Description
Get the iPad mini: https://geni.us/ipadmini8
The new iPad mini gets tantalizingly close to the small iPad Pro people keep asking Apple to make. It has an OLED screen, an A20 Pro chip, and even a nano-texture option. I’ve been testing the 512GB model with nano-texture glass and carrying it in my back pocket all week. At 249 grams, this is a tablet you can comfortably hold while reading, watching something, or jotting down a thought. Apple has put a lot of expensive technology into a device whose biggest appeal is still how little room it takes up.
That 8.5-inch OLED display makes the biggest impression. Movie letterboxing disappears into proper black, the screen dims down to a single nit for nighttime reading, and the nano-texture finish takes the mirror out of using a tablet near a bright window. Then you scroll. The mini still runs at 60Hz, and if you’re used to ProMotion, you’ll notice. Faster pixel response helps with blur, but it doesn’t produce extra frames. Apple got this screen close enough to the premium experience that the remaining limitation is particularly easy to spot.
Some of the cleverest changes are harder to see. The mini now has IP67 water and dust resistance, and sealing up the enclosure also meant rethinking the speakers: the woofers send sound through the display, with tweeters tucked into the gap around the glass. The result sounds bigger than a tablet this thin has any business sounding. There’s also a landscape front camera, Wi-Fi 7, and faster charging. These are useful improvements for something designed to go places, though that water-resistance rating still doesn’t mean Apple’s warranty covers liquid damage.
Buying one takes a little more homework than using it. The 128GB and 256GB models get a five-core CPU and a single 16-core Neural Engine; 512GB gets you six CPU cores and dual 16-core Neural Engines. Every version has the same seven-core GPU, and nano-texture becomes an option at 256GB. Most people reading, drawing, gaming, and taking notes won’t feel the chip difference day to day, which makes paying for the full configuration a more interesting question than the spec sheet suggests. This review walks through those choices, the compromises, and why I still think this is the best handheld tablet Apple has made.
CHAPTERS
00:00 - Apple Gave the iPad mini 2026 a HUGE Upgrade
01:00 - iPad mini A20 Pro Design
03:54 - iPad mini TechWoven Smart Folio
04:35 - iPad mini OLED Display Thoughts
08:00 - A20 Pro Performance in iPad mini
09:58 - iPad mini Acoustic Display
11:52 - iPad mini Gets Apple C2 Chip, WiFi 7, Bluetooth 6, and Thread
12:34 - iPad mini A20 Pro Battery Life & Charging
13:40 - iPad mini A20 Pro Config Options
15:10 - Should You Buy the iPad mini A20 Pro?
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