The iPad mini has always occupied a peculiar niche — too big for a pocket, too small for a laptop replacement, yet stubbornly beloved by a devoted subset of users who insist that 8-ish inches is the correct screen size for a tablet. The eighth-generation model validates their loyalty with almost every upgrade on the wishlist: OLED screen, IP67 water resistance, the A20 Pro chip from the iPhone 18 Pro, landscape-oriented camera, and speakers that fire through the display glass itself. It is, by any technical measure, the best small tablet ever made. The OLED display is the headline improvement. At 8.5 inches — 0.2 inches larger than its predecessor despite a thinner, lighter body — it delivers the inky blacks and vibrant color that make everything from reading to streaming noticeably better. But Apple has made an odd omission: the screen runs at 60Hz, not the 120Hz ProMotion that ships on iPhones and iPad Pros. If you use a modern iPhone, the stutter when you switch to this mini is immediately noticeable. At £699, that's a hard absence to forgive. The A20 Pro chip is overkill for most mini use cases, but that's the point. Apple is future-proofing: the 12GB of RAM positions this tablet for Apple Intelligence features and years of software updates. Battery life lands at nine to ten hours for normal tasks, six to eight for gaming, and it charges to 50% in under 30 minutes with a 35W adapter that Apple does not include in the box. The speaker system deserves attention. Tweeters fire through slimline gaps between glass and aluminium; woofers play directly through the screen. For a device this thin (5.4mm), the audio is remarkably full and direct, and you can't accidentally block it while holding the tablet — a genuinely thoughtful engineering choice. IP67 water resistance is another first for an iPad, and while it won't survive a swimming pool dive, it removes the anxiety from poolside reading or kitchen use. The price, though, is where the story turns. At £699 / $699 / €749, this is a £200 increase over its predecessor. It costs £270 more than the base iPad and only £50 less than the 11-inch iPad Air M4, which gives you a substantially larger screen and the M4 chip. The mini's value proposition has always been that it was the affordable gateway iPad with a portability premium. Now it's priced as a mid-range iPad competing directly with larger, arguably more versatile options. The professional and institutional audience won't blink — building sites, restaurants, university researchers, and airline staff who need a compact, durable, one-handed device will absorb the cost. The commuter and couch reader, though, now faces a genuine question: is the portability of 8.5 inches worth paying near-Air prices? The lack of Face ID adds another friction point; Touch ID via the power button works, but feels like a cost-saving measure in a device that no longer costs like a budget product. The iPad mini A20 Pro is the best version of itself Apple has ever shipped, and simultaneously the hardest to recommend at its new price. If you know you want a small tablet — if you've already owned a mini and loved it — this is the one. If you're shopping for the best iPad value, look at the base model or the Air.
