Apple has announced a new iPad mini with an 8.5-inch OLED display, an IP67 water and dust rating and the A20 Pro chip. It also costs a lot more. The Wi-Fi model starts at $699 with 128GB of storage. That is $200 above the $499 launch price of the previous iPad mini, which had the same 128GB base.
The Wi-Fi + Cellular model now starts at $849, up from $649. Pre-orders open Wednesday, October 28, at 10:10 a.m. PT. The tablet goes on sale Friday, November 6. The announcement lands two days before Apple’s October 28 Pro and Tell event in Los Angeles.
Dave Pakula, Apple’s vice president of Hardware Engineering, pitched it this way in the 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.
What the higher iPad mini price buys
The screen grows to 8.5 inches in the same footprint, thanks to bezels Apple says are 24 percent thinner. It’s the first iPad mini with OLED and the first with an IP67 rating. A sealed Acoustic Display enclosure helps with the rating, and the woofers now play through the display.
The front camera moves to the landscape edge, which suits video calls with the tablet held sideways. Apple claims up to 4.5x faster AI, up to 2.7x faster graphics and up to 60 percent faster multithreaded performance than the previous generation. Those are Apple’s best-case figures, not independent test results.
The base price rises 40 percent while base storage stays at 128GB. The 128GB and 256GB models get a 5-core CPU and a 16-core Neural Engine. The 6-core CPU and Dual 16-core Neural Engine are reserved for the $999 512GB model. Apple also mentions fast-charge support, but its press release doesn’t list a wattage.
iPad mini pricing and availability
- Wi-Fi: 128GB $699, 256GB $799, 512GB $999
- Wi-Fi + Cellular: from $849
- Nano-texture glass: from $899 (256GB and 512GB only)
- Education: from $649
- Monthly: $58.25 a month for 12 months (Wi-Fi), $70.75 (Wi-Fi + Cellular)
- Apple Upgrade: from $14.99 a month over 36 months (Wi-Fi), $18.21 (cellular)
Pre-orders open October 28 in 36 countries and regions, including the US. Apple hadn’t published India pricing as of publication. The Apple Pencil (USB-C) costs $79, the Apple Pencil Pro $129, and a new TechWoven Smart Folio $79.
Specifications
The iPad mini ships with iPadOS 27, with Apple’s new Siri AI arriving in beta. iPadOS 27.2 adds an extended display mode for external monitors.
- Display: 8.5-inch Super Retina XDR OLED, up to 1,200 nits peak, 600 nits full-screen, 2,000,000:1 contrast
- Chip: A20 Pro (2nm), 7-core GPU with Neural Accelerators
- CPU / Neural Engine: 5-core CPU, 16-core Neural Engine (128GB, 256GB); 6-core CPU, Dual 16-core Neural Engine (512GB)
- Durability: IP67 water and dust resistance
- Cameras: 12MP Wide rear with 4K60 video; 12MP Center Stage front on the landscape edge
- Connectivity: Apple N1 (Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, Thread); Apple C2 modem and eSIM on cellular models
- Design: 5.4 mm thin, midnight and starlight
Sources: Apple Newsroom, Apple Newsroom (2024)
