Apple issued the 7th generation iPad mini, which was introduced with an A17 Pro chipset, also featured on the iPhone 15 Pro And iPhone 15 Pro Max. However, the official website states otherwise: the tablet only has a 5-core GPU, which appears to be a downgraded version of the A17 Pro.
Such chipsets are often referred to as binned because they do not go through the same quality control process during production. It’s entirely possible that the version with a 6-core CPU and 5-core GPU wasn’t powerful enough for the iPhones, but there was a batch large enough to equip the new iPads.
We should also point out that Apple discontinued the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max after the launch of the 16 Pro duo, meaning a few extra chips may have been set aside for the phones initially.
The chip would still perform well, just if one core was disabled to track performance. Since it concerns the A17 Pro, we expect the iPad mini (2024) to have Apple Intelligence with iOS 18.1 as soon as it’s released. The tablet is available for pre-order with a starting price of $499, and sales will begin on October 23.