Apple's OLED iPad mini goes on sale with A20 Pro chip from $699

Apple is releasing five new products on Friday, 6 November, after pre-orders opened the week before. According to MacRumors, the group includes the company's first touchscreen MacBook Pro models. The other products are an iMac with an M6 chip, a 14-inch MacBook Pro with an M6 chip, and two MacBook Pro models with OLED touchscreens, one at 14 inches and one at 16 inches. This story focuses on the iPad mini, the smallest and least expensive device in the launch group.

The iPad mini has an 8.5-inch OLED display and an A20 Pro chip. The base configuration has a 16-core Neural Engine, and the 512GB version has a dual 16-core Neural Engine. Storage starts at 128GB. A retailer listing published by TechBargains gives the body as 195.3 by 132.6 millimetres and 5.4 millimetres thick. The device is rated IP67 for dust and water resistance, and it supports both the Apple Pencil Pro and the USB-C Apple Pencil. It includes Touch ID, Wi-Fi 7 and Thread networking, which matters for people who use Thread devices at home. The listing gives the battery as 18.9 watt-hours, with up to 10 hours of web browsing or video on Wi-Fi. It says the battery can reach 50 percent in about 30 minutes on a charger rated at 35 watts or higher, sold separately. The listing also notes that the iPad mini uses eSIM only and does not work with physical SIM cards.

Pricing and availability differ across the launch. MacRumors reports that the iPad mini starts at $699, the iMac at $1,499 and the M6 MacBook Pro at $1,999. The two OLED touchscreen MacBook Pro models start at $2,899 for the 14-inch model and $3,399 for the 16-inch model. All five products can be ordered now. Most configurations are expected to ship in time for launch-day delivery. The exceptions are the two touchscreen MacBook Pro models, which currently ship in two to three weeks for most configurations.

Deals site 9to5Toys reports that the M4 iPad Air is available with $100 off at Amazon. The 11-inch 128GB model is listed at $650, against a regular price of $749. The 13-inch 128GB model is listed at $850, against $949. The same report lists Apple HomeView at $289, down from $299, and notes that an Amazon pre-order discount on the new HomeView is back. The site also lists a Smart Folio for the iPad mini at $79. These discounts are current at the time of the report and may change.

The sources agree on the launch date, the base prices and the shipping timelines. They do not cover how the iPad mini compares with earlier models in battery life or performance, and the TechBargains page repeats product features rather than testing them. None of the reports says how long the Amazon discounts will last. Readers who are deciding between an iPad mini and an iPad Air should wait for independent reviews before they choose, because the sources give specifications and prices but no hands-on results.