An upgrade that actually feels like an upgrade. This refresh hits many pain points of previous iPad Minis, giving us a better display, more modern design and even some series firsts – like an IP-rated body. The price is high, but I can’t help loving the iPad Mini 8.
For many, the iPad Mini is the perfect tablet. It’s a smaller take on the iPad, one that packs all the features of the larger models but in a body that can fit in a large coat pocket. The iPad Mini 8 (A20 Pro) is the latest model, and it’s the best mini iPad ever.
Even with phones getting bigger, and Apple’s foldable iPhone Duo offering a screen size not too dissimilar to the iPad Mini, there’s still a huge hankering for tablets of this size. And after using the latest version, I can see why.
In many ways, this could be seen as an iPad Mini Pro, and there are more upgrades here than we typically get with iPad refreshes. If you were just expecting another spec bump, think again.
But is it worth the higher £699/$699 starting price?
- Only two colours
- Very thin and light
- The first IP-rated iPad
Apple has done a wonderful job refreshing the look of the iPad Mini 8. This is now even more of a ridiculously portable slate, one I have been slipping into my bag – or even a large coat pocket – on every commute for the past week.
Compared to the iPad Mini 7 A17 Pro version, the new model is slimmer and much lighter. The Wi-Fi model is nearly 40g lighter (255g v 293g), and a single gram heavier than the iPhone Duo. It’s nearly 1mm slimmer than the outgoing Mini, and 2mm narrower too. These changes do mean older cases won’t fit – a previous-generation Smart Folio I found didn’t work at all.
It’s such a wonderful tablet to hold. The weight reduction makes it a great Kindle alternative (and the switch to OLED helps this too), and I can hold it one-handed without feeling any strain. It’s ridiculously thin too, even if the 13-inch iPad Pro still holds the crown for being the thinnest iPad.
The rear camera does stick out slightly, although not enough to make it wobble on a table. And adding a case gets rid of the bump entirely.
There are a few more tricks here too. For one, this is the first IP-rated iPad. The IP67 rating is good enough to ensure the iPad withstands spills, rain and an accidental drop in a bath. This is a clever move, as it again puts the iPad Mini into competition with Kindles, devices which have typically been waterproof to aid durability.
To ensure the device is IP-rated, Apple has removed the speaker holes from the sides of the iPad and instead put the speaker underneath the screen. This ‘Acoustic Display’, as Apple calls it, seems similar to some TV tech used by Sony in the past, and I don’t think it really affects the audio output too much.
There’s decent separation between both channels, and it gets loud without too much distortion. It doesn’t sound as good as the iPad Pro with its four-speaker system, but I would typically use headphones anyway, so the trade-off is well worth it for the IP benefits.
The USB-C connector remains on the bottom (this isn’t a Thunderbolt port, although faster charging is now supported), and the Touch ID sensor is still embedded in the elongated power key. There’s no Face ID, and the screen remains free of any notch. There’s also the small magnetic bit on this side for the Apple Pencil Pro to snap into place and charge. There’s still support for the USB-C Apple Pencil too, which is cheaper.
Apple has moved the FaceTime 12MP Centre Stage camera to the long landscape side of the iPad, which is much better for calls and has been a change we’ve seen on all the recent iPads.
My only real issue with the design is the measly duo of colour options. The previous iPad Mini came in four hues, including nice purple and blue choices. This one just comes in Midnight (a really dark blue) and Starlight (a very light gold, which looks more silver to me). Both are ; they just don’t stand out.
For some added protection, Apple is also selling a $79/£79 Smart Folio in matching colours, and this case uses the same Tech Woven material as recent iPhone cases. I’ve got one of these cases, and I love the new textured material. This new folio case only has two folds, rather than three, but so far it seems just as stable.
- OLED display is a huge upgrade
- Bright and very colourful
The display is where the biggest day-to-day improvements with the iPad Mini 8 are. While I appreciate the thinner design, I didn’t feel the older Minis were thick as such, whereas I did find their display a tad dull. That’s no longer an issue.
