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Apple iPad mini with A20 Pro and OLED: $699, 8.5-inch screen, release 6 November

Apple's redesigned iPad mini gets its first OLED display and an IP67 rating, and costs $100 more than the model it replaces, according to The Next Web.

audiotale.net team

· 5 min read

Written by AI from the sources linked below. How we use AI

On this page
  1. Key points
  2. What happened
  3. Background
  4. How it works
  5. What it means
  6. What we don't know yet
  7. What to watch next
  8. Sources

Apple on Monday 26 October 2026 announced a redesigned iPad mini with its first OLED screen, a 2-nanometre A20 Pro chip and an IP67 water and dust rating. It starts at $699 in the US, $100 more than the model it replaces according to The Next Web. Pre-orders open on Wednesday 28 October and the tablet reaches stores on Friday 6 November.

Key points

  • The new iPad mini has an 8.5-inch Super Retina XDR OLED display with 1,200 nits peak brightness (Apple), up from 8.3 inches on the previous model (The Next Web).
  • It uses the A20 Pro chip, which Apple says is built on a 2nm process, and claims up to 4.5x faster AI performance, 2.7x faster graphics and 60% faster multithreaded CPU performance than the previous generation.
  • US prices start at $699 for Wi-Fi and $849 for Wi-Fi + Cellular; storage is 128GB, 256GB or 512GB. Education pricing starts at $649.
  • Pre-orders begin 28 October in 36 countries and regions; availability starts 6 November.
  • Apple does not state how much RAM the tablet has, and does not mention a 120Hz refresh rate in its announcement.

What happened

Apple's announcement, titled "Apple gives iPad mini its biggest update ever", describes a tablet 5.4 mm thin, lighter than before, with bezels 24% thinner than the previous model. It comes in midnight and starlight, and carries an IP67 rating for dust and water resistance. The Next Web adds that the rating comes from Apple's lab tests, with immersion to a depth of up to one metre for 30 minutes.

Display. The 8.5-inch OLED panel supports the P3 wide colour gamut. Apple quotes up to 1,200 nits peak brightness, 600 nits full-screen brightness for SDR and HDR content, a 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio and a 1-nit minimum. TechCrunch notes that peak brightness is more than twice that of the previous model. A nano-texture glass option is available, though neither Apple's announcement nor The Next Web's report gives its price or which configurations include it. Apple's text does not mention ProMotion or any refresh rate, and neither does The Next Web, so we do not know whether the panel runs above 60Hz.

Chip. The A20 Pro has a CPU Apple describes as "up to" six cores and a seven-core GPU with a Neural Accelerator in each core. The "up to" matters: The Next Web, citing Bloomberg, reports that the 128GB and 256GB models have five CPU cores and only the 512GB model has six. Apple says the 512GB model also has a dual 16-core Neural Engine. Apple says memory bandwidth is more than double the previous generation's, but gives no RAM capacity. Apple's performance figures are comparisons against the previous generation, and TechCrunch notes the baseline for the 60% figure is not named.

Connectivity. A new N1 wireless chip supports Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6 and Thread. Cellular models use Apple's C2 modem, with up to 50% faster cellular data speeds and eSIM. Fast charging is supported.

Cameras and audio. A 12MP Center Stage front camera sits on the landscape edge, and a 12MP rear camera records 4K video at up to 60 frames per second. Apple calls the speaker system "Acoustic Display": woofers paired through the display and tweeters hidden under the glass.

Software. The tablet ships with iPadOS 27. Apple says its AI-enabled Siri arrives in beta with iPadOS 27.2, in limited languages and regions, not in the EU and not for users under 13. Extended display mode also arrives with 27.2, so neither is available on day one.

Background

The iPad mini has been Apple's smallest tablet for years and one of its last big products without an OLED panel. The previous model used an 8.3-inch LCD. Over 2026, rumour sites expected an OLED version; PhoneArena's pre-launch summary noted that estimates for the price ranged from $599 to about $799 and that the chip might be the A19 Pro or the A20 Pro. The announcement answered most of those: A20 Pro, OLED, $699.

Price is the most discussed change. The Next Web puts the previous model's starting price at $599, making the new base price $100 higher, and says a fully configured new iPad mini costs $1,249. Other outlets describe the jump from the 2024 launch price of $499; because the older model's price changed, we compare against the $599 figure from The Next Web, and note that other sources use different baselines.

How it works

The headline hardware changes work together. An OLED panel lights each pixel individually, which is why Apple can quote a 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio and a 1-nit minimum brightness; those numbers are Apple's specification, not independent measurements. The 2nm A20 Pro is aimed at on-device AI: Apple's Neural Accelerators in each GPU core are the basis of the 4.5x AI claim, which applies to workloads that can use them. The IP67 rating is a lab-tested standard, not a guarantee against every liquid.

What it means

For buyers. At $699 the iPad mini now costs close to the iPad Air, as PhoneArena's headline puts it. Whether the small size is worth that depends on how much you value portability against screen area. The 128GB base model at $699 has five CPU cores according to Bloomberg; per Apple and Bloomberg the six-core chip and the dual Neural Engine are on the 512GB model only. Accessories add up: the TechWoven Smart Folio costs $79, Apple Pencil Pro $129 and Apple Pencil (USB-C) $79, all sold separately.

For developers. The A20 Pro and its Neural Accelerators give a small tablet capable on-device machine learning, and the new Siri hooks in iPadOS 27.2 matter for apps that integrate with it, but that arrives in beta and not everywhere. Test on both the five-core and six-core configurations if you target performance-sensitive features.

For the market. An OLED mini with a water rating moves the product closer to the iPad Air and Pro in features while keeping the size. Competing small Android tablets are cheaper, but we did not compare specific models, so we make no claim about them.

What we don't know yet

  • RAM capacity, which Apple does not publish in the announcement.
  • Whether the display runs at 120Hz.
  • The nano-texture glass price and which configurations offer it.
  • Real-world battery life, brightness and thermal behaviour; the first independent reviews are not out yet.
  • Exact US prices for the 256GB tiers, which neither Apple's announcement nor The Next Web states.

What to watch next

Pre-orders on 28 October, release on 6 November, and the first independent reviews around then. Also iPadOS 27.2, which brings the Siri beta and extended display mode, and any teardown that confirms the memory size and core counts.

Sources

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audiotale.net team

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