Apple may be gearing up to reveal its iPhone 17 lineup soon, including an all-new iPhone 17 Air model, but a leak has revealed what to expect in the next iPad mini — and it could match the power of an iPhone 17 Pro.
The iPad mini 8 is expected to come with an A19 Pro chip, according to code from Apple spotted by MacRumors, which is the same chip the Cupertino tech giant is tipped to use in the iPhone 17 Pro models.
This would be a generational leap over the iPad mini 7, which is equipped with an A17 Pro chip, as with the iPhone 15 Pro. It appears Apple will be following suit for its next-gen iPad mini, giving it a major upgrade in performance compared to last year's model.
According to rumors, this chip will use a new generation of its 3nm process, which should deliver some performance and graphics improvements. Interestingly, seeing as the A17 Pro chip in the iPad mini 7 features a 6-core CPU and 5-core GPU, we can also expect an additional graphics core, since the A18 Pro chip found in the iPhone 16 Pro offers a 6-core GPU.
While rumors indicate that another A19 Pro silicon may be arriving, one that features one less GPU core, this chip is expected to arrive in the iPhone 17 Air models. If Apple continues to use the same chip in its iPad mini as with its latest iPhone Pro models, we can expect the iPad mini 8 to come with that extra GPU core (hopefully).
While this new A19 Pro chip should deliver big performance boosts in the next-gen iPad mini 8, that's not the only upgrade to expect...
An OLED upgrade, too?
There's no word on when the iPad mini 8 will arrive, but seeing as the latest mini 7 was released in October 2024, we may see it come soon. Moreover, this would be timely for when the A19 Pro chip is expected to be released in the iPhone 17 Pro models — tipped for this September.
That said, rumor has it that an OLED iPad mini is set to arrive in 2026. This comes from display analyst Ross Young, with the report hinting that the first OLED iPad will be an 8.5-inch iPad mini.
Apparently, this could launch as soon as early 2026, although recent launches have seen Apple's smaller tablet come around the fall. Some believe it's set to arrive in 2027 instead, seeing as OLED MacBooks are now tipped to come in 2027, too.
Either way, it's unclear when we'll see an iPad mini 8 arrive, and whether this will be the model that comes with an OLED panel. But if an A19 Pro chip is powering it, it may not be long until Apple reveals its next-gen mini tablet.
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