Apple gives latest iPad mini a substantial overhaul

Tomorrow, Apple is expected to announce a number of new devices, including a touchscreen-enabled MacBook.

One of the other devices also expected tomorrow was a new iPad mini, but Apple has instead decided to reveal it now, with it unveiling a completely overhauled version of its smallest tablet.

We say small, but this new iPad mini is slightly larger than previous iterations, sporting an 8.5″ OLED display. Apple is also making a Nano Texture version of the display available, which is the coating currently implemented on the iPhone Duo, but it’s unclear whether this model will be sold in all the markets that Apple operates.

Other notable changes in design include being thinner and lighter than its predecessor, and internally, the A20 Pro processor (same as the iPhone Duo) is present. Regarding the latter, Apple is stating that the new iPad mini is optimised for on-device AI.

“A20 Pro delivers a giant leap in performance for iPad mini, significantly boosting graphics and AI-intensive tasks. It is built using Apple’s latest 2-nanometer process technology and a new package inspired by M-series chips. Powered by a 7-core GPU with Neural Accelerators in each GPU core, iPad mini delivers up to 4.5x faster AI performance than the previous generation – perfect for AI tasks ranging from running on-device models in creative apps to running local LLMs,” Apple highlighted.

“And with the latest graphics architecture, including dynamic caching and hardware-accelerated mesh shading and ray tracing, graphics performance jumps by up to 2.7x — great for gaming and 3D rendering. A20 Pro also features up to a 6-core CPU for up to 60 percent faster multithreaded performance for everyday tasks like editing photos and working across apps,” it added.

Pre-orders for the new iPad mini start tomorrow, 28th October, for those in the US, with Apple also noting that it will launch in 36 other countries. We expect one of these to be South Africa, but pre-orders will likely only go live once the aforementioned touchscreen MacBook Pro and other new hardware is revealed soon.

As for Stateside pricing, the 2026 iPad mini starts at $699 for the WiFi only version and $849 for the WiFi and cellular model.

Full specifications for the 2026 iPad mini are as follows:

Apple iPad mini (2026)

Display

8.5″ Super Retina XDR OLED (2316×1512)

Dimensions

195.3mm x 132.6mm x 5.4mm

Weight

255g (WiFi), 263g (WiFi and Cellular)

Processor

Apple A20 Pro

RAM

12GB

Storage

Up to 512GB

Battery

5 034mAh

Rear Camera

12MP wide-angle

Front Camera

12MP ultra wide-angle

Connectivity

5G, WiFi 7, Bluetooth 6.0

Colours

Midnight, Starlight

RRP

From $699 (~R11 651)

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