iPad mini Switches to an OLED Screen and Starts at $699 in the US

The iPad mini now has an OLED display, an A20 Pro chip built on a 2-nanometer process and an IP67 water and dust rating. Apple takes pre-orders from Wednesday, October 28, in 36 countries and regions, with deliveries and store availability from Friday, November 6. The 8.5-inch panel fits the footprint of the previous model, which Apple credits to bezels that are 24 percent thinner, and the tablet is 5.4 mm thick.

Apple rates the panel at 1,200 nits of peak brightness, more than double the previous generation, but only for HDR content; SDR and full-screen HDR top out at 600 nits. Minimum brightness is 1 nit and contrast is 2,000,000:1. The optional nano-texture glass, which cuts glare, is limited to the 256GB and 512GB configurations.

Apple ran its speed comparisons against the A17 Pro iPad mini in September, on preproduction A20 Pro units. All models have a 7-core GPU that Apple rates up to 2.7x faster. The up to 4.5x AI gain was measured as time to first token, using a 1,000-token prompt on a 4-billion-parameter model in the Locally AI app.

The CPU and Neural Engine claims depend on which storage tier a buyer picks. The up to 1.6x multithreaded CPU figure is based on the 6-core CPU running the Affinity Photo 2 benchmark. Only the 512GB model has that CPU, along with the dual Neural Engine that has twice the peak AI compute. The 128GB and 256GB versions have one core fewer and a single Neural Engine.

Apple's own N1 chip adds Wi-Fi 7 in countries that support it, Bluetooth 6 and Thread, according to Apple's tech specs, and cellular models get the C2 modem, which Apple says delivers up to 50 percent faster data than last generation. The 12MP Center Stage front camera moves to the landscape edge. The Acoustic Display design pairs the woofers through the display and hides the tweeters between the glass and the aluminum enclosure; Apple says its sealed enclosure helps the tablet reach IP67. The Wi-Fi model weighs 255 grams (0.56 pound) and the cellular model 263 grams.

US pricing starts at $699 for the Wi-Fi model and $849 with cellular. Both come in midnight or starlight, with 128GB, 256GB or 512GB of storage.

The tablet ships with iPadOS 27, which brings Siri AI in beta in English, French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese and Spanish. Apple says Siri AI is not currently available in the EU on iPad and that it is working with the EU to try to find a path forward.