The OLED iPad mini is launching this Friday, and we were able to test one out ahead of release. MacRumors videographer Dan Barbera has been using the new iPad for about a week at this point, and he shared his initial thoughts over on YouTube.
The iPad mini 8 is the biggest update the iPad mini line has gotten since the smaller tablet first came out 14 years ago. At 5.4mm, it's 0.2mm thicker than the iPhone Duo when the Duo is unfolded, and it's almost a full millimeter thinner than the iPad mini 7.
A millimeter doesn't sound like much, but the thinner design makes it much nicer to hold in the hand. Thinner also means less weight, and it's 255 grams (just over half a pound), down from 293 grams. It's the lightest iPad Apple has made. If you want a tablet that focuses on portability, the iPad mini is the way to go. Like the iPad Air and the iPhone Duo, the iPad mini sticks with Touch ID.
The iPad mini is the second iPad to get an OLED display after the iPad Pro. It's almost an iPad Pro mini, but Apple stopped short of giving it all the Pro features. The OLED iPad mini is limited to a 60Hz refresh rate and didn't get ProMotion. If all your other devices have ProMotion, you're likely going to notice the lack of it on the iPad mini when scrolling through content.
Bezels are slimmer and the display is 8.5 inches instead of 8.3 inches like the prior version, but the overall size is about the same. Minus the 120Hz refresh rate, it's what you want from an OLED display. Deep blacks make colors stand out, high contrast makes HDR content look more true to life, and there's no loss of brightness. In fact, it's brighter than before. You can get nano-texture for cutting glare if you get one of the higher-end models, and this is the first time it's been offered in an iPad mini.
Apple didn't do fun colors this time around, and you're limited to midnight and starlight. Pricing starts at $699 for 128GB of storage, so it's up $100 over the A17 Pro model. It's $200 more expensive if you look at pre-June prices, but at least the price hike comes with useful upgrades. You can also get 256GB or 512GB of storage, and there are Wi-Fi + Cellular models if you need cellular connectivity.
Size isn't the only design change Apple made to the mini. It has a redesigned acoustic system that does away with traditional speakers for a sealed enclosure. It's the first iPad rated IP67 for water and dust resistance, meaning it was tested to withstand submersion in a meter of water for up to 30 minutes. You're probably not going to want to use it to take underwater photos, but it will survive splashes from the pool or bathtub, or getting wet in the rain.
There are no speaker holes, and the iPad mini has an "Acoustic Display." There are tweeters under the glass display and woofers that pair through it, and the result is pretty good sound. Audio is on par with the iPad mini 7, and better in some cases with clearer highs and deeper bass. Apple upgraded the microphones too, and FaceTime calls and recordings sound clearer.
Apple used the A20 Pro for the iPad mini, so it has the same chip as the iPhone 18 Pro. The 128GB and 256GB models have a binned version with a 5-core CPU and 7-core GPU, while the 512GB model has a 6-core CPU with the 7-core GPU. If you want the fastest chip, you'll need to go with the 512GB model, but even the binned A20 Pro is overkill for most tasks on a tablet this small. You're unlikely to run into any speed limitations, and it's going to play the latest games without slowdowns. It feels super fast for everything from multitasking to photo and video editing.
The iPad mini has 12GB of RAM, which is on par with the base iPad Pro. With that RAM, the iPad mini can easily run AI tasks, and it should keep up with advances as Apple evolves Siri AI and its other Apple Intelligence features. Battery life hasn't changed, and it lasts for up to 10 hours when watching videos or web browsing. Fast charging is supported now, so you can charge to 50 percent in 30 minutes, but you'll need to buy a 35W or higher power adapter.
Apple moved the camera to the landscape edge of the iPad mini to match the other iPads, and it's a design that makes more sense for video calls. It uses a 12-megapixel Center Stage camera that's in other iPad models. A 12-megapixel Wide camera at the rear shoots video up to 4K.
There's an N1 chip in the iPad mini for Bluetooth 6 and Wi-Fi 7, so you may notice connectivity improvements. Cellular models have the C2 chip with sub–6GHz 5G support. You can connect the iPad mini to a 4K display using the USB-C port, and it supports extended display mode in iPadOS 27. Like the prior model, the iPad mini 8 works with the USB-C Apple Pencil and the Apple Pencil Pro.
We only got a week with the iPad mini, but it's clear this is a worthwhile upgrade. If you have an iPad mini 6 or older and you use it often, the thinner chassis, OLED display, slimmed-down bezels, faster chip, and water resistance are worth the cost.
The OLED iPad mini is available for pre-order, and it will launch on Friday, November 6.
