Apple updates the iPad Mini with a larger OLED display

Apple announced a new iPad Mini with a larger, 8.5-inch OLED display. The company revealed the new device just days before its “Pro and tell” event on Wednesday. The iPad Mini starts at $699 for the Wi-Fi-only model, and $849 for Wi-Fi and cellular.

At 5.4mm thick, the iPad Mini is thinner and lighter than its predecessor. It also has bezels that are 24 percent slimmer, allowing the device to maintain the same small form factor with a display that’s slightly larger than the previous generation’s 8.3-inch screen. The iPad Mini offers a peak brightness of up to 1200 nits, along with a 1-nit minimum brightness that could make it easier on the eyes in areas with dim lighting.

The new device still doesn’t come with Apple’s ProMotion technology for smoother scrolling, as the technical specs say it supports up to 4K resolution at a 60Hz refresh rate.

Aside from an OLED display, the new iPad Mini features an upgraded A20 Pro chip capable of running on-device AI models. This enables support for some of Apple’s new Siri AI features, including the ability to tweak the expressiveness and pace of the assistant’s voice.

Additionally, Apple says the iPad Mini comes with a new “Acoustic Display,” which it describes as including “specially designed woofers” that are “paired through the display to produce punchier bass and more volume.” It also has custom tweeters between the device’s glass and aluminum enclosure “for clearer highs.”

Some other updates include a 12MP front-facing camera that’s now on the long edge of the iPad Mini, making it easier for video calls in landscape orientation. It has an IP67 rating for protection against water and dust, in addition to Apple’s next-gen C2 cellular modem and in-house N1 networking chip. Apple promises up to 10 hours of battery life when watching videos or browsing the web on Wi-Fi.

This new iPad Mini follows Apple’s 7th-generation version released in 2024, which arrived three years after the 6th-generation model in 2021. That 7th-generation iPad Mini, which started at $499, was primarily a spec bump, with the A17 Pro chip, support for the Apple Pencil Pro, and an upgrade to 128GB base storage. In his review, David Pierce called it a “new low for the product” that “feels like an iPad designed by a supply chain, not by someone who actually wants you to like the product.”

The upgraded iPad Mini comes ahead of a string of other rumored product launches that could take place this week, which could include a touchscreen MacBook Pro, along with an M6-equipped MacBook Pro and iMac.

Preorders for the new iPad Mini start on Wednesday, October 28th, with availability on November 6th. The iPad Mini is available in “midnight” and “starlight” colors, along with 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB configurations. There’s an option for a glare-reducing nano-texture display as well.