Apple Unveils Oled Ipad Mini Starting At $699
The redesigned tablet adds an 8.5-inch OLED screen and A20 Pro chip, with preorders opening October 28.
Apple has announced a new iPad mini with an 8.5-inch OLED display, an A20 Pro chip and a starting price of $699 for the Wi-Fi model. The Wi-Fi and cellular version starts at $849. Unveiled ahead of Apple’s Wednesday “Pro and Tell” event, the tablet will be available for preorder on October 28 and go on sale November 6.
Table of Contents
A larger screen in a smaller design
The OLED display grows from 8.3 inches on the previous model to 8.5 inches, while bezels are 24 percent thinner, according to Engadget and The Verge. The Verge says the new iPad mini retains its compact form factor; TechCrunch reports that it is thinner and lighter than its predecessor, at 5.4mm thick.
Apple says the screen reaches up to 1,200 nits of peak brightness and 600 nits across the full display for both SDR and HDR content. TechCrunch reports a 2 million-to-one contrast ratio and support for the P3 wide color gamut. A glare-reducing nano-texture option is available, though The Verge says it is limited to the 256GB and 512GB models. The Verge also notes that the device does not include ProMotion and has a 60Hz refresh rate.
Chip, sound and connectivity
Apple is emphasizing the A20 Pro’s AI capabilities. According to TechCrunch, Apple claims up to 4.5 times faster AI performance than the previous iPad mini and up to 60 percent faster multithreaded CPU performance. The Verge says the chip can run on-device AI models and supports new Siri AI features. The reports differ on the CPU configuration: TechCrunch describes a six-core CPU, while The Verge says the 128GB and 256GB models have five cores and the 512GB version has six.
The new “Acoustic Display” incorporates woofers that Apple says provide deeper bass and greater volume. Engadget and The Verge also report tweeters positioned between the touchscreen glass and aluminum enclosure. Other changes include a 12-megapixel front camera on the tablet’s long edge for landscape video calls, an IP67 water- and dust-resistance rating, and Apple’s N1 networking chip and C2 cellular modem.
Price and availability
The iPad mini comes in midnight and starlight, with 128GB, 256GB or 512GB of storage. At $699, the Wi-Fi model costs $200 more than the previous generation did at launch, according to Engadget and The Verge. The Verge says Apple promises up to 10 hours of battery life for video playback or web browsing over Wi-Fi.
Sources
This story was compiled by AI from the reports below. Read the originals for the full details.