New iPad mini Brings OLED and A20 Pro for $699

Apple unveiled the new iPad mini on October 26, 2026, and calls it the biggest update ever for its smallest tablet. The eighth-generation model adds an 8.5-inch OLED display, an A20 Pro chip, water and dust resistance, and a thinner, lighter design than before. It also comes with a higher price, starting at $699. Here is what is confirmed about the release date, the specs, and the cost.

New iPad Release Date, Price, and Colors

Pre-orders open Wednesday, October 28 at apple.com and in the Apple Store app in 36 countries and regions, including the US, and MacRumors says the pre-order window opens at 10:10 a.m. The first orders arrive Friday, November 6, when the tablet also reaches stores. It comes in 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB configurations, in Midnight and Starlight.

The 128GB Wi-Fi model starts at $699, and PhoneArena lists the 128GB cellular model at $849. In Europe it starts at 749 euros, and in the UK at 699 pounds, per GSMArena. The 256GB and 512GB models offer an optional nano-texture glass display for $100 more, according to 9to5Mac.

The price is a notable jump. MacRumors notes the previous iPad mini launched at $499 in 2024, Apple raised it to $599 in June, and the new model's $699 starting price means two increases in a single year. Apple Pencil Pro costs $129 and Apple Pencil (USB-C) $79, and Apple says the new TechWoven Smart Folio, in navy blue and taupe, costs $79.

Does the New iPad Support the Latest Apple Pencil?

Yes. The new iPad mini supports Apple Pencil Pro, which Apple says delivers the ultimate pencil experience, and the Apple Pencil (USB-C). Pro adds squeeze, barrel roll, and Find My support and costs $129, versus $79 for the USB-C model. Both are sold separately.

Ways to Buy and Save

Apple's press release breaks the cost into monthly payments. The Wi-Fi model is $58.25 per month for 12 months and the cellular model $70.75, available when you choose Apple Card Monthly Installments as your payment option at checkout, which Apple says carries 0 percent APR and 3 percent Daily Cash back up front for customers who use Apple Card. Apple Upgrade leasing starts at $14.99 per month for a 36-month lease on the Wi-Fi model and $18.21 for the cellular model, with low monthly payments and the option to upgrade at the end of your term, though ending a lease early can mean a substantial charge.

Education pricing is available to college students and educators and starts at $649, or $54.08 per month for 12 months. You can also trade in an eligible device for credit toward the new iPad mini, and Apple says choosing Apple Card Monthly Installments applies that credit instantly.

Is the New iPad Suitable for Students or Professionals?

Yes, the new iPad mini suits students and professionals who value portability. Apple pitches it at creators, doctors, and field workers, with education pricing from $649 for college students and educators. Its 8.5-inch screen and Bluetooth keyboard support are lighter-duty than the iPad Air, which supports Magic Keyboard.

OLED Display and Acoustic Display

The headline upgrade is the screen. Apple says the new 8.5-inch OLED panel reaches 1,200 nits of peak brightness, more than double the previous model, with a 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio, P3 wide color, and True Tone. GSMArena adds a resolution of 2,316 by 1,512 pixels and a 60Hz refresh rate, so ProMotion has still not reached the mini, and Macworld notes it peaks at 1,200 nits against 1,600 on the iPad Pro display. Apple's optional nano-texture glass is the same finish users love on iPad Pro.

Apple fit the larger display without growing the tablet. The new design is 5.4mm thick, 14 percent thinner and 13 percent lighter than the previous model per Apple's product page, with bezels 24 percent thinner. Engadget puts the Wi-Fi model at 0.56 pounds, down from 0.65 pounds, and the cellular model at 0.58 pounds, and Apple pitches the lighter design as easier to carry one-handed.

The most unusual change is the audio. Apple calls it its first Acoustic Display, with woofers paired through the screen and custom tweeters hidden between the glass and the aluminum, which eliminates speaker holes, per MacRumors. Apple promises more volume and punchier bass, and Engadget says it is curious how it sounds in practice.

