Apple's new iPad mini OLED finally breaks cover – A20 Pro processor, 8.5-inch display, thinner and lighter

The OLED iPad mini is finally official. Long rumoured, Apple's smallest iPad has received its biggest upgrade in years, with an all-new OLED display that's also larger than ever.

Measuring 8.5-inches thanks to thinner bezels, the Super Retina XDR display is capable of displaying much deeper black levels and more accurate colours than previous mini models. It also features a peak brightness of up to 1,200 nits and a two million to one contrast ratio.

You can also order the new tablet with a nano-texture display, as featured on the iPad Pro and most recently, the iPhone Duo. This reduces reflections and makes the display feel and look more paper-like.

In addition, the new iPad mini gets a processor lift to the A20 Pro that you'll find in the latest iPhone 18 Pro phones (and the Duo). This allows the device to work with Siri AI and Apple Intelligence without compromises.

It's also a powerful chipset that's great for gaming, including ray tracing support.

The front-facing camera has been improved, too. It's now a 12-megapixel Center Stage camera that offers higher resolutions than before, while also being remounted into the horizontal edge of the tablet – much like the iPad Pro.

This makes it better for use when you're holding the iPad in landscape mode.

Finally, the other significant enhancement is in thickness and weight. The iPad mini is now lighter than before and just 5.4mm thick.

Pre-orders for the new iPad mini will kick off on Wednesday 28 October (ie, in a couple of days). It'll then start to ship next week, from Friday 6 November.

Prices start at £699 / $699 for the 128GB Wi-Fi only model in either starlight or midnight colours. There are other storage options that will be available – 256GB and 512GB – and you can also buy it with cellular connectivity, starting at £849 / $849.

The nano-texture coating on the display can be added at checkout for an additional fee.