Apple has given its smallest tablet its biggest overhaul in years. The new iPad mini, announced on Monday 26 October 2026, finally trades its LCD screen for OLED, grows to a larger 8.5-inch display, and runs on the A20 Pro chip that debuted in Apple’s latest iPhones. Pre-orders open on Wednesday 28 October, with the tablet reaching shops on Friday 6 November, priced from $699 in the United States. The announcement is already driving search interest in Pakistan, where “apple ipad mini” is among today’s fastest-rising queries.
Apple calls it the most capable iPad mini it has ever made, and on paper the claim is easy to understand: a brighter, higher-contrast screen, a much faster chip, water resistance for the first time, and a thinner, lighter body. There are caveats too, including a higher price and a screen that still runs at 60Hz. Here is everything that is new, what it costs, and what it means for buyers in Pakistan.
An OLED display at last, and a bigger one
The headline change is the screen. The new Apple OLED iPad mini carries an 8.5-inch Super Retina XDR OLED display, up from the 8.3-inch LCD panel on the previous model. Apple has trimmed the bezels by 24 percent, so the larger screen fits into roughly the same footprint as before.
Because each pixel produces its own light, the OLED panel delivers far deeper blacks and a 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio, with support for the P3 wide colour gamut. Full-screen brightness reaches 600 nits for standard and HDR content, while peak brightness climbs to 1,200 nits for HDR, which Apple says is more than twice the peak brightness of the previous generation. The panel has a resolution of 2,316 by 1,512 pixels.
Buyers who often work outdoors can also choose a nano-texture glass option, which cuts glare in bright light. It costs an extra $100 and is available only on the 256GB and 512GB models. One honest caveat: Apple’s specifications do not mention ProMotion, so the display remains at 60Hz rather than the smoother 120Hz found on the iPad Pro. For a tablet that now starts at $699, that is the most noticeable omission on the spec sheet.
A20 Pro power, with a storage catch
Under the screen sits the A20 Pro chip, built on an advanced 2-nanometre process. The chip first appeared last month in the iPhone 18 Pro and Apple’s foldable iPhone Duo, and it now brings the iPad mini firmly into Apple’s current generation of hardware.
Apple says the A20 Pro delivers up to 60 percent faster multithreaded CPU performance, up to 2.7 times faster graphics, and up to 4.5 times faster AI performance than the A17 Pro in the previous iPad mini, thanks in part to Neural Accelerators built into every GPU core. In practice that should mean smoother multitasking, faster photo editing, and far better handling of Apple’s on-device AI features.
There is, however, a catch tied to storage. The 128GB and 256GB models get a version of the A20 Pro with a 5-core CPU, a 7-core GPU and a single 16-core Neural Engine, while only the 512GB model gets the full 6-core CPU and dual Neural Engine. Most everyday buyers will never notice the difference, but anyone buying the top configuration does get the complete chip. The tablet ships with iPadOS 27, including the next generation of Apple Intelligence and Siri, and Apple says an upcoming iPadOS 27.2 update will add extended display mode when the mini is connected to an external monitor.
Thinner, lighter and now water-resistant
The new iPad mini is just 5.4mm thick, down from 6.3mm, and the Wi-Fi model weighs 255 grams, with the cellular model at 263 grams. It is Apple’s thinnest and lightest small tablet to date, and the difference should be noticeable for a device that is often held in one hand for reading, note-taking or gaming.
More importantly for everyday durability, the iPad mini now carries an IP67 rating for water and dust resistance, a first for the device. That means it is sealed against dust and can survive a short dip in shallow water, which is reassuring for a tablet that travels in bags, kitchens and classrooms.
The sealing is made possible by a new Acoustic Display audio system. Instead of speaker holes, specially designed woofers produce sound through the display itself for punchier bass and more volume, while custom tweeters hidden between the glass and the aluminium enclosure handle the higher frequencies. The familiar Touch ID button on the top edge stays, as does the USB-C port.
Cameras, connectivity and battery
On the camera front, the 12-megapixel Center Stage front camera has moved to the landscape edge of the tablet, so video calls look natural when the device is held horizontally, as on the latest iPad Pro and iPad Air. Around the back, the 12-megapixel Wide camera records 4K video at up to 60 frames per second with Smart HDR 4, and its True Tone flash is now adaptive, which Apple says improves both photos and document scanning.
Connectivity takes a similar step forward. Apple’s own N1 wireless chip brings Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6, with better performance on 5GHz networks and more reliable AirDrop and AirPlay, while cellular models get Apple’s C2 modem for up to 50 percent faster mobile data speeds and improved power efficiency.
Battery life is unchanged on paper, at up to 10 hours of web browsing over Wi-Fi, but charging is now faster: the tablet can reach 50 percent charge in 30 minutes with a 35W or higher power adapter. In the United States, Apple includes a 20W USB-C adapter and a USB-C cable in the box. The new mini also supports both the Apple Pencil Pro and the Apple Pencil with USB-C.
Price, colours and release date
In the United States, the Wi-Fi models cost $699 for 128GB, $799 for 256GB and $999 for 512GB, while cellular models start at $849. The matching TechWoven Smart Folio costs $79. There are just two finishes this time: Midnight and Starlight.
Pre-orders open on Wednesday 28 October at 10:10am Pacific Time, which is 10:10pm in Pakistan, and the tablet goes on sale on Friday 6 November across 36 countries and regions. The price rise will sting for some buyers: the previous iPad mini launched in 2024 at $499 and was raised to $599 in June 2026, so the new model costs $100 more than the outgoing version and $200 more than the original launch price. At $699 it also sits much closer to iPad Air territory, which makes the value question genuinely worth weighing before ordering.
What it means for buyers in Pakistan
For readers in Pakistan, the most important detail is what Apple has not announced: there is no Pakistan price or launch date yet, and the figures above are United States prices only. They should not be treated as official rupee prices, since imported stock in Pakistan typically carries its own pricing. Our iPad prices in Pakistan guide will be updated as soon as local pricing is confirmed.
Who should consider it? Owners of older iPad minis will feel the biggest jump, from the OLED screen and the A20 Pro chip to water resistance and the thinner body. Readers, students and note-takers who want a genuinely pocketable tablet also gain a lot. Those who already own the previous model, or who want a 120Hz display, have good reasons to wait and compare, especially given the price increase.
With pre-orders opening tomorrow and the tablet arriving in shops on 6 November, the new iPad mini is now the smallest tablet in Apple’s line-up and, on specifications alone, the most powerful one of its size the company has ever sold. Whether the OLED screen and the A20 Pro chip justify the higher price will become clear once the first reviews and Pakistan prices land.
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