Apple unveils redesigned, thinner iPad mini with OLED display

Apple’s latest iPad mini introduces a much-improved OLED display, a water-resistant redesign, and the high-performance A20 Pro chip tailored for advanced on-device AI. Picture: Apple

On Monday, Apple officially announced the new iPad mini, introducing a fresh housing redesign and a vibrant OLED screen that together mark a substantial upgrade over the previous generation.

Lighter and thinner than any iPad Apple has ever created, the new tablet features noticeably slimmer bezels that maximise active screen real estate.

The audio architecture has also been overhauled: the side-firing speakers have been replaced with a sub-display speaker system, enabling an IP67 water-resistance rating.

Under the hood, performance gets a massive boost. The CPU is up to 60% faster, while the upgraded GPU delivers roughly 2.7 times the speed of its predecessor, bringing hardware-accelerated ray tracing, mesh shading, and dynamic caching to life with breathtaking visuals.

With doubled memory bandwidth, the entire system feels significantly snappier. Specialised neural accelerators inside the GPU dramatically speed up local Large Language Model (LLM) token generation, while the top-tier 512GB model features a 16-core Neural Engine designed to double the peak compute power for on-device AI.

The tablet comes in three storage configurations: 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB. While power users might wish the baseline started at 256GB with a 1TB top option, Apple clearly had other ideas.

The headline feature remains the impressive 8.5-inch OLED display running at a crisp 2316 × 1512 resolution. It includes P3 wide colour coverage, True Tone technology, a fingerprint-resistant coating, full lamination, and an anti-reflective finish that makes working outdoors or under bright lights seamless. The IP67 rating ensures it can withstand water submersion up to 1 meter for up to 30 minutes.

The silicon driving the device is the new A20 Pro chip, which comes tailored to the storage tier:

As expected, the built-in display natively supports millions of colours, and the device can simultaneously drive a single external monitor at up to 4K resolution at 60Hz.

Battery life remains solid at up to 10 hours of active web browsing or video playback. Fast-charging capability allows the device to reach a 50% charge in roughly 30 minutes when paired with a power adapter rated at 35W or higher.

Overall, it’s a substantial upgrade for the iPad mini, which will come at a price. That price is $699 in the US, which converts directly to R11,619. Considering the current iPad mini A17 starts at R12,299 in South Africa, there’s a good chance the new version could start at R13,000.