as a media consumption device. I'd start asking questions if they slowed down the GPU's on the larger iPad Air models.
Then you should start asking questions, because the iPad Air has a binned M2 as well, with only 9 of the 10 GPU cores enabled. Basically the same thing that Apple is doing with the A17 Pro in the mini.