The eighth-generation tablet starts at $699 with a larger 8.5-inch display, an A20 Pro chip, and IP67 protection against dust and water.
Apple introduced its eighth-generation iPad mini on Monday ahead of an upcoming product presentation, adding an OLED display, increased processing performance, and formal dust and moisture protection. TechRadar reported that the updated tablet starts at $699, which marks an increase over the starting cost of the previous version. According to CNET, this release represents the first time Apple has brought an IP67 water and dust resistance rating to an iPad, allowing the hardware to survive accidental submersions in tubs or pools.
A larger OLED panel and redesigned body
The revised tablet incorporates an 8.5-inch Super Retina XDR OLED display, which is 0.2 inches larger than the Liquid Retina panel found on the 2024 model. Apple maintained the tablet’s overall footprint by trimming the surrounding bezels by 24 percent. Peak screen brightness now reaches 1,200 nits, more than double the 500 nits offered on the prior generation, while preserving True Tone support and the wide P3 color gamut. The display refresh rate remains capped at 60Hz, leaving 120Hz support exclusive to the iPad Pro line.
Buyers purchasing models with 256GB or 512GB of internal storage can also select a matte Nano-Texture display finish for an extra $100. That glass treatment helps cut glare from indoor lighting and direct sunlight. Under the glass, Apple installed a speaker setup called Acoustic Display, which mounts custom woofers directly behind the screen and places tweeters between the aluminum frame and the display.
Apple also altered the exterior frame and available colors. The eighth-generation model measures 5.33 millimeters thick and weighs 254 grams, down from 6.35 millimeters and 295 grams on the seventh-generation tablet. When opened flat, the first Apple iPhone Duo measures that exact same 5.33 millimeters. Exterior colors have been reduced to Starlight and Midnight, dropping the purple, blue, and space gray finishes offered on older models. The front-facing 12-megapixel Center Stage camera now sits along the longer horizontal side of the tablet, matching the placement on Apple’s other models, while a 12-megapixel sensor and an Adaptive True Tone flash remain on the back.
Upgraded silicon and cellular speeds
Inside the chassis, the tablet runs on Apple’s 2-nanometer A20 Pro processor, though the exact silicon specifications depend on the chosen storage tier. Configurations with 128GB and 256GB of storage include a five-core central processor with two performance cores and three efficiency cores, alongside a seven-core graphics processor and a 16-core Neural Engine. Moving up to the 512GB tier provides a six-core central processor with two performance cores and four efficiency cores, paired with the same seven-core graphics chip and a dual 16-core Neural Engine.
Compared with the earlier A17 Pro hardware, Apple states the new platform delivers up to 60 percent faster multithreaded processor performance, 2.7 times faster graphics execution, and 4.5 times faster processing for artificial intelligence tasks. The architecture doubles unified memory bandwidth and supports full Siri AI features on iPadOS 27, along with full windowed multitasking.
Wireless connectivity receives an overhaul through two internal chips. An Apple-built N1 chip introduces Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and Thread networking. For cellular configurations, an updated C2 modem increases mobile data speeds by up to 50 percent compared to the seventh-generation cellular hardware.
Configurations and rollout schedule
The new iPad mini arrives at higher price points across all storage tiers. The 128GB base Wi-Fi model costs $699, £699, or AU$1,099, while the 256GB and 512GB models cost $799 and $999. Adding cellular connectivity raises the base model price to $849, £849, or AU$1,349. When the seventh-generation mini first reached stores two years ago, it started at $499, £499, or AU$799, before Apple raised the baseline cost to $599, £599, or AU$949 in June.
Apple will open preorders on Wednesday, October 28, 2026, at 10:10 a.m. Pacific Time, which corresponds to 1:10 p.m. Eastern Time and 5:10 p.m. Greenwich Mean Time. Retail deliveries and store availability will begin on Friday, November 6, 2026. The tablet works with the Apple Pencil Pro and the USB-C Apple Pencil, and Apple will offer a new TechWoven Folio Case in taupe and navy blue, though no official Magic Keyboard is planned.
