- A new rumor suggests the next iPad mini may get an OLED screen
- This would make it the second iPad to get the upgrade, after the iPad Pro
- The rumor is light on details, and Apple has not acknowledged it
When the iPad Pro M4 released in 2024, Apple made waves by equipping its premier high-end tablet with a stunning OLED display – the first on any iPad model.
Since then, we’ve been wondering which iPad will be the next to make the leap from older LCD tech to the increased contrast and color accuracy of OLED – and a new rumor suggests an unlikely candidate could be next up.
Noted tipster Digital Chat Station (via GSMArena) made a post on Weibo suggesting that “iPad is evaluating small OLED” in the context of mainstream tech companies producing 8.8-inch tablets.
Admittedly, that’s not a lot to go on, but Digital Chat Station has a fairly decent record and is considered one of the more reliable tipsters posting on Chinese platforms.
The current-gen iPad mini, released at the tail-end of 2024, sports an 8.3-inch display. The post isn’t clear enough to know whether Digital Chat Station is implying a screen size increase for the iPad mini, as well as the new OLED tech.
Our iPad mini (2025) review found the tablet very impressive overall, but an OLED screen upgrade would still be more than welcome.
The iPad mini is the second-cheapest iPad model by starting price. At $499 / £499 / AU$799, it’s only beaten by the base model iPad, which clocks in at $329 / £329 / AU$599.
This would leave the LCD-equipped iPad Air models sandwiched between the iPad mini and iPad Pro on Apple’s pricing ladder – but while this might seem like an odd choice, I think this strategy could actually be a realistic one.
Analysis: why an OLED iPad mini could make sense
Though the iPad mini does sit between the iPad and iPad Air on Apple’s tablet pricing ladder, it isn’t really accurate to consider it as an intermediate option between the two.
It’s more realistic to think of the iPad, iPad Air, and iPad Pro forming a contiguous product line aimed at mainstream consumers, with the iPad mini offering a similar experience to a niche market of small tablet fans.
The trend across all mobile devices for the last decade has been larger screens. The iPhone has increased from 4.7 to 6.9 inches, and the iPad from 9.7 to a maximum 13 inches of screen size.
The iPad mini is unique in that it’s only increased very slightly in the same timespan, from 7.9 to 8.3 inches, most of which can be attributed to the adoption of the modernized, full-screen iPad design language.
That’s all to say that the people buying an iPad mini are probably buying it because it has a small display, not because they’re looking to save money versus an iPad Air or iPad Pro.
As such, it makes sense that Apple would begin extending some of those higher-end features to the iPad mini, as its target audience would probably never experience them otherwise.
And with the iPad mini enjoying popularity in certain professional and high-end leisure spaces – it’s a known favorite of pilots – there’s definitely scope for some feature upgrades.
As well as an OLED screen, I’d personally love to see the iPad mini get an M-series chipset. That might seem like overkill for such a small device, but when you consider the M1 chipset turns five years old this year, it’s not such a big ask.
For now, though, I think the addition of an OLED screen would be enough – a sign from Apple that their small tablet is still a priority, despite only comprising 10% of iPad sales (as MacRumors reports).
The only real sticking point could be price. A browse of Reddit suggests there are plenty of casual users who love the iPad mini for email, reading, web browsing – standard day-to-day stuff. I wouldn’t want to see these users saddled with any major price hikes as a result of the iPad mini getting closer to the Pro.
Of course, the above is pretty much entirely based on rumor at this point, so we’ve got a bit of a wait-and-see situation on our hands. For now, be sure to keep up with our iPad coverage and let us know what you’d like to see come to the iPad mini in the comments below.
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jamie.richards@futurenet.com (Jamie Richards)
