The new tablet starts at $699.

Apple

Apple isn't waiting for its "Pro and Tell" event to unveil new hardware. On Monday morning, the company announced the 2026 iPad mini . The new tablet has 8.5-inch OLED display, which Apple will allow customers to spec with its nano-texture coating.

On paper, the new panel is a substantial upgrade. According to Apple, it's capable of reaching a peak brightness of 1,200 nits, or twice as bright as the 2024 iPad mini. It can also sustain 600 nits of full-screen brightness across both SDR and HDR content. Additionally, it offers a 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio. Thanks to 24 percent thinner bezels, the new screen is also slightly larger than the 8.3-inch display the iPad mini previously offered.

In addition to a new OLED panel, the 2026 iPad mini has Apple's first-ever "Acoustic Display." The company has embedded a set of custom woofers "through the display," which it says results in those components delivering "punchier" bass and more volume.…