A New iPad Mini Is Coming Out In 2026 (And Here's How Much It Costs)

It's been two years since Apple launched the 2024 iPad Mini, and it was about time the product received a new lease on life. That is exactly what has happened after the company recently took the covers off a brand new iPad Mini model. The new 2026 Apple iPad Mini is the eighth generation in Apple's compact lineup. The latest iPad Mini gets a bunch of new features and technologies, some of which have come to the lineup for the first time ever. Notable among these include a new OLED panel (all prior iPad Minis had LED-backlit LCD screens), IP67 water resistance, a landscape-oriented front camera, and an under-screen speaker, which Apple refers to as the "Acoustic Display." Incidentally, this launch announcement comes just two days before Apple's "Pro and Tell" event scheduled for October 28, when it's rumored the company will unveil a refreshed lineup of MacBook Pro models. 

Besides these major changes, the newest iPad Mini is thinner and lighter compared to its predecessor despite getting a larger display. It comes with an updated processor (Apple A20 Pro), which is a significant upgrade over the Apple A17 Pro chip used on the previous-generation iPad Mini. The 2026 iPad Mini also gets a new Apple-designed wireless networking chip (N1), which the company says offers improved performance across a wide range of features, including AirDrop and AirPlay. The new tablet will be available for preorder starting Wednesday, October 28, 2026, while consumers can purchase it from Apple stores and resellers starting November 6, 2026.

Given the sheer number of features added to the refreshed iPad Mini (2026), there is little doubt this device is a major upgrade over its predecessor. The A20 Pro chip in the new model is the same as the one used in the iPhone 18 Pro. The chip uses a newer 2nm manufacturing process, and its new 7-core GPU offers significantly faster performance in intensive AI tasks, including running local LLM apps. The graphics performance is up to 2.7 times faster, while Apple claims it is up to 60% faster in multithreaded applications (which usually include things like image and video editing). The A20 Pro chip also allows for much larger memory bandwidth, which promises overall smoother performance over the older models.

At launch, the iPad Mini (2026) runs iPadOS 27, which is loaded with several new features and capabilities of its own. Like the new iOS 27-toting iPhones, the latest iPad Mini gets a host of visual upgrades with the addition of Apple's Liquid Glass design language, while the revamped Siri AI is coming with iPadOS 27.2. Also new to the iPad Mini 2026 with iPadOS 27.2 is support for extended display mode, which could prove to be extremely helpful when the tablet is connected to an external display. It also supports both Apple Pencil (USB-C) and Apple Pencil Pro, which means several of the pro-grade features of the larger, more expensive iPad models are accessible using the relatively cheaper iPad Mini.

Given the current state of global geopolitics, it goes without saying that the 2026 iPad Mini is the newest victim of the ongoing RAM shortage. Apple offers the mini tablet in three storage options: 128GB, 256GB, and 512 GB. The price of the 128GB Wi-Fi-only variant starts at $699, which makes it $200 more expensive than the launch price of the previous-generation iPad Mini. The Cellular 128 GB variant, on the other hand, will set users back by $849. 

The 256GB Wi-Fi-only option is priced at $799, while the 512GB Wi-Fi-only option will make your wallet lighter by $999. There are two color options for the 2026 iPad Mini: Midnight and Starlight. Apple is also giving buyers the option to add a glare-reducing nano-texture display for the 256GB and 512GB models. Given that the Apple Pencil Pro and Apple Pencil (USB-C) are compatible with the new iPad mini, if you are buying them as well, you'll pay an additional $129 for the Apple Pencil Pro and $79 for the Apple Pencil (USB-C).