Apple iPad mini (8th Gen) / Wi-Fi / 256GB / Starlight

The 8.5-inch iPad mini with A20 Pro is Apple’s latest tablet. Compared with the previous generation it is 14 per cent thinner and 13 per cent lighter, and it is the lightest iPad Apple has made to date.

The display is an 8.5-inch Super Retina XDR OLED panel with a resolution of 2316 × 1512 pixels at 326 ppi, P3 wide colour, True Tone and an anti-reflective coating. Brightness reaches 600 nits full screen for SDR and HDR, 1,200 nits peak for HDR content, and can be lowered to 1 nit; the contrast ratio is 2,000,000:1. The bezels are 24 per cent thinner than on the previous model. The 256GB and 512GB models can be ordered with nano-texture glass, which scatters ambient light to reduce glare.

The A20 Pro chip is built on a 2-nanometre process. The 128GB and 256GB models use a 5-core CPU and a 16-core Neural Engine, while the 512GB model has a 6-core CPU and a Dual 16-core Neural Engine. All versions have a 7-core GPU with Neural Accelerators in each core, plus hardware-accelerated ray tracing and mesh shading. Up to 60 per cent faster CPU performance (6-core model), up to 2.7 times faster graphics and up to 4.5 times faster AI processing than the previous generation, along with more than double the unified memory bandwidth.

The rear 12MP Wide camera (ƒ/1.8) records 4K video at up to 60 fps and has an Adaptive True Tone flash for low-light photos and document scanning. The 12MP Center Stage front camera is now located on the landscape edge for video calls. Audio is handled by the Acoustic Display system, with woofers working through the display and tweeters placed between the glass and the enclosure, together with dual microphones.

Wireless connectivity is provided by the Apple N1 chip (Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, Thread). Cellular models use the Apple C2 modem with 5G (sub-6GHz) and support eSIM only. The USB-C port supports USB 3 transfers up to 10Gb/s and one external display up to 4K at 60Hz. The 18.9 Wh battery provides up to 10 hours of web browsing or video playback on Wi-Fi and charges to 50 per cent in around 30 minutes with a 35W or higher USB-C adapter (not included). Touch ID is built into the top button. iPad mini runs iPadOS 27 with Apple Intelligence and works with Apple Pencil Pro and Apple Pencil (USB-C), both sold separately.

The aluminium enclosure is rated IP67 for splash, water and dust resistance (maximum depth of 1 metre for up to 30 minutes under IEC 60529). It is available in Midnight and Starlight with 128GB, 256GB or 512GB of storage. The size is 195.3 × 132.6 × 5.4 mm and weighing 255g in the Wi-Fi version or 263 g in the Wi-Fi + Cellular version.