Apple's New iPad mini Gets an OLED Screen, Water Resistance and a Big Speed Boost. Here's What's New

Apple has just announced a brand-new iPad mini, and it's the biggest change to the little iPad in years. It has a sharper, brighter OLED screen that's slightly bigger in the same size body, it's water and dust resistant for the first time, and it's far quicker inside. Pre-orders open this Wednesday, and here's what's new, what it costs in the UK and what it means if you've been thinking about one.

What Apple has announced

The headline is the screen. The new iPad mini has an 8.5-inch OLED display, the same kind of screen as the latest iPhones and iPad Pro, which means much deeper blacks and richer colours. Apple has made the borders around it thinner, so the screen is a little bigger while the iPad itself stays the same width and height as before. It's also much brighter, up to 1200 nits at its peak, which Apple says is more than twice the previous model, so it should be far easier to read outdoors, and it can dim right down for reading in bed. If you work somewhere bright, there's an optional nano-texture finish that cuts glare, as on the iPad Pro.

Here's what else is new:

• Thinner and water resistant. It's 5.4 mm thin and rated IP67, which means it has been tested in up to a metre of water for 30 minutes and is sealed against dust.
• A much faster chip. The A20 Pro, the same chip as the new iPhone Duo, which Apple says makes everyday tasks up to 60 percent faster and AI features up to 4.5 times faster than the last iPad mini.
• A better camera for video calls. The front camera has moved to the long edge, so you're looking straight at the camera when the iPad is on its side for FaceTime or Zoom.
• Better sound. New speakers work through the screen itself, which Apple calls an Acoustic Display, for more volume and fuller bass.
• Faster Wi-Fi and mobile data. It supports Wi-Fi 7, and the cellular model has Apple's newest modem, which Apple says gives up to 50 percent faster mobile data than before.
• Fast charging, a camera flash on the back that should help with scanning documents, and two colours, midnight and starlight, in 128GB, 256GB and 512GB.

You can read everything in Apple's announcement.

UK prices and when you can get it

• Wi-Fi model: from £699.
• Wi-Fi + Cellular model: from £849.
• With education savings: from £649.
• New Smart Folio cover: £79, in navy blue or taupe.
• Apple Pencil: it works with the Apple Pencil Pro (£129) and the Apple Pencil with USB-C (£79), so it's worth checking which Pencil you have before you buy.

Pre-orders open on Wednesday 28 October on Apple's website and in the Apple Store app, and it arrives with customers and in shops from Friday 6 November.

Siri AI and Apple Intelligence

The new iPad mini comes with iPadOS 27 and Apple Intelligence, including the new Siri AI, which can understand what's on your screen, find things across your messages, emails and photos, and answer questions on almost anything. Two details in Apple's small print are worth knowing. Siri AI is still in beta, arriving with the iPadOS 27.2 update and not available to under-13s, and Apple says some of the features that run on its servers have daily usage limits, with more access available for a fee in the future.

What's still to come on Wednesday

Apple announced the iPad mini two days before its "Pro and Tell" launch on Wednesday 28 October, and everything Bloomberg's Mark Gurman predicted for it turned out to be right, from the OLED screen and the moved camera to the new speakers and the 6 November date. That makes the rest of his predictions for this week look even more likely, although they're still rumours until Apple confirms them:

• A touchscreen MacBook Pro in 14-inch and 16-inch sizes, with an OLED screen.
• An entry-level 14-inch MacBook Pro with the M6 chip.
• An iMac with the M6 chip.

What it means for you

• If you want one on day one, order early on Wednesday, because new Apple products often sell out of their first batch quickly.
• If you're trading in an older iPad, Apple will give you credit towards the new one, and you can check what yours is worth on Apple's trade-in page before you order.
• Water resistance isn't a licence to swim. Apple's own small print says the protection can wear down over time, you shouldn't charge it while it's wet, and liquid damage isn't covered by the warranty, so treat it as protection against spills and rain rather than something to dunk.
• Check your accessories. Cases and covers made for the old iPad mini may not fit the new, thinner design, and if you use an Apple Pencil, make sure it's one of the two Apple lists above.

If you've got a quick question about whether the new iPad mini is right for you, iHelp AI can answer it any time, and if you'd like help setting up a new iPad and moving everything across from your old one, you can book a session with us, remotely anywhere in the UK or in person here in Dorset.

Alex