The iPad mini is Apple's smallest tablet device and the latest model features a slim-bezeled design, an OLED display, IP67 waterproofing, an A20 Pro chip that works with Apple Intelligence, a USB-C port, Touch ID, and Apple Pencil Pro support. The iPad mini is priced starting at $699, making it $200 more expensive than the original iPad mini 7 price.

Launched in October 2026, the iPad mini is brand new and now is a good time to buy.

The iPad mini is Apple's most affordable iPad with an OLED display. It is smaller, cheaper, and more portable than the OLED iPad Pro, but it does not have a 120Hz ProMotion refresh rate.

At a $699 starting price, the iPad mini is not cheap. Users who are looking for a more affordable option should consider the lower-cost iPad. Starting at $449, the iPad offers many iPad mini features, such as Touch ID and Center Stage, but it does not support Apple Intelligence.

For an iPad with a larger display, there is the $749 iPad Air. The iPad Air features a Smart Connector on its rear to connect to keyboard cases and a larger, 11-inch display, but it does not have OLED, nano-texture, or IP67 water resistance. Apple's iPad Pro is the highest-end iPad, and it is much more expensive with a $1,199 starting price.

Before buying, check out our iPad deals guide, where we keep track of the current best price on the iPad mini, iPad Air, iPad, and iPad Pro.

Apple debuted the eighth-generation iPad mini in October 2026, two years after the prior-generation iPad mini 7 came out.

Apple overhauled the design of the iPad mini 8, adding a new Acoustic Display, slimmer bezels for more viewable display area, OLED, and a much thinner body that also cuts weight. The iPad mini 8 is 5.4mm thick, down from 6.3mm thick in the prior-generation version. It weighs just over half a pound, and it is Apple's lightest tablet by far. There are no fun colors for the iPad mini 8, with Apple offering the iPad mini in Starlight and Midnight.

The iPad mini has an all-screen design with squared-off edges and a Touch ID fingerprint scanner in the top power button. It has a larger 8.5-inch OLED Super Retina XDR display with a resolution of 2,316 by 1,512. Apple says the OLED display adds vivid colors and dramatic contrast. It offers up to 600 nits full-screen brightness, 1,200 nits peak HDR brightness, 1 nit minimum brightness, a 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio, and support for True Tone and P3 wide color. Though the display is OLED, it is limited to a 60Hz refresh rate. For the first time, you can pay $100 more to get the 256GB and 512GB iPad mini 8 models with nano-texture glass that has a matte finish for less glare.

The iPad mini 8 has the same 2nm A20 Pro chip as the iPhone 18 Pro models. The A20 has a 5-core CPU and 7-core GPU in the 128GB and 256GB models, and a 6-core CPU with a 7-core GPU in the 512GB model. Each GPU core has a Neural Accelerator for up to 4.5x better performance on AI tasks. There is a dual 16-core Neural Engine in the 512GB models, and a single 16-core Neural Engine in the 128GB and 256GB models.

Apple says the CPU is up to 60 percent faster than the A17 Pro in the iPad mini 7, and the GPU is up to 2.7x faster. The GPU has Dynamic Caching, hardware-accelerated mesh shading, and ray tracing, so it supports console-quality games. There's 12GB of RAM in the iPad mini 8, up from 8GB in the prior model, and all Apple Intelligence features are supported.

Apple kept the 12MP Wide rear camera with an ƒ/1.8 aperture and Smart HDR 4. There is an updated Adaptive True Tone flash for low-light conditions and for scanning documents using the Notes app. As for the front-facing camera, the iPad mini 8 has a 12MP landscape camera with an ƒ/2.0 aperture and Center Stage for video calls.

There is a redesigned audio system Apple calls an Acoustic Display. It has custom tweeters and woofers hidden beneath the glass and enclosure, and there are no speaker holes, so the iPad mini is more water resistant. It is the first iPad to get an IP67 water and dust resistance rating. The speaker system is accompanied by dual front and back microphones to capture audio.

The iPad mini 8 is equipped with Apple's N1 networking chip with support for Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and Thread. Cellular models have Apple's C2 modem with support for sub-6GHz 5G networks and up to 50 percent faster cellular data speeds than the prior model. There is no nano-SIM card slot, and there are only digital eSIM options for connectivity.

The iPad mini works with the Apple Pencil Pro. The Apple Pencil Pro has support for squeeze gestures, barrel roll, Apple Pencil hover, and Find My, plus it offers haptic feedback in response to gestures. The Apple Pencil Pro magnetically attaches to the side of the tablet for storage, pairing, and charging. The cheaper $79 Apple Pencil (USB-C) also works with the iPad mini 8.

Apple did not update the battery life, and the iPad mini still features the same all-day battery life as other iPads, lasting up to 10 hours. There is a USB-C port for charging and data transfers up to 10Gb/s. There's also a fast-charge feature and the iPad mini can charge to 50 percent in 30 minutes with a 35W or higher power adapter.

Storage starts at 128GB, with 256GB and 512GB of storage available as upgrades.

The iPad mini can be ordered now and starts at $699 for the 128GB Wi-Fi-only model, $799 for the 256GB model, and $999 for the 512GB model. Cellular models can be purchased for $150 more than the base price of each configuration. The Apple Pencil Pro that works with the iPad mini is available for $129.

The iPad mini can be ordered from the online Apple Store and Apple retail stores. The 128GB iPad mini is available for $699. The 256GB and 512GB models are available for $799 and $999, respectively, and all models can be ordered with cellular capabilities for an extra $150.