The new iPad mini with A20 Pro is a large step up from the iPad mini 6, with an OLED display, Apple Intelligence support and up to 4x faster graphics. It starts at $699, and it works with Apple Pencil Pro and Apple Pencil (USB-C) instead of the Apple Pencil (2nd generation).
Apple announced the new iPad mini today, with pre-orders opening on Wednesday, October 28. The iPad mini 6 has an A15 Bionic chip, an 8.3-inch display and a 6-core CPU.
The iPad Mini 6 Cannot Run Apple Intelligence and the New iPad Mini Can
iPadOS 27 supports the iPad mini 6, but Apple Intelligence is limited to iPads with an M1 chip or later or the A17 Pro. The new iPad mini ships with Siri AI in beta and Apple Intelligence tools like Spatial Reframing, Extend and an upgraded Clean Up.
That makes Apple Intelligence the clearest reason to upgrade, since every other change is a hardware improvement on features the iPad mini 6 already has. The iPad mini 6 still runs iPadOS 27, so it keeps receiving software updates in the meantime.
The Display, Chip and Body Improve by Large Margins
The iPad mini 6 has an 8.3-inch LCD with 500 nits of brightness. The new model has an 8.5-inch OLED with 600 nits across the full screen, a 1200-nit peak on HDR content and a 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio, in a body that is 5.4 mm thin against 6.3 mm.
Apple claims up to 4x faster GPU performance and up to 2.2x faster CPU performance than the iPad mini 6. The CPU figure is based on the 6-core chip in the 512GB model, and the 128GB and 256GB models have a 5-core CPU against the 6-core CPU in the iPad mini 6.
Wi-Fi goes from Wi-Fi 6 to Wi-Fi 7, and the weight drops from 0.65 pound to 0.56 pound for the Wi-Fi model. IP67 water and dust resistance is new, and the speakers move from landscape stereo to the Acoustic Display.
The New iPad Mini Needs Apple Pencil Pro or Apple Pencil (USB-C)
The new iPad mini works with Apple Pencil Pro at $129 and Apple Pencil (USB-C) at $79, while the iPad mini 6 used Apple Pencil (2nd generation). Plan on buying a new Pencil along with the tablet, and the new Smart Folio costs $79 as well.
Trade-in credit applies toward the new iPad mini, and Apple has raised iPad and Mac trade-in values since the launch. Education pricing starts at $649, and the 36-month Apple Upgrade lease starts at $14.99 a month.
Our Take
Owners of the iPad mini 6 who want Apple Intelligence have a clear reason to upgrade, and the OLED display and IP67 rating are strong extras. Anyone happy with the iPad mini 6 can wait, since iPadOS 27 still supports it.
