OLED iPad mini review: A modern multitasker

My favorite thing about the iPad mini is that it’s easy to love in all sorts of different use cases. It can be an e-reader or a bedtime TV or pretty much anything else you can imagine, right up to being a very tiny productivity device. It’s whatever iPad you want it to be, and everyone who has fit one into their lives seems to love it. The new iPad mini is like that, too. But it’s added a few new tricks that make it better at most of the tasks people already used the iPad mini to perform. It’s got power, a beautiful new display, and fits in even more places than before. The OLED display’s the thing With this update, the iPad mini joins the iPad Pro among iPads sporting OLED displays. While the iPad mini’s OLED is not as spectacular as the Pro’s tandem OLED Ultra Retina XDR, it’s still pretty impressive, with 1200 nits of peak brightness, more than twice that of the previous model. As detailed in my interview with two Apple executives about the iPad mini, the entire product was built around the OLED display. And that decision has some nice knock-on effects: By replacing the old LED-and-backlight display tech with OLED, Apple also gains some weight and space savings, allowing the iPad mini to be thinner (only 5.4mm) and lighter (255g for the Wi-Fi model). And the display, which measures 8.5 inches diagonally, is actually a little larger than on the previous model, thanks to smaller bezels. Apple’s also now offering a nano-texture option (a $100 upgrade, and only available on the two higher-end models) for the front glass, a coating that provides powerful anti-glare capabilities. Put together, the brighter display and anti-glare coating do make this the best iPad mini ever at numerous outdoor activities—including the one it’s perhaps best suited for, as an ultraportable reading device. Choose wisely, though—I found that the nano-texture glass did also deprive me of the blackest blacks that OLED can offer. If you don’t run into glare problems in using your iPad, it’s probably not worth the trade. Alas, the display only refreshes at 60Hz, rather than at the 120Hz rates of Apple’s ProMotion displays. This will disappoint some people, though as someone with multiple ProMotion devices in my life, I didn’t really notice or mind on the iPad mini. We have always been at war with ingress Flour ingress is covered by IP67, right? This iPad mini is the first iPad ever to receive a rating against dust and water ingress: IP67. This doesn’t mean you can swim with the iPad mini, but it does mean that if your kid drops it in the bathtub or you’re using it on a utility pole in the middle of a dust storm, you should probably be okay. For people using the iPad mini in a variety of environments, that will be a win. For people using it as an e-reader, it certainly means you can probably get away with using it in the bathtub or by the pool—a win of a smaller, but still important, sort. As a part of the job of restricting ways water and dust can intrude on the interior of the iPad, Apple has removed the traditional speakers from this iPad mini and replaced them with something it’s calling the Acoustic Display. It comes in two parts: First, two ultra-small tweeters are tucked just at the two narrow edges of the display, right between the edge of the glass bezel and the metal that rings the device’s sides. You’d never even notice them if you weren’t looking for them. These provide high-frequency audio (and stereo effects if you’re holding the tablet in a horizontal orientation). Second, there are drivers for mid-range and bass that are on the inside of the iPad, coupled to the display itself. The vibrations that comprise those frequencies move through the display glass, which transmits them into the air. Your whole iPad mini display becomes part of the sound system. It works pretty well. No iPad mini ever will win awards for audio fidelity, but I was able to crank up “Atomic Blonde” and listen to some crunchy punching with stereo placement, and play “Norwegian Wood” and experience distinct stereo separation of sitar and guitar. Yes, when it gets loud you can feel the iPad vibrating… but I’m pretty sure that has always been the case when you hold a small device that’s making a load of noise. More power than a MacBook? A couple of months back, after the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Duo were introduced alongside the A20 Pro chip they both use, I mused about how powerful an A20 Pro-based MacBook Neo would be, while lamenting that we might not see one until 2028. I still have no idea what Apple’s MacBook Neo plans are, but for fans of the iPad mini, there’s no wait required: That same A20 Pro chip is now installed in this new iPad mini. That means, yes, that the new iPad mini is more powerful than a MacBook Neo—and may remain so even when the MacBook Neo gets an update next year. This goes to perhaps the most important point when considering the iPad mini: Its ultimate strength is, as Apple says, its versatility—or to put it another way, the iPad mini is not a broken iPad or a baby iPad or half an iPad. It’s a whole iPad. That A20 Pro chip is powerful enough for all sorts of tasks. Perhaps with the exception of some esoteric high-end tasks that require the power of the M4 or M5 processors found in higher-end models, the iPad mini will do whatever iPad jobs you throw at it. It’s a complete, capable iPad—but tiny. The versatility is the thing that makes it special. Not all iPad minis are made alike: The $699 (128GB storage) and $799 (256GB storage) minis actually use a five-core version of the A20 Pro, with two super cores and three efficiency cores. The $899 model (512GB storage) gets the same six-core (two super, four efficiency) A20 Pro as the iPhones. I’m not sure you’d notice, but there it is. Every iPad mini gets to take advantage of Apple’s N1 chip, which brings Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6 to the iPad, in addition to Thread. And cellular versions (an additional $150) will now use Apple’s own C2 chip. This model also marks Apple’s final acceptance that horizontal is the best iPad orientation, completing the task of relocating every iPad’s Center Stage camera to the long edge so you can properly frame FaceTime calls in landscape mode. It’s just better this way. (Though, Apple, a product note: If I’m using my iPad horizontally and I’m talking to someone holding an iPhone vertically, maybe automatically adjust my framing and cropping so I’m properly oriented on their screen and not letterboxed?) Not priced like a unitasker These iPads are not as cheap as they were. (Though what is, right?) This new model starts at $699, and escalates rapidly from there. The model Apple sent me for review was the top-of-the-line 512GB storage model with cellular and nano-texture glass, which will set you back $1,249. These prices are extremely high if you consider the iPad mini a unitasker. If you’re thinking about buying one to read ebooks, well, even a pricey Kindle tops out at about $320 and the excellent Kobo Libra Colour is $260. This iPad mini is a full-featured product at a full-featured price. If you’re only going to use it to do one or two things, there may be better options. But the thing about iPads is that they are flexible and malleable, and you can use software and accessories to make them be what you want them to be. If you’re planning on using an iPad mini as an e-reader, but also an RSS reader and for light email and web browsing and maybe watching a TV show sometimes and in a pinch maybe editing some video… now you’re getting it. Pair a Bluetooth keyboard and write with it. Add a trackpad and multitask with it. Attach it to an external display. Dress it up in the new (very nice) FineWoven Folio Case like it’s an iPad Pro wearing a little business suit. The value is in the flexibility. The reason the iPad mini has earned the love and loyalty of a wide array of users is that it’s tiny, portable, and does everything an iPad can do—and that’s a winning combination. This new model has a great new screen, and is thinner and lighter than ever. It’s certainly not cheap, but there’s a lot of value packed in there—if you’ve got a plan to take advantage of it. If you appreciate articles like this one, support us by becoming a Six Colors subscriber. Subscribers get access to an exclusive podcast, members-only stories, and a special community.