Apple has today unveiled the new iPad mini, which it describes as its biggest update ever. The tablet moves to an 8.5-inch OLED display, gets thinner and lighter, adopts the A20 Pro chip and becomes the first iPad mini with IP67 certification against water and dust. Orders open on Wednesday 28 October, with deliveries and in-store availability on 6 November.
What actually changes
The most visible change is the display. The Super Retina XDR OLED panel measures 8.5 inches (the previous model had 8.3 inches), with bezels 24% thinner: as a result, the outer footprint stays practically the same as before. Peak brightness reaches 1,200 nits, more than double the previous generation, while full-screen brightness is quoted at 600 nits in both SDR and HDR. The stated contrast ratio is 2,000,000:1.
The body drops to 5.4 mm thick, against 6.3 mm for the old model, and to around 255 grams, against 297. Apple speaks of a 14% thinner and 13% lighter design. There are two colours: Midnight, which is new, and Starlight.
As for durability, IP67 protection applies under laboratory conditions. Apple points out that it may diminish with use and that liquid damage is not covered by the warranty.
One detail that matters for anyone planning to use it heavily: 120 Hz refresh is nowhere in the specifications. Apple does not mention ProMotion, so the screen most likely stays at 60 Hz.
Chip, audio and cameras
The A20 Pro is built on a 2-nanometre process. The CPU has up to 6 cores, with multithreaded performance up to 60% higher; the GPU has 7 cores, each with a Neural Accelerator, and supports hardware ray tracing. According to Apple, graphics are up to 2.7 times faster and AI performance up to 4.5 times higher. The comparison on the Italian page is with the model with the A17 Pro, where the CPU is said to be up to 1.6 times faster.
Apple specifies that the 512 GB model uses all 32 Neural Engine cores for the heaviest AI workloads; for the 128 and 256 GB models, 9to5Mac reports a 5-core CPU instead of 6.
Audio takes a new approach with the “Acoustic Display”: a woofer behind the panel for bass and volume, and a tweeter between the glass and the aluminium for the highs. The front camera is a 12-megapixel unit with Center Stage on the long edge, while the rear camera is 12 megapixels with 4K video at up to 60 fps. The new N1 chip brings Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6 and Thread; cellular models use the C2 modem, up to 50% faster, with eSIM support. Apple Pencil Pro and Apple Pencil (USB-C) both work with it.
Pricing and availability in Italy
In the United States, the Wi-Fi model starts at $699 (128 GB) and the Wi-Fi + Cellular model at $849. Nano-texture glass, which reduces reflections, is an option on the 256 and 512 GB models, at $100 extra on the US price list.
On Apple’s Italian site, orders open at 18:10 on 28 October, with availability from 6 November. The page, however, does not show a starting price in euros: at the time of writing, the Italian price list has not been published. We will update this article as soon as it is available. Apple also states at least five years of security and software updates.
A limitation for Europe
The new iPad mini arrives with iPadOS 27. The version of Siri based on Apple Intelligence, in beta with iPadOS 27.2, is not available in the European Union, however, and at launch speaks only English, French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese and Spanish. Buyers in Italy will therefore get Apple Intelligence in the supported languages, but not the new Siri. Apple also reminds users that server-based features have daily limits and that extended access could become a paid option in future.
What we think
The leap is real: an OLED display, water resistance and a latest-generation chip are the long-standing wish list of anyone who uses a mini for reading, annotating with the Pencil or travelling. But the starting price of $699 puts it in a bracket far from that of the old mini, and 60 Hz is noticeable on a tablet aimed at pen use.
For the high end it makes sense, if compact size is the priority. Those who mainly care about price would do well to wait for the European price list before deciding. Meanwhile, Apple keeps shifting attention to the rest of its ecosystem: on that note, we told you what’s inside iPhone Duo, the foldable released last week.
Written by the SpazioiTech newsroom with the help of AI tools, from facts verified across at least two independent outlets, and checked before publication. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
Translated from the Italian original. Read in Italian
