Apple has held an October event in three out of the past four years, but is an event this month still likely after today's surprise iPad mini

Apple on Tuesday launched its new generation of the iPad mini packed with AI features including writing tools and an improved Siri assistant, as the iPhone maker races to boost its devices with artificial-intelligence capabilities.

Apple just announced, in a somewhat understated fashion via a press release, a new iPad Mini. It’s the first upgrade for Apple’s smallest tablet since 2021. The new Mini starts at $499. It’s up for pre-order now and goes on sale next Wednesday.

The seventh-generation iPad mini looks likely to arrive in the coming days or weeks. Here’s everything we know.

Apple's 7th gen iPad Mini comes three years after the launch of the previous model, and it adds an A17 Pro chip for Apple Intelligence features and Apple Pencil Pro support.

The latest Apple iPad Pro tablets with the powerful M4 chip are all discounted to coincide with the Amazon Prime Day 2 sale.

While the new iPad mini is equipped with the A17 Pro chip that debuted in iPhone 15 Pro models, the iPad version of the chip has one downside.

The A17 Pro chip in the new iPad Mini also supports hardware-accelerated ray tracing, which makes the games and apps users install look far more realistic. Another big upgrade is Apple Intelligence, an AI-powered system that is supposed to give users personalized and context-aware assistance.

Apple on Tuesday announced a new generation of the iPad mini, coming three years after the introduction of the