Apple on Monday announced a redesigned iPad mini with an 8.5-inch OLED display, an A20 Pro processor, and an IP67 water-and-dust rating, with U.S. Wi-Fi models starting at $699¹.

The company said the tablet is 5.4 millimeters thick, thinner and lighter than the previous generation, and comes in midnight and starlight finishes¹. Apple said thinner bezels let the screen grow to 8.5 inches while keeping the same overall footprint¹.

Apple described the Super Retina XDR OLED panel as offering peak brightness of up to 1,200 nits, 600 nits of full-screen brightness for SDR and HDR, a 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio, and a 1-nit minimum¹. A nano-texture glass option is available¹.

A20 Pro is built using Apple’s 2-nanometer process, the company said, with a GPU that includes Neural Accelerators in each core and, on the 512GB model, a dual 16-core Neural Engine¹. Apple claimed up to 4.5 times faster AI performance, up to 2.7 times faster graphics, and up to 60 percent faster multithreaded CPU performance versus the prior iPad mini; those figures come from Apple’s own September 2026 testing¹.

The front camera is a 12-megapixel Center Stage unit on the landscape edge, and the rear camera is a 12-megapixel Wide sensor that records 4K video at up to 60 frames per second, Apple said¹. An Acoustic Display pairs woofers through the screen and hides tweeters in the enclosure¹.

Wi-Fi models include Apple’s N1 chip for Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and Thread where supported¹. Cellular models add the C2 modem, which Apple said can deliver up to 50 percent faster cellular data than the last mini, plus eSIM¹.

The tablet ships with iPadOS 27 and Apple Intelligence, including a beta of Siri AI that Apple said can use personal context and on-screen awareness¹. Apple said Siri AI is not currently available in the European Union in iPadOS and is not available for users under 13¹. Extended display mode arrives with iPadOS 27.2¹.

Customers can pre-order starting Wednesday, Oct. 28, in 36 countries and regions including the United States, with availability beginning Friday, Nov. 6¹. Configurations are 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB¹. Wi-Fi + Cellular starts at $849 in the U.S.; education pricing starts at $649¹. A TechWoven Smart Folio is $79, and the device supports Apple Pencil Pro and Apple Pencil (USB-C)¹.

Apple said the mini uses 35 percent recycled content overall, including recycled aluminum in the enclosure and recycled cobalt in the battery¹.

Sources

1. apple.comApple gives iPad mini its biggest update ever9:13 AM

Read the original at apple.com ↗