Apple on October 26 unveiled a redesigned iPad mini with an 8.5-inch OLED display, the A20 Pro chip and IP67 water and dust resistance, and set its US starting price at $699. That is $200, or 40 percent, above the $499 at which the previous model launched in October 2024. Pre-orders open on Wednesday, October 28, in 36 countries and regions, and the tablet reaches customers and stores on Friday, November 6.

In Short

Apple made a new small iPad with a brighter OLED screen, a faster chip and a body that resists water and dust, and the cheapest version now costs $699 instead of $499. It matters to people who build apps, websites and ads, because the tablet runs Apple's new Siri AI and a Safari tool that watches web pages for price drops, although Siri AI is not available to buyers in the EU. Pre-orders start October 28 and the first deliveries arrive November 6.

What Apple published

The announcement appeared on Apple Newsroom as a press release dated October 26, 2026, under the headline "Apple gives iPad mini its biggest update ever." Apple posted a separate item the same day headlined "Siri AI is available in more languages starting today," which bears directly on what the new tablet can do at launch.

The release carries one quote, from Dave Pakula, Apple's vice president of Hardware Engineering. "iPad mini is beloved for its fantastic portability, performance, and display by a wide range of users, from creators and small business owners to doctors, field service workers, and gamers," Pakula said. "With a remarkably thinner and lighter design, a stunning new OLED display, the incredibly powerful A20 Pro, and water and dust resistance, the new iPad mini is a huge leap forward for users who love having the full iPad experience in the palm of their hand."

The device is identified in Apple's footnotes as iPad mini (A20 Pro). Its predecessor, iPad mini (A17 Pro), was announced on October 15, 2024, and went on sale on October 23, 2024.

The price

According to Apple, the Wi-Fi model starts at $699, or $58.25 a month for 12 months through Apple Card Monthly Installments. The Wi-Fi + Cellular model starts at $849, or $70.75 a month. With education savings, the tablet starts at $649. Storage comes in 128GB, 256GB and 512GB configurations, the same three tiers Apple offered in 2024, and the colors are midnight and starlight.

Apple's October 2024 release priced the A17 Pro model at $499 for Wi-Fi, $649 for Wi-Fi + Cellular and $449 for education. Every tier has therefore moved up by exactly $200. In percentage terms, by PPC Land's calculation, the rise is 40.1 percent for the Wi-Fi model, 30.8 percent for the cellular model and 44.5 percent for education buyers, the group for whom the increase is steepest.

Accessories follow the same direction, though less sharply. The new TechWoven Smart Folio costs $79, against $59 for the Smart Folio in 2024. Apple Pencil Pro stays at $129 and Apple Pencil (USB-C) at $79, with education prices of $119 and $69.

The geographic launch is wider than two years ago. Pre-orders run at apple.com and in the Apple Store app in 36 countries and regions, including the US, compared with 29 for the A17 Pro model. Apple did not publish the list of markets or any non-US prices, and the release does not say whether the A17 Pro model remains on sale alongside the new one.

Apple describes the package as "a compelling value." The same direction shows across its autumn hardware. On October 13, PPC Land reported that the Apple TV 4K more than doubled in price to $299 and that the HomePod mini 2 arrived at $149, $50 above the first-generation speaker. The iPad mini is the third device in two weeks to return with a higher entry price.

The timing also follows a weak period for the category. In Apple's fiscal third quarter, which ended in June, iPad revenue fell 6 percent to $6.191 billion, and Apple attributed the decline to lower net sales of iPad mini and iPad Air. One quarter earlier, iPad had grown 8 percent to $6.914 billion.

Thinner, lighter and rated IP67

According to Apple, the new iPad mini is 5.4 mm thick. Apple's technical specifications page lists dimensions of 195.3 by 132.6 by 5.4 mm and a weight of 255 grams for the Wi-Fi model and 263 grams for the cellular model. The A17 Pro model measured 195.4 by 134.8 by 6.3 mm and weighed 293 grams and 297 grams, according to Apple's specifications for that device. By PPC Land's calculation, the new tablet is about 14 percent thinner and 13 percent lighter in its Wi-Fi version.

The IP67 rating is new to the line. Apple's footnote says the tablet was tested "under controlled laboratory conditions with a rating of IP67 under IEC standard 60529 (maximum depth of 1 meter up to 30 minutes)." The same footnote adds that resistance "might decrease as a result of normal wear" and that "Liquid damage not covered under warranty." Apple cites working outside on a rainy day and reading by the pool as use cases.

