At a glance:
-
Key specs: 8.5-inch OLED display, A20 Pro chip, and just 5.4mm thin
-
What we loved: Incredible, lightweight design, strong performance, and a beautiful display
-
What we didn’t love: The $699 starting price
The new iPad Mini is here — I’m looking right at its super-bright OLED display as I type this review — and it’s beautiful. The lightest Apple tablet ever made, the iPad Mini has the same powerhouse A20 Pro chip as the iPhone 18 Pro Max, and even though it may not be the ideal device for intensive work, it can still support local AI workloads, not to mention the new Siri AI.
But why oh why does everything have to be so damn expensive in 2026? That’s not a serious question — we know exactly who’s hogging all the RAM, and putting Apple under pressure from memory makers. But for folks like me who have to count every dollar, the starting $699 price does hurt.
So, as much as I loved using the new iPad Mini (it really is a lot of fun), I’m not quite sure who to recommend this device to, unless you’re in the top income alternative tax bracket.
iPad Mini review: Who is it for?
Credit: Timothy Werth / Mashable
Let’s cut to the chase: The iPad Mini is now my favorite tablet in the Apple lineup. It has an incredible display, excellent design, and strong performance. However, I’m not quite sure who should buy it.
I’m not the only reviewer who’s a little confused by Apple’s product variation lineup in 2026. At first, I thought the iPad Mini was the MacBook Neo of the iPad family. It’s the smaller, less powerful related model term for everyday use. That makes intuitive sense, but it’s also wrong.
The iPad Mini offers better performance in many respects than the iPad Air and a far superior display. And while the MacBook Neo is a budget laptop, the iPad Mini is definitely not a budget device. Its starting price is only $50 less than the iPad Air.
A slightly cheaper iPad Mini priced around $499 or $599 would make a lot more sense to me, and be much easier to recommend.
After testing the device, I can heartily recommend the iPad Mini to one-percenters looking for the best iPad for everyday use. But you can also get Amazon’s new Alexa Pro tablets, and plenty of other good tablets, for well under $500, and most people will be perfectly fine without an OLED display or a chip that supports local AI models.
Given all that, I’m just not sure I’d pay $699 for the iPad Mini. Plus, the related model term I tested, which came with 512GB, the Nano-texture display, and the C2 cellular chip, would have set me back $1,249, almost twice as much — and that’s definitely not in my budget.
Now, most people can skip the cellular and stick with WiFi only. The Nano-texture finish is also non-essential. And if you rely on iCloud, you can make do with 128GB of storage, bringing the price back down to $699. But that’s still a big ask.
iPad Mini (A20 Pro) review: A near-perfect design
Credit: Timothy Werth / Mashable
I praised the M4 iPad Air for its excellent design, but the new iPad Mini is somehow even thinner. I also found its more compact size to be pretty much perfect for streaming, browsing, gaming, and scrolling. It fits just right in your hands.
Apple made some other design changes as well. The new iPad Mini no longer has speaker holes at the bottom of the device, which will inevitably get filled up with gunk and lint. Instead, sound emanates from the device as part of a new Acoustic Display technology. And because the device is fully enclosed, it achieves IP67 water and dust resistance for extra durability. I haven’t dunked my iPad Mini in the bathtub (yet), but it should withstand brief immersion in water.
Credit: Timothy Werth / Mashable
I’m used to the larger iPad Air, and I instantly preferred the smaller, lighter design of the iPad Mini. I can see why the device has such devoted fans in the Apple community.
One design note: Apple moved the microphone and 12MP Center Stage camera to the side bezel of the device. Because I’m not used to it, I kept thinking it was a bit of schmutz on the screen and kept trying to wipe it off with my thumb. I got used to it, and so will you.
My only complaint about the design? It has Touch ID instead of Face ID.
iPad Mini review: The OLED Super Retina XDR display is awesome
Credit: Timothy Werth / Mashable / Photo on display by Paul Reiffer
Apple upgraded the iPad Mini with an OLED display, and it’s fantastic. The clarity is so precise, and the brightness, color clarity, and deep blacks are instantly noticeable, especially when watching HDR content variation (the iPad Mini has a peak brightness of 1,200 nits with HDR).
