Apple’s smallest iPad now has an OLED screen. The new iPad mini, announced on Monday 26th October 2026, also gets the A20 Pro chip and an IP67 rating against water and dust. Pre-orders open on Wednesday 28th October, and the first units reach buyers on Friday 6th November. That’s two days before the 28th October launch where we expected it.
The new iPad mini starts at USD 699, about KES 91,000, for 128GB and Wi-Fi. The current A17 Pro model launched at USD 499 in October 2024, about KES 65,000 at today’s rate. For the extra USD 200 you get a better screen and a lighter, sealed body. The chip is faster too, though the cheaper models get fewer CPU cores than before.
The current mini has an LCD, which lights the picture from behind with a backlight. Showing black means blocking that light, and some always leaks through, so blacks look grey in a dim room. On OLED each pixel makes its own light and switches off for black. That’s why Apple quotes a 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio, and it’s the kind of screen recent iPhones use.
The screen grows from 8.3 to 8.5 inches in the same size body, because Apple made the borders 24% thinner. Everyday brightness rises from 500 to 600 nits, and HDR video peaks at 1,200 nits.
The mini still lacks ProMotion, Apple’s name for screens that refresh up to 120 times a second, so scrolling won’t look any smoother than on the current mini. A new nano-texture glass option cuts reflections in sunlight. It adds USD 100, about KES 13,000, on the 256GB and 512GB models only.
The Wi-Fi model is 5.4mm thick and weighs 255g. The current one is 6.3mm and 293g.
It’s also the first iPad with an IP rating. In IP67, the 6 means dust can’t get in and the 7 means it survived 1 metre of water for up to 30 minutes in Apple’s lab tests. A rainy day shouldn’t kill it, but Apple’s fine print says liquid damage isn’t covered by the warranty.
The speakers are part of that seal. The woofers now play through the screen itself, and the tweeters sit hidden between the glass and the aluminium body. Apple calls the setup Acoustic Display and says its sealed enclosure helps the mini reach IP67. The front camera has moved to the long edge, so on a video call with the mini held sideways, you face the camera.
Every model’s A20 Pro has a 7-core GPU, up from 5. Apple says graphics are up to 2.7 times faster and AI tasks up to 4.5 times faster than the current mini’s.
The CPU varies by storage tier. The 128GB and 256GB models get 5 CPU cores, one fewer than the current mini. Only the USD 999 (about KES 130,000) 512GB model gets 6 cores. And Apple’s claim of up to 60% faster CPU performance was measured on that 6-core model. So if you play games, any model gets the faster graphics. If you want the chip Apple is advertising, you’re paying for 512GB.
All models get Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6 from Apple’s N1 chip. The cellular version starts at USD 849, about KES 110,000, uses Apple’s own C2 modem and only takes an eSIM, a digital SIM your network loads onto the iPad.
| New iPad mini | A17 Pro mini (2024) | |
|---|---|---|
| Screen | 8.5-inch OLED | 8.3-inch LCD |
| CPU | 5-core (6-core on 512GB) | 6-core |
| Water and dust | IP67 | No rating |
| Starting price | USD 699 (KES 91,000) | USD 499 at launch (KES 65,000) |
Apple hasn’t said how much RAM the new mini has. The battery shrinks slightly, from 19.3Wh to 18.9Wh, but Apple quotes the same 10 hours.
The new price leaves the mini only USD 50, about KES 6,500, below the iPad Air, which starts at USD 749, about KES 97,000. Yet the mini now beats the Air on the screen, OLED against LCD, and on water resistance. For a small tablet you carry everywhere, we think this is the easiest iPad mini to recommend on its screen alone, even at USD 200 more. It’s worth it.
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