Fitting more into a thinner chassis came with a slightly smaller battery. The specifications page lists an 18.9 watt-hour battery, against 19.3 watt-hours in the A17 Pro model, with the same rating of up to 10 hours of web browsing or video on Wi-Fi. The release mentions "fast-charge support" without detail; the specifications page says the tablet charges to 50 percent in around 30 minutes with an adapter of 35 watts or more, sold separately, while a 20-watt adapter comes in the box. The USB-C port supports DisplayPort and USB 3 transfers of up to 10Gb/s, and Touch ID remains in the top button.

An 8.5-inch OLED display

The display grows from 8.3 inches to 8.5 inches while, according to Apple, "maintaining the same footprint as the previous mini, thanks to 24 percent thinner bezels." Apple calls the panel a Super Retina XDR display, the name it also gives the OLED screens on iPhone, with pixel-level lighting control and P3 wide color support. Resolution rises from 2266 by 1488 to 2316 by 1512 pixels, with pixel density unchanged at 326 pixels per inch, according to the two specifications pages. Apple's footnote notes that the display has rounded corners and that the actual viewable area is less than 8.5 inches measured as a rectangle.

The brightness figures are the largest change. According to Apple, peak brightness reaches up to 1200 nits, "more than 2x higher than the previous generation," with 600 nits of full-screen brightness for SDR and HDR content and a contrast ratio of 2,000,000:1. The A17 Pro model was rated at 500 nits, so by PPC Land's calculation the new peak figure is 2.4 times higher. At the other end, a 1-nit minimum brightness targets dim environments; Apple's examples range from "users reading in bed at night to pilots checking their electronic flight bag in the cockpit."

For the first time, the iPad mini is also offered with a nano-texture display option, previously an iPad Pro feature, which reduces glare in bright environments. The release does not give a price for the nano-texture version.

A20 Pro and what "up to" covers

A20 Pro is the same chip PPC Land reported Apple uses in the iPhone Duo and iPhone 18 Pro models, built on a 2-nanometer process. According to Apple, the iPad mini version uses "a new package inspired by M-series chips." The release lists three headline gains over the previous generation, each qualified with "up to" and based on testing Apple conducted in September 2026.

The first is AI. A 7-core GPU with Neural Accelerators in each GPU core delivers, according to Apple, "up to 4.5x faster AI performance than the previous generation." Apple's iPad mini product page specifies that the 4.5x figure relates to token generation in LLMs, and the release frames the use case as "running on-device models in creative apps to running local LLMs." The second is graphics, which Apple says jump by up to 2.7x through dynamic caching and hardware-accelerated mesh shading and ray tracing. The third is the CPU: "up to a 6-core CPU for up to 60 percent faster multithreaded performance."

That phrase "up to a 6-core CPU" matters. Apple's specifications page shows that the 128GB and 256GB models use a 5-core CPU with two super cores and three efficiency cores, while only the 512GB model has six cores, with two super cores and four efficiency cores. The A17 Pro model had a 6-core CPU in every configuration. The $699 entry model therefore has one CPU core fewer than the $499 model it replaces, and Apple does not say which configuration produced the 60 percent figure.

The Neural Engine follows the same split. The opening paragraph of the release says A20 Pro "supercharges AI with Neural Accelerators in each GPU core and Dual 16-core Neural Engine." Further down, the release specifies that "The 512GB configuration features a powerful Dual 16-core Neural Engine," which Apple says offers double the processing power of the previous generation. The 128GB and 256GB models have a single 16-core Neural Engine, according to the specifications page, the same count as the A17 Pro model. Apple says that by "engaging all 32 cores," A20 Pro becomes "a powerhouse for more advanced on-device AI workloads," and it names Draw Things and Detail as apps that benefit.

Apple also cites "over a 2x increase in unified memory bandwidth." Neither the release nor the specifications page states how much memory the tablet has, a figure that sets the size of any model it can run locally for inference.

Sound, cameras and connectivity

Audio gets what Apple calls an Acoustic Display. According to the release, "Specially designed woofers are paired through the display to produce punchier bass and more volume," while custom tweeters sit between the glass and the aluminum enclosure. The sealed enclosure behind this design, Apple says, "helps iPad mini achieve its IP67 rating."

The 12MP Center Stage front camera moves to the landscape edge. On the A17 Pro model, Apple placed the front camera for portrait orientation, which put it on the short edge when the tablet was held sideways for a video call. The 12MP Wide back camera shoots 4K video at up to 60 frames per second with Smart HDR 4, and gains an Adaptive True Tone flash that Apple says improves document scanning.

Wireless networking moves to N1, an Apple-designed chip that enables Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6 and Thread. The A17 Pro model supported Wi-Fi 6E. According to Apple, N1 brings better performance on 5GHz Wi-Fi networks and "improves the overall performance and reliability of features like AirDrop and AirPlay."