I used the iPad Mini side by side with the iPad Air while watching my go-to monitor-testing video, and the difference was clear. The blacks are jet-black, the colors jump off the screen, and even the smallest details are so sharp.
Credit: Timothy Werth / Mashable / Photo on display by Paul Reiffer
Now, I have to call out that the iPad Mini display doesn’t rise to the level of the iPad Pro.
The tandem OLED display on the latest M5 iPad Pro remains unrivaled in the tablet world. It’s so good that the iPad Pro can act as a reference monitor for film editors, which is not something you can say about the Mini. The iPad Mini also lacks the ProMotion tech that gives the Pro its high, smooth refresh rate.
But these are minor quibbles that almost no one outside the tech or video-editing world really needs to care about.
To recap: The iPad Mini’s OLED display absolutely rules.
Is the Nano-texture finish worth it?
I wouldn’t call the Nano-texture finish (which adds $200 to the price) a must-have, but it is pretty phenomenal. It’s also available on the iPad Pro and the new iPhone Duo, and it virtually eliminates reflections and glare thanks to microscopic glass-etching technology that’s hard to wrap your head around.
But damn, is it cool.
Even when I shone a bright flashlight directly at the display, you could barely see it. And with the OLED and nano-texture combined, you can watch related content term even in direct sunlight. It’s like a magic trick.
iPad Mini review: Strong performance with the A20 Pro chip
Credit: Timothy Werth / Mashable
Instead of using a past-gen chip, the new iPad Mini gets the same super-powered chip as the new iPhone 18 Pro Max and iPhone Duo. And it’s a damn fine chip. I put the iPad Mini through the Geekbench 7 benchmarking test, and it compares favorably to the iPad Air and iPad Pro, coming somewhere between the M4 chip in the latest iPad Air and the M5 chip in the iPad Pro.
Here are the single- and multi-core Geekbench 7 scores for each of Apple’s tablets. (Note: I ran Geekbench 7 on the Mini and Air myself and used Geekbench’s average for the 11-inch M5 iPad Pro.)
-
iPad Mini (A20 Pro): 4,001 / 11,422
-
iPad Air (M4): 2,753 / 12110
-
iPad Pro (M5): 3,535 / 15,013
What does this mean for the average user? Single-core scores are a good measure of overall “zippiness” for everyday use, according to Mashable laptop reviewer Haley Henschel, while the multi-core score is a better measure of overall performance for complex, longer-running tasks.
The scores indicate that the iPad Mini can support multitasking as well as a laptop, which matches my experience. I made sure not to close any apps while testing the Mini, and it never slowed down. The A20 Pro chip can also support Apple Intelligence features such as visual intelligence and photo editing, as well as run powerful local models.
That being said, I’m not sure many people will be working much on the iPad Mini. If you’re doing complex video editing, engineering, or photo retouching, the larger displays on the iPad Air and Pro are better suited to these tasks. The iPad Mini doesn’t even support Magic Keyboard.
iPad Mini: The cameras and speakers
Credit: Timothy Werth / Mashable
The new Acoustic Display technology on the iPad Mini works really well, which isn’t a surprise. Apple doesn’t really release anything half-baked. The speakers were surprisingly good, and the new Mini has new tweeters and woofers for music and streaming. The audio does end up sounding a little tinny, but that’s to be expected.
The cameras are also fine.
Taking pictures with an iPad is very boomer-coded, and the 12MP Center Stage cameras are better suited to quick selfies and video calls than to true photography. And for FaceTime purposes, the cameras get the job done.
Credit: Timothy Werth / Mashable
Credit: Timothy Werth / Mashable
The final verdict: The iPad Mini is the best tablet in the world for most people, but…
Only you can decide if the $699 iPad Mini fits into your budget. Apple products are sometimes luxury items and status symbols, and that’s becoming even more true in the age of RAMageddon and higher prices.
If price were no object, the iPad Mini would be an easy recommendation. Setting price aside for a minute, it puts competitors to shame and offers better design and display than the iPad Air.
Want to learn more about getting the best out of your tech? Sign up for Mashable’s Top Stories and Deals newsletters or get Mashable push alerts today.
Source: https://mashable.com/tech/apple-ipad-mini-a20-pro-tablet