OLED iPad Mini Starts at $699 After Second Price Hike This Year

Apple today announced the first OLED iPad mini, and it carries a pretty hefty price increase compared to just a few years ago. The new model starts at $699, up $100 (or 17%) from the $599 starting price of the previous generation model. It's hard to believe now, but the previous-generation iPad mini kept its $499 price in 2024 even when Apple doubled base storage to 128GB. But then earlier this year, Apple increased the starting price to $599 as part of sweeping price increases across its product line owing to memory and chip shortages. The new model starts with the same 128GB of storage, so the $100 increase since June isn't offset by a capacity bump – but you do get an OLED display instead of LCD. Wi-Fi + Cellular models rise by the same $100, from $749 to $849, and education pricing starts at $649. All that being said, the price hike is less than expectations from earlier this month, when the OLED iPad mini was rumored to cost $200 more than the current model. The higher price accompanies the mini's biggest update in years, featuring that 8.5-inch OLED display, an A20 Pro chip, IP67 water and dust resistance, a new Acoustic Display speaker system, Apple's N1 wireless chip, as well as the C2 modem on cellular models. The color range though has narrowed from four finishes to two: Midnight and Starlight. There's also a new TechWoven Smart Folio that costs $79, up from $59 for the previous Smart Folio. Pre-orders for the new iPad mini open Wednesday, October 28, with availability starting Friday, November 6. Related Forum: iPadPopular StoriesApple to Launch Touchscreen OLED MacBook Pro and OLED iPad mini on October 27Thursday October 8, 2026 1:31 pm PDT by Juli CloverApple will introduce new OLED touchscreen MacBook Pro models and an OLED iPad mini "on or around" Tuesday, October 27, reports Bloomberg. The launch will also include an M6 14-inch MacBook Pro and an M6 iMac. The October 27 follows Apple's October 13 debut of a new smart home hub, a revamped Apple TV 4K, and a refreshed HomePod mini. Earlier this month, MacRumors reported that Apple would do ...Oops, Apple's Website Just Hinted at iPad Mini 8Thursday October 15, 2026 5:27 pm PDT by Juli CloverApple has an unreleased iPad mini Smart Folio listed on its French regulatory website, hinting that a new iPad mini is coming. The case's A3632 model number doesn't match current or past iPad mini cases. Apple appears to have added the case to its website recently, and it's listed alongside iPhone 18 Pro accessories added in September. The listing doesn't include any iPad mini specs, but...Apple Now Inviting Media to October 28 'Launch Experience'Apple has begun inviting selected members of the media to a product launch experience in Los Angeles on Wednesday, October 28, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. In a post on X, Gurman described the gathering as an "all-day product launch experience" for touchscreen MacBooks, a new iPad mini, and Macs equipped with M6 chips. Gurman previously reported that Apple would introduce the...