Cellular models use C2, which Apple calls its "next-generation cellular modem system." According to Apple, C2 "enables up to 50 percent faster cellular data speeds compared to the previous generation of iPad mini, with even greater power efficiency." Apple's specifications page lists 5G in sub-6GHz bands and does not list mmWave, which PPC Land reported the C2 modem adds in the United States on iPhone Duo. Apple's footnotes also identify two model numbers, A3596 and A3597, with eSIM details for the latter handled by China Unicom.

Siri AI on iPadOS 27

The new tablet ships with iPadOS 27 and, according to Apple, "the next generation of Apple Intelligence and Siri AI." Apple describes Siri AI as "an entirely new version of Siri, powered by Apple Intelligence, that is profoundly more personal, capable, and conversational." It can draw on a user's messages, emails, photos and other personal context, act on what is shown on the screen, and answer questions "about virtually any topic." The iPad mini also supports what Apple calls its "most advanced on-device model ever," which the release links to more expressive Siri voices and more accurate dictation.

The release does not mention Google. When Apple detailed Siri AI at WWDC26 in June, it said its next-generation foundation models were custom-built in collaboration with Google and its Gemini models.

Beta status, languages and the EU

The footnotes narrow the picture considerably. The body of the release says Siri AI is "rolling out in beta with iPadOS 27," while the footnote states that "Siri AI is available in beta in iPadOS 27.2." It is available in English, French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese and Spanish. When Siri AI first shipped on September 14, it was English only, with the other five languages promised for the following month, so the iPad mini launches into the wider set.

The EU remains excluded. "Siri AI is not currently available in the EU in iPadOS," according to the footnote, which continues: "Apple is working constructively with the EU in an attempt to find a path forward." Apple has attributed the gap to its reading of the Digital Markets Act, and in September PPC Land reported that Apple shipped Siri AI to EU Macs but not to EU iPhones or iPads. The new hardware does not change that. A buyer in Germany or France pays for the A20 Pro and its Neural Accelerators but, for now, does not get the assistant Apple places at the center of the release.

Siri AI is also unavailable to users under 13, according to Apple.

Daily limits and a future fee

The most commercially significant footnote concerns access. According to Apple, "Certain Apple Intelligence features that rely on server-side models are subject to daily usage limits, including but not limited to Siri AI, intelligent photo editing tools, Image Playground, and AFM 3 Cloud models in Shortcuts." The limits "may vary by feature, request complexity, system demand, system policies, and other factors." And then: "Expanded access to such features will be available for a fee in the future."

The wording has shifted over the year. When Apple introduced the features at WWDC26 in June, PPC Land reported that increased access would come with most iCloud+ plans. The September launch release and now the iPad mini release refer instead to a fee in the future, with no price, no numerical cap and no date. The reference to "AFM 3 Cloud models in Shortcuts" also confirms by name that a third generation of Apple's foundation models runs on Apple's servers and is metered.

Apple says Apple Intelligence uses on-device processing and Private Cloud Compute, and that when Private Cloud Compute handles requests, "their personal data is not stored nor made accessible to Apple or anyone else."

Safari, photos and the rest of iPadOS 27

Several Apple Intelligence features in the release touch on commerce and content. In Safari, according to Apple, "Notify Me helps users monitor web pages for changes, like product restocks or price drops, and stay on top of updates." Photo tools include an upgraded Clean Up, Spatial Reframing and Extend, which alter a photo's composition after it has been taken. The rebuilt Image Playground app now produces photorealistic imagery; in June, PPC Land reported that its images would carry Google DeepMind's SynthID watermark.

Other iPadOS 27 changes in the release include a Settings slider that adjusts Liquid Glass "anywhere from ultraclear to fully tinted," and, with iPadOS 27.2, an extended display mode for external monitors. Apple also points to parental controls covering what children can see, who they can talk to and when they can use apps.

Accessories and environment

The Smart Folio has a two-panel design that attaches magnetically and, according to Apple, offers "a greater range of motion, including new viewing angles." It comes in navy blue and taupe TechWoven fabric. The iPad mini supports both Apple Pencil Pro, with squeeze, barrel roll and Find My, and Apple Pencil (USB-C).

On materials, Apple says the tablet contains 35 percent recycled content overall, measured as the mass of certified recycled material relative to the device, excluding packaging and in-box accessories. The enclosure uses 100 percent recycled aluminum and the battery 100 percent recycled cobalt. The device is manufactured with 40 percent renewable energy across the supply chain, according to Apple, and its paper packaging is 100 percent fiber-based. Apple ties these figures to its goal of carbon neutrality across its footprint by 2030.

Leases, installments and AppleCare

The release puts as much detail into payment options as into some hardware features. Apple Upgrade leases for the iPad mini start at $14.99 a month over 36 months for the Wi-Fi model and $18.21 for the Wi-Fi + Cellular model. The footnote describes Apple Upgrade as "a consumer lease, not a purchase or loan," provided by Klarna Inc. for 24- or 36-month terms. Typical monthly payments range from $18.99 to $33.94 over 24 months and from $14.99 to $26.79 over 36 months, excluding taxes and trade-in credit. The footnote also warns that ending a lease before the end of its term can bring "a substantial charge."

