iPad mini goes OLED with A20 Pro and IP67, from $699

Two days before its "Pro and Tell" event, Apple has announced the all-new iPad mini in a press release, calling it the biggest update the small tablet has ever had. The headline changes are an OLED display, the A20 Pro chip and, for the first time on an iPad mini, IP67 water and dust resistance.

Bigger OLED screen, same footprint

The display grows from 8.3 to 8.5 inches thanks to bezels Apple says are 24% thinner, while the overall footprint stays the same. It is a Super Retina XDR OLED panel with up to 1200 nits peak brightness (more than twice the previous model), 600 nits full-screen brightness for SDR and HDR, a 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio and a 1-nit minimum for reading in the dark. A nano-texture anti-glare option is offered on the 256 GB and 512 GB models for an extra $100. Neither the press release nor the spec sheet mentions ProMotion, so 9to5Mac expects a 60 Hz panel.

The body is 5.4 mm thin (6.3 mm before) and weighs 255 g (297 g before). Colours are midnight and starlight.

A20 Pro, but read the storage fine print

A20 Pro is built on Apple's 2 nm process with a 7-core GPU that has Neural Accelerators in every core. Apple claims up to 4.5x faster AI, up to 2.7x faster graphics and up to 60% faster multithreaded CPU performance than the previous iPad mini, plus more than double the memory bandwidth.

There is a catch that 9to5Mac spotted on the spec page:

• 128 GB and 256 GB: 5-core CPU (2 performance "super" cores, 3 efficiency cores), 16-core Neural Engine.
• 512 GB: 6-core CPU (2 + 4), Dual 16-core Neural Engine.

If you plan to run on-device AI models, that difference matters; our NPU explainer covers why the Neural Engine is what handles those tasks.

Audio, cameras and connectivity

• Acoustic Display: woofers paired through the screen for more bass and volume, with tweeters hidden between the glass and the aluminium shell.
• Cameras: a 12 MP Center Stage front camera now sits on the landscape edge; the 12 MP rear camera records 4K at up to 60 fps and gains an Adaptive True Tone flash.
• Wireless: Apple's N1 chip brings Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6 and Thread. Cellular models use the C2 modem, which Apple says is up to 50% faster than before, and support eSIM.
• It runs iPadOS 27 and supports Apple Pencil Pro and Apple Pencil (USB-C).

Price and availability

The iPad mini starts at $699 (Wi-Fi, 128 GB) and $849 (Wi-Fi + Cellular). A new TechWoven Smart Folio costs $79. Pre-orders open on Wednesday, 28 October in 36 countries and regions, with deliveries and store availability from Friday, 6 November.

As 9to5Mac points out, that is the highest starting price an iPad mini has had, and the full-strength chip means paying $999 or more for the 512 GB model. If you're deciding whether a small tablet suits you at all, our tablet buying guide compares sizes, platforms and how much storage to get. The rest of Apple's line-up, including the expected touchscreen MacBook Pro, is due at the Pro and Tell event.