Apple releases new iPad mini: 8.5-inch OLED display, A20 Pro chip
Apple has released the new iPad mini, featuring an 8.5-inch OLED display for the first time, with peak brightness more than doubled compared to the previous generation, and equipped with the 2nm A20 Pro chip. Apple claims CPU performance is up to 60% faster, graphics performance up to 2.7 times faster, and AI performance up to 4.5 times faster. The new device is about 15% thinner than the previous generation, with the Wi-Fi model measuring 5.4mm thick and weighing 0.56 pounds, and it also supports IP67 water and dust resistance and Wi-Fi 7. Pre-orders open on October 28, with sales starting November 6, at a starting price of $699 in the US.
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Apple today announced a new iPad mini with a larger 8.5-inch OLED display, a nano-texture display option, a thinner and lighter design, an A20 Pro chip, a new Acoustic Display audio system that eliminates speaker holes, a landscape front camera, Apple's N1 chip with Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6 support, IP67-rated water and dust resistance, and more.
With an OLED display, Apple said the new iPad mini delivers higher contrast and more than twice the peak brightness compared to the previous model, so expect content to have richer and more vivid colors compared to the previous LCD model.
Just like the iPad Pro, the iPad mini can now be configured with a nano-texture display, which reduces glare in bright environments. A nano-texture display is a $100 upgrade option available for models with 256GB or 512GB of storage only.
The new iPad mini is around 15% thinner and lighter than the previous model. Specifically, the new Wi-Fi model is 5.4mm thick and weighs 0.56 pounds, whereas the previous-generation Wi-Fi model is 6.3mm thick and weighs 0.65 pounds.
After debuting in the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Duo last month, the A20 Pro chip has now expanded to the iPad mini, but there are different versions of the chip depending on the storage capacity. Models with 128GB or 256GB of storage have a 5-core CPU, 7-core GPU, and a single 16-core Neural Engine, while configurations with 512GB of storage have a 6-core CPU, 7-core GPU, and a dual 16-core Neural Engine.
As already known, the A20 Pro chip is built with TSMC's advanced 2nm process and has Neural Accelerators in each GPU core. Apple says the A20 Pro chip offers up to 60% faster CPU performance, up to 2.7× faster graphics performance, and up to 4.5× faster AI performance compared to the A17 Pro chip in the previous iPad mini.
The new iPad mini features an innovative Acoustic Display audio system that eliminates speaker holes.
"Specially designed woofers are paired through the display to produce punchier bass and more volume," said Apple. "In addition, custom tweeters are now hidden between the glass and aluminum enclosure for clearer highs."
The new Acoustic Display system helps the new iPad mini to achieve IP67-rated water and dust resistance, which is a first for the device.
Introducing the new iPad mini with OLED displayAppleWatch on YouTube The new iPad mini can be pre-ordered starting Wednesday, October 28 at the specific time of 10:10 a.m. Pacific Time, and it will begin arriving to customers and launch in Apple Stores on Friday, November 6. In the U.S., pricing starts at $699.
There are only two color options available: Midnight and Starlight. Related Roundup: iPad miniTag: OLED GuideBuyer's Guide: iPad Mini (Coming Soon)Related Forum: iPad