After years of rumors, Apple today finally announced a refreshed iPad Mini with an OLED display.
That display now stretches 8.5 inches on the diagonal, slightly up from the previous iPad Mini’s 8.3-inch display. However, the footprint largely remains the same due to a 24-percent reduction in bezel thickness.
Brightness also gets a boost, going up to 1,200 nits for HDR content. For standard content, however, brightness tops out at 600 nits. The display brightness can also go all the way down to 1 nit, which will come in clutch when using the tablet in a dark room.
Alas, the refresh rate remains at a measly 60Hz. In a world where $50 Android smartphones now have 90Hz refresh rates for their panels, it’s getting absurd to see a new Apple product with a lower refresh rate.
Taking a look at the exterior, the iPad Mini comes in a 5.4mm thin, a full millimeter thinner than its predecessor. The newer version is also lighter, weighing 263 grams versus its predecessor’s 297 grams.
The lighter weight could partially be due to the removal of the stereo speakers. In their place is what Apple calls the “Acoustic Display, which the company says pumps sound through the display. It also provides a sealed enclosure, giving the new iPad Mini an IP67 rating.
Under the hood is where things get a bit weird.
Regardless of the storage configuration, the new iPad Mini features Apple’s A20 Pro processor that debuted on the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Duo. That said, it’s not the same A20 Pro processor for every iPad Mini storage option.
Those who get the 512GB version will get the “proper” A20 Pro processor with two super cores, four efficiency cores, and the dual 16-core Neural Engine. The 128GB and 256GB versions, however, make do with a binned version of the A20 Pro. That means one fewer efficiency core and a Neural Engine cut in half.
In all fairness, you’re unlikely to notice any difference in day-to-day use. Binned or not, the A20 Pro in the iPad Mini is a decent step-up from the A17 Pro processor in the previous iPad Mini.
That calculus changes a bit when you consider the pricing.
The new iPad Mini starts at $699 for the 128GB version. It’s $100 more for the 256GB version and $300 more for the 512GB version. The nano-texture display, a first for the iPad Mini and restricted to the 256GB and 512GB versions, is a $100 upsell. Finally, the cellular version starts at $849 for 128GB of storage.
Those are some pretty big gulps, especially when you’re knocking on the iPad Pro’s door with the 512GB version of the iPad Mini. As such, you need to make sure you really want that small tablet feel to justify the cost.
Pre-orders are open now, with deliveries and in-store availability set for November 6.
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