iPad mini 8 OLED now tipped to feature Apple's A20 Pro chip — here's what that means

Apple's rumored iPad mini 8 is already expected to receive a few substantial upgrades when it eventually arrives, including an OLED display. But now, the small tablet is tipped to receive an even greater boost in performance — one that may also power the iPhone 18 Pro lineup.

The next-gen iPad mini is now rumored to come with an A20 Pro chip, according to leaked internal code shared by tipster Kang on Weibo. Codnamed "Borneo," the A20 Pro is tipped to be Apple's debut of its first 2nm processor, offering more power and efficiency thanks to increased transistor density compared to the 3nm A19 Pro chips found in the iPhone 17 Pro.

Previously, the iPad mini 8 was expected to come equipped with an A19 Pro upgrade — which would already see major performance gains over the A17 Pro in the current iPad mini 7. The A19 Pro is already Apple's most powerful mobile chip to date, sporting a 6-core CPU and 6-core GPU, along with Neural Accelerators built into each core that offer improved AI performance for Apple Intelligence.

However, with the A20 Pro, Apple's next small tablet would see an even higher jump in performance. Based on chipmaker TSMC's 2nm process, the next-gen silicon is expected to deliver a 10-15% increase in speed along with a 20-30% drop in power consumption. That should translate to even more power and longer battery life.

While another tipster on MacRumors also claims the iPad mini 8 will feature the A20 Pro instead of the A19 Pro, there's no telling which chip will arrive, as it could entirely depend on when Apple's next small tablet will launch.

When will the iPad mini 8 launch?

Thanks to a massive Apple leak revealing over 30 products coming, we have a better idea of the Cupertino tech giant's release schedule. However, the iPad mini 8's specific release date is still up in the air — and its launch timing could indicate whether it will receive an A19 Pro or A20 Pro chip.

The iPad mini lineup has had a scattered release schedule. To put that into perspective, the iPad mini 5 launched in March 2019, while the iPad mini 6 arrived in September 2021. Then, the iPad mini 7 came along in October 2024. There's been no new iPad mini release this year (although we did see the iPad Pro M5 launch in October), and Bloomberg's Mark Gurman hasn't indicated we'll see the next iPad mini in early 2026.

If we do see it released in early 2026, however, then it's likely to have the A19 Pro chip, considering Apple likely reserves its annual mobile chip upgrades for its iPhones. But considering a conflicting leak has pointed to a late 2026 launch window, it's now looking likely that the iPad mini 8 will arrive sometime between September and October 2026.

With that being the case, there's a much higher chance that Apple's smallest tablet will feature the A20 Pro chip, keeping up with the next-gen iPhone 18 lineup.

In any case, the iPad mini 8 has some exciting upgrades in store, making one of the best tablets even better. If it does pack an A20 chip, expect it to drop later in 2026. But that's not all Apple has up its sleeve, as it's also rumored to be developing a new iMac Pro powered by an M5 Max chip, along with a cheaper MacBook with an iPhone chip and (finally) an OLED MacBook Pro M6.

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