Official

Apple launches OLED iPad mini with A20 Pro chip at $699

20 publications · October 26, 2026

Key points

Apple announced the eighth-generation iPad mini on Monday, October 26, calling it its biggest iPad mini update ever.
It starts at $699, which is $200 more than the 2024 model. Canadian pricing starts at $949 CAD.
The tablet has an 8.5-inch OLED display with up to 1,200 nits of peak HDR brightness. It is 5.4mm thin.
It is Apple's first water-resistant iPad, with an IP67 rating for water and dust.
The A20 Pro chip comes in two versions. The 128GB and 256GB models get a 5-core CPU and a 16-core Neural Engine. The 512GB model gets a 6-core CPU and a Dual 16-core Neural Engine.
A nano-texture glass option costs $100 more and is limited to the 256GB and 512GB models, so the cheapest nano-texture model is $899.
Pre-orders open Wednesday, October 28, at 10:10 a.m. Pacific Time. Availability starts Friday, November 6.

Summary (AI)

Everything here is confirmed by Apple. Coverage of the OLED iPad mini had been building since the 2024 model, and some outlets expected it at a later event this week. Apple instead released it on its own, a few days after the iPhone Duo began shipping. Macworld says Apple expects three days of announcements.

The price rise is the main cost of the upgrade. PCMag ties the $200 increase to the memory crunch. That reason comes from the outlet, and the coverage here does not show Apple stating it.

Apple now names this model by its chip, as the “iPad mini (A20 Pro)”, instead of by generation. Macworld notes that most iPad buyers care more about media than heavy processing, so it reads the chip upgrade as future-proofing. The new Smart Folio uses TechWoven fabric, and no polyurethane cover has been announced.

Sources

28 articles from 20 publications

Notebookcheck First reported Oct 26, 2026

PC Magazine Oct 26, 2026