Apple Unveils New iPad Mini with OLED Display, Frandroid Reports
Apple unveiled an iPad mini featuring an 8.5-inch OLED display, an A20 Pro chip, and IP67 water and dust resistance, starting at 759 euros in France, Frandroid reported. Presented in a corporate release on Monday, October 26, the device marks the most substantial revision in the compact tablet’s history. The launch brings significant hardware shifts after the 2024 model retained the identical chassis and LCD panel of the 2021 version.
Expanded OLED Screen in a Thinner Chassis
The updated screen measures 8.5 inches, expanding from 8.3 inches without increasing the physical footprint of the tablet, enabled by 24 percent narrower bezels. Frandroid noted that the traditional LCD panel gives way to a Super Retina XDR OLED display offering peak brightness of 1,200 nits and a floor of 1 nit for low-light reading. The panel transition provides noticeably deeper blacks and more saturated colors, particularly benefiting dark viewing scenes. Apple also offers an optional nano-textured glass treatment to reduce reflections, a feature previously restricted to the iPad Pro lineup. The chassis thickness shrinks to 5.4 mm compared to 6.3 mm previously, while the base configuration weighs 255 grams, making it the lightest generation since the original 2012 model.
iPad Mini Gains Water Resistance and Screen Audio
The new tablet introduces IP67 certification, marking the first time an iPad mini gains resistance to dust and temporary immersion in water up to one meter for thirty minutes. To maintain this watertight seal, Apple implemented an Acoustic Display audio system where woofers project sound directly through the screen, while tweeters remain hidden inside a sealed casing between the glass and the aluminum back. The front-facing 12-megapixel Center Stage camera is repositioned for horizontal use. On the rear, a 12-megapixel sensor supports 4K video recording at 60 frames per second alongside an Adaptive True Tone flash.
A20 Pro Chip Boosts AI and Graphics Performance
Driven by the 2-nanometer A20 Pro processor, the device achieves up to 4.5 times greater artificial intelligence performance than the preceding A17 Pro chip, alongside a 7-core GPU that integrates dedicated Neural Accelerators. According to Frandroid, the CPU delivers up to a 60 percent improvement in multi-core tasks, and graphics capabilities increase by up to 2.7 times. Only the 512GB storage configuration includes a doubled 16-core Neural Engine, totaling 32 cores. For wireless connectivity, the custom N1 chip introduces Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6, while cellular variants utilize a C2 5G modem that operates up to 50 percent faster.
iPad Mini Prices Rise Before October Pre-Orders
The base iPad mini A20 Pro starts at 759 euros for the 128GB tier in France, representing a 70-euro increase over the A17 Pro model. Frandroid noted that Apple previously raised the price of the preceding iteration from 559 to 689 euros in late June, citing rising memory costs. Despite the upward price movement, the compact device remains 60 euros less expensive than the M4 iPad Air, which starts at 819 euros. Pre-orders open on Wednesday, October 28, alongside the new Smart Folio, with customer shipments scheduled to begin on Friday, November 6, across 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB storage capacities.
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Apple unveils all-new iPad mini: OLED, thinner design, more https://t.co/S11KePf8oG by @ChanceHMiller
Apple unveils iPad mini (A20 Pro) with an OLED display. pic.twitter.com/Wqv8KgXccE