Apple’s eighth-generation iPad mini went on sale earlier this month with a larger OLED display, a thinner and lighter design, the A20 Pro chip, and water and dust resistance. If you still use the sixth-generation ‌iPad mini‌ from 2021, the upgrade also brings changes that debuted on the 2024 model , including Apple Intelligence , Apple Pencil Pro support, and twice the USB-C transfer speed. The new ‌iPad mini‌ starts at $699 for 128GB with Wi-Fi or $849 with cellular in the United States. The discontinued 2021 model started at $499 and $649, respectively, with 64GB of storage. Both support iPadOS 27. 2, have Touch ID in the top button, and are rated for up to 10 hours of web browsing over Wi-Fi or watching video. Both displays also run at 60Hz . Display, Design, and Accessories
‌iPad mini‌ (sixth generation, 2021)
‌iPad mini‌ (eighth generation, 2026)
8. 3-inch display
8. 5-inch display
Liquid Retina display with LED backlighting and IPS technology
Super Retina XDR ‌OLED‌ display with 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio
2266-by-1488 resolution at 326 ppi
2316-by-1512 resolution at 326 ppi
Wider display borders
24% thinner display borders
500 nits maximum brightness
600 nits maximum SDR and full-screen HDR brightness, with up to 1,200 nits peak HDR brightness and 1-nit minimum brightness
Standard antireflective glass
Standard antireflective glass or optional nano-texture glass on 256GB and 512GB models for $100, with a polishing cloth included
IP67 water and dust resistance, rated for a maximum depth of 1 meter for up to 30 minutes
Available in Space Gray, Starlight, Pink, and Purple
Available in Midnight and Starlight
Supports ‌Apple Pencil‌ (second generation) and ‌Apple Pencil‌ (USB-C)
Supports ‌Apple Pencil‌ Pro and ‌Apple Pencil‌ (USB-C)
‌Apple Pencil‌ hover and ‌Apple Pencil‌ Pro features including squeeze, barrel roll, haptic feedback, and Find My
Polyurethane Smart Folio, also compatible with the 2024 ‌iPad mini‌
Two-panel TechWoven Smart Folio with adjustable viewing angles, available separately in Navy Blue and Taupe for $79
94% fiber-based packaging
100% fiber-based packaging and 35% recycled content overall
Dimensions and Weight
‌iPad mini‌ (2021)
‌iPad mini‌ (2026)
Height
7. 69 inches (195. 4 mm)
7. 69 inches (195. 3 mm)
Width
5. 3 inches (134. 8 mm)
5. 22 inches (132. 6 mm)
Thickness
0. 25 inch (6. 3 mm)
0. 21 inch (5. 4 mm)
Weight (Wi-Fi)
0. 65 pound (293 grams)
0. 56 pound (255 grams)
Weight (Wi-Fi + Cellular)
0. 66 pound (297 grams)
0. 58 pound (263 grams)
The 2026 model is about 14% thinner and 13% lighter in its Wi-Fi configuration. The cellular model is about 11% lighter. A15 Bionic vs. A20 Pro
‌iPad mini‌ (2021)
‌iPad mini‌ (2026)
Chip
A15 Bionic
A20 Pro
Manufacturing process
5-nanometer (TSMC N5P)
2-nanometer (TSMC N2)
CPU
6 cores (2 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores)
128GB and 256GB : 5 cores (2 super cores and 3 efficiency cores)
512GB : 6 cores (2 super cores and 4 efficiency cores)
GPU
5 cores
7 cores
Graphics features
Dynamic Caching, hardware-accelerated mesh shading, and hardware-accelerated ray tracing
Neural Accelerators
Dedicated Neural Accelerators in each GPU core
Neural Engine
16 cores
128GB and 256GB : 16 cores
512GB : Dual 16-core Neural Engine (32 cores total)
Memory
4GB
12GB
‌Apple Intelligence‌
‌Apple Intelligence‌ and Siri AI, with support for Apple’s larger on-device model for more expressive ‌Siri‌ voices and improved dictation
Storage
64GB or 256GB
128GB, 256GB, or 512GB
Apple claims up to 2. 2 times the CPU performance and up to four times the GPU performance of the 2021 ‌iPad mini‌ in its tests. Against the 2024 A17 Pro model, Apple says it delivers more than twice the unified memory bandwidth and up to 4. 5 times the speed in large language model token generation. Cameras and Audio
‌iPad mini‌ (2021)
‌iPad mini‌ (2026)
Front camera on the portrait edge
Front camera on the landscape edge
12MP front camera with Center Stage and an ƒ/2. 4 aperture
12MP front camera with Center Stage and an ƒ/2…