There are numerous improvements with the screen here. It’s now 8.5 inches, as opposed to 8.3, with the bezels marginally thinner as a result. There’s now a nano-texture screen option too, which adds a more matte finish to the display. This has become a common feature on the Pro iPads and Macs over recent years, and it does reduce glare. Oddly, you can’t choose this screen option on the base 128GB model, which seems a strange decision.
The biggest change though, is the switch to an OLED panel. Finally…
Now, this isn’t quite the same panel as on the iPad Pro. It’s not a tandem OLED, and Apple isn’t using the Ultra Retina XDR branding; rather, the simpler Super Retina XDR wording you’ll find on the iPhone 17e.
The most obvious difference I have noticed during my time with the iPad is that when you’re watching anything with black bars, these are now perfectly black, rather than the muted grey they are on LCDs. It sounds small, but it does make a big difference.
Basically, the OLED panel is better in every respect than the LCD used previously. If you predominantly use the iPad Mini for content – Netflix, books, films on a plane, etc. – this is a real upgrade that is felt consistently.
There is one bugbear I have with the screen – and that’s the lack of ProMotion. Even though this is an OLED panel, the refresh rate is still very much locked at 60Hz. So, unlike recent iPhones and the iPad Pros, you don’t get that silky smooth 1-120Hz refresh rate.
For a £699/$699 tablet – this is a shame. I can’t find another similarly-priced Android tablet without a faster display, and if you’re used to the smooth motion of an iPhone 18 Pro or an iPad Pro – or even a recent MacBook Pro – the switch to 60Hz is jarring. There’s just no getting around that.
The speed of the chip and the move to OLED have helped motion, and things aren’t nearly as juddery as they were on 60Hz LCD iPads. This helps mitigate the issues somewhat, although I do think it’ll be the main pain point for people looking to upgrade.
Performance and Battery Life
- Different configurations depending on storage
- No battery life changes
In a series first, Apple is offering different chip configurations for the iPad Mini 8 that are tied to its storage choices. While all models are powered by the A20 Pro, if you pay more – you get more.
Opt for 128 or 256GB, and you get a single 16-core neural engine, a 5-core CPU (consisting of 2 super cores and 3 efficiency cores) and a 7-core GPU. Go for the £999/$999 512GB model and get an extra efficiency core inside the CPU and dual 16-core neural engines. All models have 12GB of memory.
I have the high-end 512GB model here, and the AI results in the Geekbench AI benchmark running on these neural engines are phenomenal. The best I have seen on a tablet by some distance.
It’s a story similar elsewhere, too. Put up against the RedMagic Astra 2, a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5-powered flagship Android tablet, the iPad Mini’s A20 chip edges it in multi-core tests and single-core tests alike. Compared to an iPad Air powered by an M3 chip, this A20 Pro has superior single-core performance – so you will feel that speed in everyday tasks.
In GPU tests, the A20 Pro outperformed the RedMagic’s Qualcomm chip again and comfortably beat the iPad Air M3. In all the tests I ran, the iPad Mini 8 sustained frame rates better over time. I’m quite impressed with the sustained performance here, especially as there’s no dedicated vapour chamber and the body is so much thinner than before. There is some excess heat, although I only found this during benchmarking and not in actual use.
What all this means is that this iPad Mini is a performance beast. It plays any game on the App Store as well as possible, chews through AI tasks better than the competition and has plenty of room to grow in the future as more demanding tasks become available.
The A20 Pro brings some improvements to other areas too. There’s now support for WiFi 7, rather than 6E on the previous Mini and Bluetooth 6 (up from 5.3). 5G cellular models are available too, which have support for eSIMs.
There are a couple of areas that haven’t changed too much: the cameras, for example. Aside from the adjusted placement of the 12MP camera on the front, everything else looks much the same. The rear single camera is 12MP, with an f/1.8 aperture, Smart HDR 4 and 4K recording up to 60fps. It’s a decent setup if you’re in a pinch, but more suited for snapping documents to sign.
