Apple's New iPad mini With OLED Screen and A20 Pro Chip Reviewed
Engadget's reviewer assessed Apple's new iPad mini, which gets an OLED display and the A20 Pro chip for the first time. The tablet is thinner and lighter, but its starting price has risen to $699.
Apple has released a new iPad mini, its smallest tablet, featuring an OLED screen for the first time in this line and the new A20 Pro chip. Engadget reviewer Nathan Ingraham gave the device 8.5 out of 10. His main reservation is price: the tablet now starts at $699, which is $200 more than the previous model cost at launch two years ago.
Display and body
The screen has grown from 8.3 to 8.5 inches, while the body is thinner (6.3 mm down to 5.4 mm) and lighter (0.65 lb down to 0.56 lb). The OLED panel reaches 1,200 nits peak brightness for HDR content and has a 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio. The refresh rate remains 60Hz, while the iPad Pro runs at 120Hz.
A nano-texture glass option is available for the first time, reducing glare in bright light. It isn't offered on the base 128GB model: the 256GB version with this glass costs at least $899.
Performance and other changes
The A20 Pro chip, released alongside the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Duo, handled the games Control and No Man's Sky and work in Lightroom without trouble. The tablet has a new speaker system with stronger bass, is the first iPad with an IP67 dust and water resistance rating, and is the second iPad with fast charging. In testing, the battery went from 29 to 74 percent in half an hour. Heavy gaming gave about five or six hours of battery life, while lighter tasks came closer to the 10 hours Apple promises.
There is still no Face ID; the device is unlocked with the Touch ID power button or a PIN. The reviewer says the device is technologically impressive, but he is unsure the price will be worth it for most buyers.
