Hands-On: The OLED iPad Mini is Almost an iPad Pro Mini

The OLED iPad mini is launching this Friday, and we were capable to trial 1 retired up of release. MacRumors videographer Dan Barbera has been utilizing the caller iPad for astir a week astatine this point, and helium shared his archetypal thoughts implicit connected YouTube.


The ‌iPad mini‌ 8 is the biggest update the ‌iPad mini‌ enactment has gotten since the smaller tablet archetypal came retired 14 years ago. At 5.4mm, it's 0.2mm thicker than the iPhone Duo erstwhile the Duo is unfolded, and it's astir a afloat millimeter thinner than the iPad mini 7.

A millimeter doesn't dependable similar much, but the thinner plan makes it overmuch nicer to clasp successful the hand. Thinner besides means little weight, and it's 255 grams (just implicit fractional a pound), down from 293 grams. It's the lightest ‌iPad‌ Apple has made. If you privation a tablet that focuses connected portability, the ‌iPad mini‌ is the mode to go. Like the iPad Air and the ‌iPhone Duo‌, the ‌iPad mini‌ sticks with Touch ID.

The ‌iPad mini‌ is the 2nd ‌iPad‌ to get an ‌OLED‌ show aft the iPad Pro. It's astir an ‌iPad Pro‌ mini, but Apple stopped abbreviated of giving it each the Pro features. The ‌OLED‌ ‌iPad mini‌ is constricted to a 60Hz refresh complaint and didn't get ProMotion. If each your different devices person ProMotion, you're apt going to announcement the deficiency of it connected the ‌iPad mini‌ erstwhile scrolling done content.


Bezels are slimmer and the show is 8.5 inches alternatively of 8.3 inches similar the anterior version, but the wide size is astir the same. Minus the 120Hz refresh rate, it's what you privation from an ‌OLED‌ display. Deep blacks marque colors basal out, precocious opposition makes HDR contented look much existent to life, and there's nary nonaccomplishment of brightness. In fact, it's brighter than before. You tin get nano-texture for cutting glare if you get 1 of the higher-end models, and this is the archetypal clip it's been offered successful an ‌iPad mini‌.

Apple didn't bash amusive colors this clip around, and you're constricted to midnight and starlight. Pricing starts astatine $699 for 128GB of storage, truthful it's up $100 implicit the A17 Pro model. It's $200 much costly if you look astatine pre-June prices, but astatine slightest the terms hike comes with utile upgrades. You tin besides get 256GB oregon 512GB of storage, and determination are Wi-Fi + Cellular models if you request cellular connectivity.

Size isn't the lone plan alteration Apple made to the mini. It has a redesigned acoustic strategy that does distant with accepted speakers for a sealed enclosure. It's the archetypal ‌iPad‌ rated IP67 for h2o and particulate resistance, meaning it was tested to withstand submersion successful a metre of h2o for up to 30 minutes. You're astir apt not going to privation to usage it to instrumentality underwater photos, but it volition past splashes from the excavation oregon bathtub, oregon getting bedewed successful the rain.


There are nary talker holes, and the ‌iPad mini‌ has an "Acoustic Display." There are tweeters nether the solid show and woofers that brace done it, and the effect is beauteous bully sound. Audio is connected par with the ‌iPad mini 7‌, and amended successful immoderate cases with clearer highs and deeper bass. Apple upgraded the microphones too, and FaceTime calls and recordings dependable clearer.

Apple utilized the A20 Pro for the ‌iPad mini‌, truthful it has the aforesaid spot arsenic the iPhone 18 Pro. The 128GB and 256GB models person a binned mentation with a 5-core CPU and 7-core GPU, portion the 512GB exemplary has a 6-core CPU with the 7-core GPU. If you privation the fastest chip, you'll request to spell with the 512GB model, but adjacent the binned A20 Pro is overkill for astir tasks connected a tablet this small. You're improbable to tally into immoderate velocity limitations, and it's going to play the latest games without slowdowns. It feels ace accelerated for everything from multitasking to photograph and video editing.

The ‌iPad mini‌ has 12GB of RAM, which is connected par with the basal ‌iPad Pro‌. With that RAM, the ‌iPad mini‌ tin easy tally AI tasks, and it should support up with advances arsenic Apple evolves Siri AI and its different Apple Intelligence features. Battery beingness hasn't changed, and it lasts for up to 10 hours erstwhile watching videos oregon web browsing. Fast charging is supported now, truthful you tin complaint to 50 percent successful 30 minutes, but you'll request to bargain a 35W oregon higher powerfulness adapter.


Apple moved the camera to the scenery borderline of the ‌iPad mini‌ to lucifer the different iPads, and it's a plan that makes much consciousness for video calls. It uses a 12-megapixel Center Stage camera that's successful different ‌iPad‌ models. A 12-megapixel Wide camera astatine the rear shoots video up to 4K.

There's an N1 spot successful the ‌iPad mini‌ for Bluetooth 6 and Wi-Fi 7, truthful you whitethorn announcement connectivity improvements. Cellular models person the C2 spot with sub–6GHz 5G support. You tin link the ‌iPad mini‌ to a 4K show utilizing the USB-C port, and it supports extended show mode successful iPadOS 27. Like the anterior model, the ‌iPad mini‌ 8 works with the USB-C Apple Pencil and the ‌Apple Pencil‌ Pro.

We lone got a week with the ‌iPad mini‌, but it's wide this is simply a worthwhile upgrade. If you person an ‌iPad mini‌ 6 oregon older and you usage it often, the thinner chassis, ‌OLED‌ display, slimmed-down bezels, faster chip, and h2o absorption are worthy the cost.

The ‌OLED‌ ‌iPad mini‌ is disposable for pre-order, and it volition motorboat connected Friday, November 6.
This article, "Hands-On: The OLED iPad Mini is Almost an iPad Pro Mini" archetypal appeared connected MacRumors.com

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