Apple's OLED iPad mini goes on sale today, 6 November, and the first reviews are largely glowing. Reviewers praise the screen, the thinner body and a battery that outlasts Apple's claim, but they fault the 60Hz refresh rate and the higher price, which starts at Rs 82,900 in India.
What reviewers found
The reviews appeared on 3 November when the embargo lifted, three days before customers could collect orders. TechRadar's Jacob Krol called the tablet "an absolute joy to use" and scored its display, design and performance 4.5 out of 5 each. Tom's Guide gave it an Editor's Choice badge and called it the most significant upgrade to Apple's smallest tablet. Gizmodo's Kyle Barr wrote that the mini may be the best tablet for most people, provided they do not need a high refresh rate, and said he would pick it over any other iPad in Apple's range.
The common thread is that the upgrade is large for a small tablet, and that the price rise is what holds back otherwise strong scores.
The OLED panel and its limits
The mini's 8.5-inch Super Retina XDR OLED display is rated by Apple at 1,200 nits peak and 600 nits for full-screen use. Tom's Guide measured 600 nits in SDR and 1,032 nits in HDR, against about 494 and 492 for the previous iPad mini. It is not a tandem OLED, Gizmodo noted, and the refresh rate is fixed at 60Hz with no ProMotion.
Reviewers disagree on how much that matters. Gizmodo doubted most people would notice. TechRadar listed the missing 120Hz as one of the reasons the score is not higher. Gizmodo also disliked the optional nano-texture glass, saying it dulled colours and contrast.
Battery beats the claim
Apple rates the 18.9Wh battery at up to 10 hours of web browsing or video. TechRadar and Tom's Guide both report 14 hours 24 minutes in their browsing tests, compared with 10 hours 36 minutes for the previous generation. Tom's Guide says it ran only one test pass so far and plans to update. Gizmodo's reviewer got a full day of browsing and streaming and credited the more efficient 2nm A20 Pro chip.
Speed and drawbacks
On speed, Tom's Guide recorded Geekbench 6 scores of 4,720 single-core and 12,697 multi-core for the mini, ahead of the iPad Air with M4 in single-core but behind it in multi-core. Gizmodo's tests found the mini's graphics about 15 percent ahead of the M4 iPad Air in Geekbench Metal, and its multi-core about 15 percent behind. Gizmodo also saw lower benchmark scores with the Smart Folio case attached, and Apple had not explained why when the review ran.
Apple says the 2nm A20 Pro, the same chip family as the iPhone 18 Pro, delivers up to 60 percent faster multithreaded CPU performance and 2.7 times faster graphics than the previous mini, claims reported by Beebom. TechRadar measured the body at about 5.33mm thick and 254g, against 6.35mm and 295g before.
Other complaints are smaller. The tablet keeps Touch ID rather than Face ID, the cameras are essentially unchanged, it does not work with the Magic Keyboard, and the screen is small for multitasking beyond two windows. The body is 5.4mm thick, has IP67 dust and water resistance, and comes in Starlight and Midnight. Apple's India page lists Wi-Fi 7, 5G, eSIM and fast charging to 50 percent in around 30 minutes.
India pricing and availability
Apple India's page confirms availability from 6 November and lists the nano-texture option for the 256GB and 512GB models, but it showed no prices when we checked. Beebom and Digit report matching rupee prices. The 128GB Wi-Fi model costs Rs 82,900 and the Wi-Fi plus 5G version Rs 1,00,900. The 256GB models cost Rs 94,900 and Rs 1,12,900, and the 512GB models Rs 1,18,900 and Rs 1,36,900. Nano-texture glass adds Rs 12,000 on every eligible model, taking the 256GB Wi-Fi model to Rs 1,06,900.
Beebom says the base price is Rs 13,000 above the outgoing model's Rs 69,900. In the US the base model costs $699, which Gizmodo notes is $100 more than the A17 Pro mini and $50 less than the base iPad Air. Pre-orders in India opened on 28 October.
What to watch next
Tom's Guide plans to update its battery result after more test passes, so that figure could change. The next signals are owner reports on heat and screen uniformity, and any Apple explanation for the Smart Folio benchmark drop Gizmodo saw.
Published 6 November 2026. Gadgets365 will update this article as more information becomes available.
