OLED iPad Mini Reviews: Lighter and Brighter, but No 120Hz
Early OLED iPad mini reviews from MacRumors and 9to5Mac praise the thinner body, OLED screen and water resistance, but criticize no 120Hz and the $699 price.
The first hands-on impressions of Apple’s new OLED iPad mini are broadly positive. MacRumors and 9to5Mac both call it the biggest redesign the small tablet has had in years, and both lean toward recommending it. They also raise the same two complaints: the screen is stuck at a 60Hz refresh rate, and the starting price has climbed to $699. The tablet is available for pre-order and launches on Friday, November 6.
What reviewers liked
Both outlets start with the body. According to 9to5Mac, the new model is 5.4mm thick, down from 6.3mm, and weighs 255 grams instead of 293 grams. MacRumors describes it as the lightest iPad Apple has made and says the thinner design is much nicer to hold. 9to5Mac’s reviewer said it feels more premium and less dense, and more like a shrunken iPad Pro than a base iPad.
The display is the headline upgrade. It is an 8.5-inch OLED panel, up from 8.3 inches, made possible by bezels that 9to5Mac says are 24 percent thinner. MacRumors points to deep blacks, high contrast and better HDR, and says it is brighter than before. 9to5Mac lists SDR brightness up to 600 nits, up from 500, and peak HDR brightness up to 1200 nits.
- Water resistance: It is the first iPad with an IP67 rating, meaning it can handle immersion in 1 meter of water for up to 30 minutes. MacRumors says that is enough for splashes at the pool, the bathtub or rain.
- Sound: A new “Acoustic Display” replaces visible speaker grilles. MacRumors found audio on par with the previous model and sometimes better, with clearer highs and deeper bass. 9to5Mac called it great for everyday use, though it would still choose headphones or an external speaker for serious listening.
- Chip and memory: The A20 Pro chip is more than enough for a tablet this size, according to both. MacRumors notes 12GB of RAM, which should help with AI features.
- Nano-texture option: 9to5Mac’s reviewer is a fan of the glare-reducing finish, which costs an extra $100 on the 256GB and 512GB models, and thinks it suits a device carried into varied lighting.
What reviewers criticized
The lack of ProMotion, Apple’s name for refresh rates up to 120Hz, drew the sharpest comments. MacRumors warns that anyone used to ProMotion on other devices is likely to notice it when scrolling. 9to5Mac called the decision incredibly frustrating and said ProMotion should be table stakes by now. It did note that the OLED panel’s faster pixel response makes scrolling and animations noticeably smoother than the old screen, but not as smooth as a ProMotion display.
Price is the other sore point. 9to5Mac says the iPad mini started the year at $499, rose to $599 in June, and now starts at $699 with 128GB of storage. It argues that a higher base storage would have softened the increase, especially given the storage demands of Apple Intelligence and Siri AI, and that the missing ProMotion and Face ID make the price sting more. MacRumors, by contrast, accepts the $100 rise because it comes with useful upgrades.
Where they differ
The outlets mostly agree, with a difference of emphasis. MacRumors frames the iPad mini as almost an iPad Pro mini and ends with a clear thumbs-up for owners of an iPad mini 6 or older. 9to5Mac is warmer on the design but more frustrated by the compromises, saying it is not quite the iPad mini Pro its reviewer has wanted for years. 9to5Mac also addresses whether the unfolded iPhone Duo makes the iPad mini redundant, and says no: the iPad mini runs the full iPadOS experience, with windowing, the menu bar and desktop-class Safari.
Note that both pieces are early hands-on impressions. MacRumors says its videographer had about a week with the device.
Who should buy it
MacRumors says the thinner chassis, OLED display, slimmer bezels, faster chip and water resistance are worth the cost for people who use an iPad mini 6 or older often. 9to5Mac highlights the tablet as the most compelling iPad yet for reading, thanks to its light weight, nano-texture option and water resistance. Its advice on configuration is to choose by storage need: only the 512GB model gets the six-core version of the chip, and 9to5Mac says that is not a reason to buy it.
Models come in 128GB, 256GB and 512GB, with Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi + Cellular options, in midnight and starlight. If a 120Hz screen matters to you, these reviews suggest this is not the model for you.