A20 Pro Performance and Storage Tiers

The new iPad mini runs on the A20 Pro, the same chip as the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Duo, built on a 2nm process with Neural Accelerators in each GPU core. Apple says it delivers up to 60 percent faster multithreaded CPU performance, up to 2.7x faster GPU performance with hardware-accelerated ray tracing, and up to 4.5x faster AI processing than the previous generation, with double the memory bandwidth.

There is a catch. 9to5Mac and GSMArena note the 128GB and 256GB models get a binned chip with a five-core CPU, while the 512GB model has a six-core CPU and the faster Dual 16-core Neural Engine, so storage choice affects performance.

The tablet ships with iPadOS 27 and the next generation of Apple Intelligence. Apple says Siri AI can help with work or creative projects, and iPadOS 27.2 adds extended display mode for external monitors. Siri AI arrives in beta but not in the EU, per PhoneArena, and Apple says it relies on on-device processing and Private Cloud Compute, describing privacy as a fundamental human right.

Is the New iPad Mini Worth the Price?

That depends on what you want from a small tablet. Engadget notes the price hike is inevitable given the redesign, and PhoneArena points out that $699 puts the mini just one step below the M4 iPad Air. Basic Tutorials says the mini now delivers almost everything fans asked for, including OLED, more power, water resistance, and a front camera in the right place, but that the price has risen significantly.

What Is the Difference Between the New iPad, iPad Air, and iPad Pro?

The new iPad mini, iPad Air, and iPad Pro differ in size, screen, and chip. The mini has an 8.5-inch OLED and A20 Pro from $699, the Air an 11 or 13-inch LCD and M4 from $749, and the Pro a Tandem OLED, M5, and Face ID from $1,199.

Cameras, Connectivity, and Battery

Apple moved the 12MP Center Stage front camera to the landscape edge, which Engadget calls a long-overdue fix, though there is still no Face ID. Macworld notes Touch ID stays in the top button. The 12MP Wide back camera records 4K video at up to 60 frames per second with Smart HDR 4, and an Adaptive True Tone flash improves low-light photos and document scanning.

Connectivity improves with Apple's N1 chip, which brings Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and Thread, and Apple says N1 delivers better performance on 5GHz Wi-Fi networks. The cellular model gets Apple's C2 modem, which Engadget says delivers up to 50 percent faster cellular data speeds with greater power efficiency, though Apple notes a data plan is required for 5G and eSIM makes it easy to activate one. Apple shows the tablet streaming Ted Lasso on Apple TV during a FaceTime SharePlay call. The sealed body has an IP67 rating, meaning it should withstand dust and immersion in a meter of fresh water for up to 30 minutes.

GSMArena lists an 18.9Wh battery, and Apple says battery life stays roughly the same, at up to 10 hours of video or web browsing over Wi-Fi and nine hours over cellular. A 35W or stronger adapter charges the battery to 50 percent in about 30 minutes.

iPad mini and the Environment

Apple says the iPad mini is made with 35 percent recycled material by weight, including 100 percent recycled cobalt in the battery, which reduces the need to mine new material and the carbon emissions that come with it. It is manufactured with 40 percent renewable electricity, and Apple says using renewable sources like wind and solar instead of fossil fuels across its global supply chain significantly reduces carbon emissions from making Apple products.

The tablet ships in 100 percent fiber-based paper packaging as "part of our commitment to remove plastic" from the packaging of all Apple products, and Apple says that in most places you can put the entire box into your household recycling bin. You can also bring Apple packaging to any Apple Store for recycling, and new Apple products follow the same approach.

To protect the earth’s precious resources, Apple suggests trading in, passing down, or recycling old devices, with free, secure recycling at Apple Stores. It also points to Optimized Battery Charging, which extends the lifespan of your batteries by learning your charging habits and delaying the final charge from 80 to 100 percent until you are likely to need it. The broader goal is bringing net emissions to zero across Apple's entire carbon footprint by 2030.

What Else Apple Launched This Week

The iPad mini was the first of several launches ahead of Apple's third fall event, Pro and Tell, on October 28. Engadget reports Apple also released an M6-powered iMac starting at $1,499 and an M6 14-inch MacBook Pro starting at $1,999, both available November 6, and says a touchscreen MacBook is expected at the event.