Apple Unveils iPad mini With OLED Display and A20 Pro

Apple has unveiled a redesigned iPad mini with an 8.5-inch OLED display, A20 Pro chip, and IP67 water and dust resistance. The smaller tablet also gets a thinner enclosure, a landscape front camera, and a new speaker system, with prices starting at $699 in the U.S.

Pre-orders begin Wednesday, October 28, in 36 countries and regions, with deliveries and retail availability starting Friday, November 6. The new model comes in midnight and starlight, with 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB storage options.

OLED Display and Thinner Design

The Super Retina XDR display moves the mini to OLED while keeping the same footprint as its predecessor. Bezels are 24 percent thinner, making room for the larger screen. It supports P3 wide color, a 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio, and peak brightness up to 1,200 nits, more than twice the previous model's rating. Full-screen brightness reaches 600 nits for SDR and HDR, with a 1-nit minimum for dark environments.

A nano-texture display option reduces glare in bright surroundings. The enclosure is 5.4 mm thick and lighter than the previous generation, while its IP67 rating covers laboratory testing at up to one meter of water for 30 minutes. Water resistance can decline with wear, and liquid damage is not covered by warranty.

A20 Pro Performance

Built on a 2-nanometer process with a package inspired by M-series chips, A20 Pro brings a 7-core GPU with Neural Accelerators and up to a 6-core CPU. Apple claims up to 60 percent faster multithreaded CPU performance, up to 2.7 times faster graphics, and up to 4.5 times faster AI performance compared with the previous iPad mini.

The GPU supports dynamic caching, hardware-accelerated mesh shading, and ray tracing. The 512GB configuration specifically includes a Dual 16-core Neural Engine, providing 32 cores for on-device AI workloads. Unified memory bandwidth more than doubles over the previous generation.

Audio, Cameras, and Wireless

Apple calls the new speaker system Acoustic Display. Woofers are paired through the display for bass, while tweeters sit between the glass and aluminum enclosure. The sealed design also helps the tablet achieve its water-resistance rating.

The 12MP Center Stage front camera moves to the landscape edge. On the back, a 12MP Wide camera supports Smart HDR 4 and 4K video at up to 60 fps, with a new Adaptive True Tone flash for photos and document scanning.

N1 adds Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and Thread, while Wi-Fi + Cellular models use Apple's C2 modem. Apple claims up to 50 percent faster cellular data speeds than the previous mini, with improved power efficiency. The tablet supports eSIM and fast charging.

iPadOS 27 and Apple Intelligence

The new model runs iPadOS 27, including resizable windows, window tiling, Exposé, and a Liquid Glass appearance slider. Extended display mode for an external monitor is coming with iPadOS 27.2, rather than being a launch feature of iPadOS 27.

Apple Intelligence features include upgraded Clean Up, Spatial Reframing, and Extend for photos, photorealistic Image Playground images, and Safari's Notify Me tool for monitoring changes to web pages. Processing uses on-device models and Private Cloud Compute, with daily usage limits for some server-based features.

Siri AI can work with personal context from messages, email, and photos, respond to onscreen content, and answer general questions. Apple's availability footnote specifies the beta in iPadOS 27.2, supporting English, French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, and Spanish. It is not currently available in the EU on iPadOS or to users under 13.

Accessories, Pricing, and Availability

Both Apple Pencil Pro and Apple Pencil (USB-C) are supported. Pencil Pro includes squeeze, barrel roll, and Find My, and costs $129 in the U.S., or $119 with education pricing. The USB-C Pencil is $79, or $69 for education customers.

A new $79 Smart Folio uses a two-panel design with an adjustable range of viewing angles. It attaches magnetically and comes in TechWoven fabric in navy blue or taupe.

The Wi-Fi model starts at $699, with Wi-Fi + Cellular starting at $849 and education pricing from $649. The launch follows reports that the OLED replacement would be more expensive than the previous mini, although the previously estimated $799 starting price was not Apple's announced price.

In the U.S., 12-month payment options start at $58.25 per month for Wi-Fi or $70.75 for cellular. Apple Upgrade instead offers 36-month leases starting at $14.99 and $18.21 per month, respectively. Those lease payments are not installment purchase prices.

The November 6 retail debut is now confirmed for Apple Stores and Apple Authorized Resellers. Apple says the tablet uses 35 percent recycled content overall, including recycled aluminum throughout the enclosure and recycled cobalt throughout the battery, with 40 percent renewable energy used in manufacturing across its supply chain.