The new iPad mini costs $699, while the 11-inch iPad Air with M4 launched at $599 and the 13-inch at $799. The iPad mini has the OLED display and IP67 rating, and the iPad Air has the larger screen, the M4 chip and a Magic Keyboard.
Apple announced the iPad mini on Monday, and the iPad Air with M4 arrived in March as part of Apple’s big week of announcements. Pre-orders for the iPad mini open on Wednesday, October 28.
The iPad Mini Costs $100 More Than the 11-Inch iPad Air Launched At
The 11-inch iPad Air with M4 started at $599 for Wi-Fi and $749 for Wi-Fi + Cellular, and the 13-inch started at $799 and $949. The new iPad mini starts at $699 and $849, so it sits between the two iPad Air sizes.
Both start at 128GB of storage, and education pricing is $649 for the iPad mini against $549 for the 11-inch iPad Air. The iPad Air has been on sale since March 11, while the iPad mini ships on Friday, November 6.
The iPad Air Wins on Chip, Screen Size and Keyboard Support
The iPad Air has an M4 chip with an 8-core CPU, a 9-core GPU, a 16-core Neural Engine and 12GB of unified memory. The iPad mini has an A20 Pro with a 5-core CPU, or 6 cores on the 512GB model, and a 7-core GPU.
The 11-inch iPad Air measures 10.86 inches diagonally and the 13-inch measures 12.9 inches, against 8.5 inches on the iPad mini. The iPad Air also supports the Magic Keyboard for iPad Air, while the iPad mini works with Bluetooth keyboards.
The iPad Air’s USB-C port can drive one external display at up to 6K and 60Hz, against 4K and 60Hz on the iPad mini. The 11-inch iPad Air has a 28.93-watt-hour battery against 18.9 watt-hours on the iPad mini, though both are rated for up to 10 hours of web browsing on Wi-Fi.
The iPad Mini Wins on Display Quality, Water Resistance and Portability
The iPad mini has an 8.5-inch Super Retina XDR OLED at 326 ppi with a 1200-nit HDR peak, while the iPad Air has a Liquid Retina LCD at 264 ppi with 500 nits on the 11-inch and 600 nits on the 13-inch. Apple also rates the OLED iPad mini at IP67.
The iPad mini weighs 0.56 pound for Wi-Fi, against 1.02 pounds for the 11-inch iPad Air and 1.36 pounds for the 13-inch. It is 5.4 mm thin against 6.1 mm for the iPad Air.
| Spec | iPad mini (A20 Pro) | iPad Air 11-inch (M4) | iPad Air 13-inch (M4) |
|---|---|---|---|
| US starting price, Wi-Fi | $699 | $599 at launch | $799 at launch |
| Display | 8.5-inch OLED | Liquid Retina LCD | Liquid Retina LCD |
| Resolution | 2316 by 1512 at 326 ppi | 2360 by 1640 at 264 ppi | 2732 by 2048 at 264 ppi |
| Brightness | 600 nits, 1200 nits HDR peak | 500 nits | 600 nits |
| Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi 7 | Wi-Fi 7 | Wi-Fi 7 |
| Cellular modem | C2 | C1X | C1X |
| Speakers | Acoustic Display | Landscape stereo | Landscape stereo |
| Weight, Wi-Fi | 0.56 pound | 1.02 pounds | 1.36 pounds |
| Thickness | 5.4 mm | 6.1 mm | 6.1 mm |
| Finishes | Midnight, starlight | Blue, purple, starlight, Space Gray | Blue, purple, starlight, Space Gray |
| Keyboard | Bluetooth keyboards | Magic Keyboard for iPad Air | Magic Keyboard for iPad Air |
