Apple introduced the first iPad mini with a larger OLED display on Monday. The upgrade delivers better contrast and richer colors than the LCD screen in the previous model.
In addition, the redesigned tablet features a faster A20 processor, improved water and dust protection … and a considerable jump in price.
“iPad mini is beloved for its fantastic portability, performance, and display by a wide range of users, from creators and small business owners to doctors, field service workers, and gamers,” said Dave Pakula, Apple’s vice president of hardware engineering, in a press release. “With a remarkably thinner and lighter design, a stunning new OLED display, the incredibly powerful A20 Pro, and water and dust resistance, the new iPad mini is a huge leap forward for users who love having the full iPad experience in the palm of their hand.”
OLED is the highlight of the latest and greatest iPad mini (A20)
Apple introduced the first iPad mini in 2012, offering a smaller, lighter alternative to its full-size tablet. The device proves particularly convenient for reading e-books, browsing the web, watching videos and playing games while on the go.
All that is improved with the larger OLED display in the iPad mini (A20). Each pixel generates its own light, so individual pixels can turn off completely when displaying black, rather than relying on a backlight. This also helps produce richer colors, more lifelike images and a wider viewing angle.
Plus, Apple made the screen larger, moving from an 8.3-inch screen in the previous version to an 8.5-inch panel by slimming down the screen bezels. And the display moves to a 2,316‑by‑1,512 resolution at 326 ppi.
Buyers can configure the iPad mini (A20) with a nano-texture display that reduces glare in bright environments.
Slimmer, lighter and better protected
Image: Apple/Cult of Mac
An OLED screen doesn’t need backlights, and it seems Apple used that to reduce the thickness of its newest tablet, going from 0.25 inches to 0.21 inches. The weight also dropped from 0.65 pounds to 0.56 pounds.
The iPad mini (A20) also features an IP67 rating to protect against water and dust. That’s more than just splash protection — the tablet can survive in water to a maximum depth of 1 meter for up to 30 minutes.
To achieve this, the tablet sports what Apple calls an Acoustic Display, with audio output coming from behind the screen, eliminating the need for speaker holes. “Specially designed woofers are paired through the display to produce punchier bass and more volume,” said Apple. “In addition, custom tweeters are now hidden between the glass and aluminum enclosure for clearer highs.”
A20 processor brings a jump in iPad mini performance
The previous iPad mini ran an Apple A17 processor. The new model is built around an A20 chip — the same as the one in the new iPhone 18 Pro models. Apple promises “up to 60 percent faster multithreaded performance for everyday tasks like editing photos and working across apps.”
Its graphics architecture, featuring dynamic caching and hardware-accelerated mesh shading and ray tracing, delivers up to 2.7 times faster graphics performance for gaming.
The new silicon brings 4.5x faster AI performance than the older tablet, according to Apple. And, of course, the tablet debuts running iPadOS 27, with Siri AI and a range of other artificial intelligence features.
Camera improvements, too
Image: Apple/Cult of Mac
The 12MP Center Stage front camera is now on the landscape edge — a much better place for FaceTime calls. This is a move already made by larger iPad versions.
The 12MP rear camera captures photos with Smart HDR 4 and records 4K video at up to 60 fps. A new Adaptive True Tone flash is intended to improve low-light photography and deliver better results when scanning documents.
Not everything changed
Despite its major upgrades, the new iPad mini (A20) retains several features of its predecessor, including its compact design, even though the display grew to 8.5 inches. It continues to come with Touch ID built into the power button rather than using Face ID. And it comes with a USB-C port for charging as well as connecting accessories like monitors and external drives.
The new iPad mini still comes in three storage options: 128GB, 256GB or 512GB.
And the small tablet retains support for Apple Pencil (USB-C) and Apple Pencil Pro, giving users two options for taking handwritten notes, drawing and marking up documents.
Battery life did not change, with Apple still promising up to 10 hours of surfing the web on Wi-Fi or watching video.
iPad mini (A20) comes with a price hike
The starting price for the iPad mini (A20) is $699. Its predecessor cost $499 at launch, though Apple later increased that to $599. There’s little doubt the ongoing RAMageddon global memory crisis forced the price hike.
Preorders for the tablet start Wednesday, October 28, in 36 countries, including the United States. It will begin reaching customers on Friday, November 6.
Ed Hardy has been writing full-time about tech for 26 years, and using it for much longer than that. His intro to Apple was a Macintosh SE/30 (which he still has), but now he uses a 13-inch iPad Pro as his primary computer.
That’s because he’s a “tablet first” type of guy. Rather than use a Macbook, he connects a keyboard case to the iPad. And instead of a desktop Mac, he connects his tablet to a 27-inch display and full-size keyboard. (So don’t try to tell him that everyone has to use a Mac to be productive.)
Before coming to Cult of Mac, Ed wrote for NotebookReview, TabletPCReview and Brighthand, as well as other sites.
