Apple Launches New iPad Mini Under Rs 90,000: 5 Reasons To Buy It

Not very long ago, Apple raised the price of the iPad by a massive amount. The iPad mini 7th generation, which had a price tag of Rs 49,900 suddenly jumped to Rs 69,900 while the iPad Pro saw the most steep price hike with prices increasing by Rs 40,000. Naturally, a lot of people who were planning to get an iPad decided to pause and reflect upon what to do.

If you have also been holding off of buying a new iPad, this might be your chance. The Cupertino-based tech giant, ahead of its Macbook launch event, decided to quietly launch the iPad mini on Monday evening. With a starting price of Rs 82,900 in India, this isn’t exactly a cheap iPad, but its has some upgrades that make it worth buying. Let’s get to the details.

iPad mini: Price and availability in India

The new iPad mini is available in three storage options: 128GB, 256GB and 512GB in India. The Wi-Fi model starts at Rs 82,900, while the Wi-Fi + Cellular variant is priced at Rs 1,00,900. Eligible students and educators can get the tablet at a starting price of Rs 76,900.

Apple is opening pre-orders on October 28, with availability starting November 6. The tablet comes in Midnight and Starlight colour options.

What's new with the iPad Mini?

Here is what's new with the 8th Gen iPad Mini, at a glance:

5 reasons to buy the new iPad mini

Now that we’ve got the basics covered, let’s move on to the reasons to buy this device (if budget isn’t a constraint).

1. An OLED display in a compact form factor

The new iPad mini features an 8.5-inch OLED Super Retina XDR display. Apple says the screen has 24% thinner bezels while keeping the tablet's overall footprint the same. That means users get more screen space without having to carry a larger device.

The OLED panel here is perhaps the biggest reason to go for this device. It brings pixel-level light control and deeper blacks, which should make dark scenes and high-contrast content look better. It supports a peak brightness of 1,200 nits, with full-screen brightness of up to 600 nits for SDR and HDR content. There is also a nano-texture display option for users who want to reduce reflections.

2. The A20 Pro chip brings a performance upgrade

Apple has equipped the new iPad mini with its A20 Pro chip, which is the same one found in the iPhone 18 Pro. The chip includes a 6-core CPU and a 7-core GPU, with Neural Accelerators in each GPU core.

Apple claims the new chip can deliver up to 60% faster multithreaded CPU performance and up to 2.7 times faster graphics performance compared with the previous generation. The company also says AI performance can be up to 4.5 times faster.

The upgraded chip could be useful for users who run demanding apps, edit content or use AI-powered features on the tablet.

3. A thinner design with IP67 resistance

The new iPad mini is 5.4mm thick, with Apple saying it is thinner and lighter than the previous generation. Its compact size is one of the main reasons to consider the mini over a larger tablet, especially for reading, travel or carrying it around throughout the day.

It also has an IP67 rating for dust and water resistance. This does not make the tablet waterproof, but it does offer some protection against dust and water exposure.

4. Improved cameras and speakers

The new iPad mini gets a 12MP front camera with Center Stage, positioned along the landscape edge. This should be useful for video calls when the tablet is held horizontally.

At the back, it has a 12MP wide camera with Smart HDR 4 and 4K video recording at up to 60fps. Apple has also added an Adaptive True Tone flash, which is designed to help with photos and document scanning in different lighting conditions.

The tablet's speakers have also been updated. Apple says its Acoustic Display system uses woofers for deeper bass and more volume, along with hidden tweeters for clearer high frequencies.

5. Apple Pencil support and newer connectivity

The new iPad mini supports both the Apple Pencil Pro and Apple Pencil USB-C. The Pencil Pro adds features such as squeeze, barrel roll and Find My support, while the USB-C model is aimed at note-taking and sketching.

Connectivity is another upgrade worth mentioning. The tablet supports Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6 and Thread through Apple's N1 wireless chip. Apple says this improves 5GHz performance and the reliability of features such as AirDrop and AirPlay.

The cellular version also gets Apple's C2 modem, which the company claims can deliver up to 50% faster cellular data speeds than the previous generation, along with improved efficiency.

What do you think of the iPad mini and are you planning on buying one? Let us know and keep watching this space for more such updates.