New iPad mini arrives in Australia from A$1,099 with an OLED display

Apple’s new iPad mini starts at A$1,099 in Australia for the Wi-Fi model and A$1,349 with cellular. The Australian newsroom announced it on 27 October, with pre-orders opening on Thursday, 29 October, and the tablet arriving to customers and in Apple Store locations from Friday, 6 November.

What changes

The headline change is the screen. The new iPad mini has an 8.5-inch OLED display, larger than before, in the same footprint thanks to bezels Apple says are 24 per cent thinner. Apple quotes peak brightness of up to 1,200 nits, more than twice the previous generation, and a minimum of 1 nit for reading in the dark. A nano-texture glass option, previously offered on iPad Pro, is available to cut glare.

The body is 5.4mm thin, comes in midnight and starlight, and now carries an IP67 rating for water and dust resistance. Inside is the A20 Pro chip, which also powers iPhone Duo. Apple claims up to 4.5 times faster AI performance, up to 2.7 times faster graphics and up to 60 per cent faster multithreaded performance than the previous iPad mini. These are Apple’s own figures; independent testing will follow once the tablet is on sale.

Other changes:

• The 12MP front camera moves to the landscape edge, which suits video calls with the tablet on its side.
• Apple’s N1 chip adds Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6 and Thread.
• Cellular models use Apple’s C2 modem, which Apple says gives up to 50 per cent faster cellular data than the previous iPad mini, and support eSIM. If you are moving a plan between devices, our guide to eSIM transfers in Australia covers the carrier side.
• A new Acoustic Display uses the screen as part of the speaker system.

Siri AI and iPadOS 27

The tablet ships with iPadOS 27, and Siri AI is rolling out on it in beta. Siri AI is the new version of Siri Apple released in beta in September. If you would rather not use Apple Intelligence features, our guide explains how to turn off Apple Intelligence feature by feature.

Australian prices

Storage options are 128GB, 256GB and 512GB. Both Apple Pencil Pro and Apple Pencil (USB-C) work with the new model.