Apple has officially announced the eighth-generation iPad mini (iPad mini 8), serving as the successor to the two-year-old iPad mini 7. The refreshed compact tablet brings notable upgrades across the board, including an OLED display, an A20 Pro processor, an IP67 rating for dust and water resistance, and a slimmer, lighter chassis.
Sleeker Design and OLED Display
The new iPad mini retains its portable form factor while introducing an upgraded metal build measuring 5.4mm in thickness. It weighs 255g for the Wi-Fi model and 263g for the Wi-Fi + Cellular edition. For the first time, it includes IP67 water and dust resistance, available in Midnight and Starlight colors.
On the front, Apple has swapped the old LCD screen for an 8.5-inch Super Retina XDR OLED display with a resolution of 2316 × 1512 pixels and a pixel density of 326 ppi. By shrinking the bezels by 24%, the overall physical dimensions remain virtually identical to the previous generation. The OLED panel offers up to 1,200 nits peak HDR brightness, 600 nits full-screen brightness, P3 wide color gamut, and True Tone. An optional nano-texture display glass is available on the 256GB and 512GB storage models to reduce reflections. Stylus support includes both the Apple Pencil Pro and Apple Pencil (USB-C).
Performance and Storage Variants
Powering the tablet is the A20 Pro chip, which is also used in the iPhone 18 Pro series, replacing the A17 Pro. According to Apple, the new chipset provides up to 60% faster CPU performance, 2.7× faster graphics, and 4.5× faster AI processing.
The tablet offers storage options up to 512GB. Interestingly, the 128GB and 256GB models feature a 5-core CPU, whereas the 512GB configuration includes a 6-core CPU to better handle demanding apps and multitasking. All versions share the same 7-core GPU.
Cameras, Software, and Battery
The device runs on iPadOS 27, bringing integrated Apple Intelligence features and an upgraded Siri capable of understanding personal context. The rear houses a 12MP camera equipped with Smart HDR 4, 4K video recording at 60fps, and an Adaptive True Tone flash. On the front, a 12MP Center Stage camera is now positioned on the landscape edge for better video calling alignment.
Battery performance is rated for up to 10 hours of web browsing or video playback over Wi-Fi, and up to 9 hours on the Wi-Fi + Cellular model when using mobile data. Fast charging support is also included.
