In fact, this year’s iPad Air and iPad mini releases feature an almost entirely parallel set of upgrades from their predecessors. In addition to the new chips and Apple Pencil Pro support, here are a few of the smaller things that have changed in the new iPad mini (and the M2 iPad Air).

The 2024 iPad mini is arguably the most powerful small tablet in the world. It's just not solving any of the practical problems that plagued its predecessor.

Apple introduced a braided USB-C charging cable with the iPad Pro in 2022, so the mini, which was updated in late 2021, missed out. And since it hadn’t received a refresh until this week, it was the only iPad that still had the old cable that’s not as nice nor as durable.