iPad mini OLED Hands-On: A Delectable Cupcake of a Tablet

Like its name suggests, the iPad mini never had to be some mammoth of tablet potential. The smallest iPad—now with an 8.5-inch OLED display—works best as a companion device. Your phone is too small, but an 11-inch tablet takes up too much room in your bag? That’s where an iPad mini shows up and offers that secondary screen for notetaking, scribbling, and light editing. Now it looks better than ever, it’s more powerful than ever, and none of that will likely change when and how you use it. But damn, the newest, littlest iPad makes a strong first impression. It’s only a hair thicker than its USB-C port. © Kyle Barr / Gizmodo The previous A17 Pro iPad mini from 2024 wasn’t a huge jump from the previous sixth-gen version. The eighth-gen iPad mini swaps around the 12-megapixel “Center Stage” camera to the landscape side of the device. That doesn’t actually change much, considering this tablet does not have a dedicated Magic Keyboard like the M4 iPad Air or M5 iPad Pro. Instead, it means you’ll be taking your FaceTime calls with some variety of folio (Apple still sells their own $79 Smart Folio redesigned for the modified tablet body) longways instead of standing up. Apple wants you to use the iPad mini for all your typical editing tasks that you can’t do as easily on an iPhone. © Kyle Barr / Gizmodo What’s better than that is how slim the new device feels. Apple reduced the thickness from 6.3mm to 5.4mm. That’s only a teensy bit thicker than a modern iPad Pro, and I’m amazed just how much of a Weight Watchers routine Apple managed to force the iPad into, especially considering the new screen with reduced bezels doesn’t increase the overall tablet footprint. What I was curious to find was whether the smaller bezels made it any more difficult to hold. They don’t. This tiny iPad gives you more screen, and it looks better to boot. It’s a win-win. The 8.5-inch OLED display really makes a difference for the overall look of the iPad mini design. © Kyle Barr / Gizmodo Apple also boasts that the new iPad mini loses its speaker holes completely. That means it can claim an IP67 water and dust resistance (which implies it can survive at a depth of about three feet in water for up to 30 minutes). Apple now provides its so-called “Acoustic Display,” which essentially means the speakers and tweeters are hidden under the screen. The speakers are positioned on either end of the device, and with the volume turned up, I could feel the bass vibrations coming from the speakers right into my hands and palms. I’m a gamer at heart, and any kind of rumble sensation makes me spark with nostalgic joy. I imagine there may be some people who may not enjoy that feeling when watching a movie on the small screen in bed. You’ll still have access to the 12-megapixel wide lens on the back that you’ll have to convince your grandmother to stop using. © Kyle Barr / Gizmodo Under the lights of Apple’s LA showcase space, the iPad mini’s screen looked striking. The iPad mini isn’t using the same tandem OLED technology as the latest iPad Pro models, which normally offer a better brightness spec by squashing multiple layers of organic light-emitting diodes together. I couldn’t directly compare the two models, but I didn’t have any problems with legibility on the smaller iPad. Apple promises the new tiny tablet manages around 600 nits of full-screen brightness at peak, but you can also bring it down to just 1 nit—a handy feature for reading on a plane or in bed. The A20 Pro chip is supposed to be much more powerful than the previous version with the A17 Pro chip. © Kyle Barr / Gizmodo And yes, it has to be said that OLED just looks fantastic, especially compared to the older LCD “Liquid Retina” displays of past iPad models. It reminds me of the first iPhone display. That’s marred to some degree by the nano-texture display—essentially a matte layer on top of the screen that’s supposed to reduce reflections. It adds a paper-like quality to the screen, almost like the internal display inside the iPhone Duo. You can only get this extra layer for $100 more on the 256GB and 512GB versions, so I don’t know if it’s all that necessary for most people unless you’re keen to work outdoors. You still have access to the Apple Pencil Pro and Apple Pencil USB-C. No, unfortunately, your older Apple stylus will not work on the new iPad mini. © Kyle Barr / Gizmodo And this is where it gets a little confusing. The iPad mini costs $699 with 128GB of storage. If you opt for a lower-end model with either the base storage or a 256GB SSD, you’ll receive a “binned” chip, which is to say it has one fewer CPU core and a less-powerful “neural engine” built to handle AI tasks. The 512GB model contains what’s effectively the same, powerful chip inside the iPhone 18 Pro. However, they both have the same GPU, and Apple expects its users to still do the same AI or editing tasks no matter which version you get. Ooooh, pretty. © Kyle Barr / Gizmodo There’s still a lot to test, including its overall performance compared to its M-series tablet kin. I already feel like you’re going to end up buying this iPad for the OLED display and ergonomics upgrades. Everything else will be a sweetener on what already seems like a delectable little cupcake of a tablet, even one that now costs as much as a base iPhone 17 without paying $150 more for cellular connectivity, making it one expensive treat. The A20 Pro iPad mini is up for preorder now and should start shipping on Nov. 6.