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I like the Pencil Pro mainly for its new “squeeze” capability that triggers the tool palette. It feels more intuitive than double-tap, especially while quickly jotting notes down. It also has a built-in gyroscope sensor, which lets you change the orientation of the tools as you twist them, giving you finer control. You could save some cash and get the Apple Pencil USB-C instead, which the iPad Mini also supports, but that model skips many important features like wireless charging, pressure sensitivity, double-tap, and squeeze.
The Pencil Pro often dips to $95 on Amazon, so the $26 difference is easily worth it. But it bears repeating: Would it have killed Apple to maintain second-gen Apple Pencil support?
Snappy and Smart(ish)
Powering the iPad Mini is the A17 Pro, nearly the same processor as the one in the iPhone 15 Pro. Nearly. The chip inside the iPhone 15 Pro has a six-core CPU and six-core GPU, whereas the iPad Mini has a six-core CPU and five-core GPU. That means a small hit to graphics performance, but in reality, you’ll likely never notice this unless you’re playing the most graphically demanding games.
Not too long ago, I started reusing the older 2021 Mini (I needed a small tablet to watch TV on during a hospital stay with a family member), and honestly, I haven’t noticed a big leap in performance with the 2024 model—at least, with the everyday tasks most people are using these tablets for. I’ve used the seventh-gen Mini for note-taking, streaming Gilmore Girls in the background throughout the workday, checking emails when I don’t feel like grabbing my laptop, reading an ebook on the Kindle app, and watching YouTube videos. It can handle all of these tasks with ease.
Photograph: Brenda Stolyar