Battery life hasn’t moved too much, either, at least in my testing across my week with the device. It seems the official battery size has actually dropped slightly from the previous model, but the more efficient chip and OLED display have levelled things out.
Apple claims 10 hours of video watching as a guide, and I managed to get over 11 hours of a looped video before it hit 0%.
Charging is a bit quicker, as this is the first iPad Mini to officially support fast charging. I tested this out with the Anker Smart Display 45W charger and got from 0-50% in 31 minutes, and to 100% in around 80 minutes. UK versions of the iPad Mini don’t come with a charger, just a cable, although this does vary by region.
- Some iPadOS elements are a little small on the display
- Apple Intelligence with Siri AI
- Very capable for gaming
The iPad Mini 8 uses the same iPadOS software as the rest of the range. There’s access to the various Apple Intelligence features, and the new, much more useful, Siri AI. There are also boatloads of iPad-specific apps and games, the latter of which are great on this size of device with a Bluetooth controller connected.
I’ve been using the iPhone Duo alongside the iPad Mini, and I wish Apple’s foldable phone had some of the same features. The dock you can bring up with a swipe, for example, makes it easier to jump into multitasking mode.
The app resizing and multitasking features are here and accounted for, although I do prefer the standard full-screen apps view on the smaller screen. You have full control over the amount of Liquid Glass too, which I prefer to be less obvious on an iPad.
Should you buy it?
You want the best Mini iPad
This is the best small iPad. No question. The screen is lovely, as is the refreshed design. Apple has thought about what people need from a tablet like, and added features like an IP rating for poolside reading.
You need 120Hz
The addition of OLED is great, although if you need a fast 120Hz display, you’ll still need to go for an iPad Pro.
iPad Mini 8 is agonisingly close to perfection. It’s a real pleasure to use and, for me, the best the iPad Mini has ever been. The screen, the thin design, the quality-of-life extras like an IP rating, the flagship performance – they all just combine to make the ultimate mini tablet.
I have issues, though – even if none of them stops me from recommending this. The lack of ProMotion is a shame, especially when taken with the steep price rise. A decade ago, an iPad Mini cost £319/$399 – now the base model here is £699/$699.
That’s more expensive than the first-gen iPad Pro, and the same price as a MacBook Neo. Of course, the target markets are different, but it does put it into perspective. That high price will simply put it out of reach for many, and it’s not like there’s a cheaper small Looking at the wider tablet market, there isn’t much to compare this to. Amazon still sells cheaper Alexa Tabs, although you really get what you pay for there. Our favourite small Android tablet is the 9.06-inch RedMagic Astra 2, which, for £599, offers a faster screen and gaming-focussed features like dual USB-C ports and a larger cooling system.
In the UK, no. All you get in the box is the iPad and a nice woven USB-C to USB-C cable. If you’re buying a charger, ensure it’s at least 35W output-capable – as this is required to enable the faster speeds. Other regions do come with a charger.
| Apple iPad Mini OLED (A20 Pro) | |
|---|---|
| Geekbench 6 single core | 4730 |
| Geekbench 6 multi core | 12641 |
| Geekbench 7 single core | 4044 |
| Geekbench 7 multi core | 11466 |
| AI performance | 68264 |
| Apple iPad Mini OLED (A20 Pro) Review | |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Apple |
| Screen Size | 8.5 inches |
| Storage Capacity | 128GB, 256GB, 512GB |
| Rear Camera | 12MP |
| Front Camera | 12MP |
| Video Recording | Yes |
| IP rating | IP67 |
| Fast Charging | Yes |
| Size (Dimensions) | 132.6 x 5.4 x 195.3 MM |
| Weight | 255 G |
| Operating System | iPadOS |
| Release Date | 2026 |
| First Reviewed Date | 03/11/2026 |
| Resolution | 2316 x 1512 |
| HDR | Yes |
| Refresh Rate | 60 Hz |
| Ports | USB-C |
| Chipset | A20 Pro |
| RAM | 12GB |
| Colours | Starlight, MIdnight |
| UK RRP | £699 |
| USA RRP | $699 |