By PPC Land's calculation, 36 payments of $14.99 come to $539.64, or 77 percent of the $699 purchase price. When Apple replaced the iPhone Upgrade Program with Klarna leases on July 28, PPC Land reported that lessees do not own the device at the end of the term unless they pay a purchase fee that Apple did not disclose.

For buyers, Apple Card Monthly Installments offer 0 percent APR over 12 months and 3 percent Daily Cash back. Coverage options include AppleCare+, AppleCare One for several products under one plan in available markets, and, in the US only, AppleCare One Family, which Apple says extends coverage to every eligible device in a Family Sharing group "for one fixed monthly price." Trade-in credit and carrier financing for cellular models are also available.

Why this matters for marketers

Tablets rarely drive advertising strategy on their own. This launch is relevant less for the hardware than for the software and commercial terms it carries into another device category.

The first issue is where questions get answered. Siri AI on the iPad mini answers "questions about virtually any topic" with what Apple calls broad world knowledge, and Apple changed its crawler documentation in June so that content collected by Applebot can supply context for those answers. PPC Land reported at the time that Apple rewrote its Applebot rules to feed Siri AI, with separate controls for crawling, model training and use in AI answers. Each new Siri AI device extends the number of screens on which a publisher's content may appear as an answer rather than as a visit.

The second issue is Safari. Notify Me puts a browser-level watch on product pages for restocks and price drops, which places a decision that retailers often manage through email alerts and retargeting inside Apple's own software. The release does not say how often pages are checked, whether checks run on the device or on Apple's servers, or whether they register in a site's analytics. Every new iPad mini also ships with Safari 27, which blocks identity firms that turn email addresses into tracking IDs, a change announced on October 19 for iOS, iPadOS, macOS and visionOS 27.

Apple's own advertising business sits on the same devices. PPC Land reported on October 21 that eMarketer forecasts Apple's US ad revenue at $8.85 billion for 2026. The App Store on iPad carries Apple Ads, and the additional App Store search placements Apple introduced this year require iOS or iPadOS 26.2 or later, a threshold every new iPad mini clears out of the box.

The third issue is cost. Apple's footnote states that expanded access to server-side AI features will carry a fee. Once that fee exists, the number of Siri AI requests a user can make each day may depend on whether that user pays, which would make the assistant's reach as a discovery channel uneven across users. Apple has not said when this will happen or what it will cost. Running local LLMs, which Apple now uses to market a $699 tablet, shifts some of that work to the device itself; on October 15, Apple and Meta showed Meta's 816-billion-parameter Muse model running locally on two Mac Studios. Requests handled entirely on the device do not pass through anyone's servers.

And the EU gap persists. Campaigns, content and app experiences designed around Siri AI cannot assume feature parity across markets, since iPad owners in the 27 member states receive the hardware without the assistant. Is the gap closing? Apple's new phrase, "working constructively with the EU," is the only signal in the release, and it carries no date.

What the release does not say

Apple did not disclose the iPad mini's memory, the price of the nano-texture option, the 36 launch markets, prices outside the US, or whether the A17 Pro model stays on sale. It did not say which configuration produced the 60 percent CPU figure, give a timeline for Siri AI in the EU, or state the size of the daily limits on server-side features. The fee for expanded access has no price and no launch date.

Timeline

Summary

Who: Apple, with Dave Pakula, vice president of Hardware Engineering, quoted in the release. The launch affects iPad buyers, app developers, publishers whose content can feed Siri AI answers, and retailers whose product pages Safari can now monitor.

What: iPad mini (A20 Pro), with an 8.5-inch OLED display of up to 1200 nits, a 5.4 mm IP67-rated body, the A20 Pro chip with a 7-core GPU, N1 wireless and C2 cellular chips, a landscape front camera and iPadOS 27 with Siri AI in beta. It starts at $699, $200 more than the A17 Pro model's 2024 launch price, and entry configurations have a 5-core CPU and a single 16-core Neural Engine.

When: Announced October 26, 2026. Pre-orders open Wednesday, October 28, and availability begins Friday, November 6. Siri AI runs in beta in iPadOS 27.2.

Where: 36 countries and regions, including the US. Siri AI is available in English, French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese and Spanish, and not on iPadOS in the EU.

Why: Apple is refreshing a line whose sales weakened in the June quarter, at a higher entry price. For marketers, the tablet extends Siri AI answers, Safari's page monitoring and Safari 27's identity block to one more device class, while Apple's footnotes confirm daily caps on server-side AI and a future fee for more access.