A:Answer Answer to question 1: No, unfortunately the iPad Mini 7 (nor any other iPad for that matter) can’t keep the same phone number as the same person’s iPhone on either the WiFi-only or cellular model iPads. However, the way to get around this is to go to the Settings app on your iPhone, find the Phone app, scroll down to Calls On Other Devices under Calls, and turn on for the other Apple devices you may own (iPads, MacBook, iMac).
Answer to question 2: No, unfortunately the iPad Mini 7 (as well as the 2024 iPad Pros and 2024 iPad Airs) is only compatible with either the Apple Pencil Pro or the Apple Pencil USB-C, and not the Apple Pencil 1st Gen nor Apple Pencil 2nd Gen nor the Apple Pencil lightning connector model. Apple did this to this year’s iPad Pro models and iPad Air models as well where Apple dropped compatibility with the Apple Pencil 2nd Gen (and Apple Pencils before it) for the iPad Pro 2024 series and iPad Air 2024 series, as well as the iPad Mini 7.
Hopefully this helps.