The OLED iPad mini Is Coming, but Apple Is Leaving One Big Upgrade off the Table
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Apple’s next tablet on deck is likely to be the iPad mini, which is widely expected to make the move to an OLED panel. However, a new report out of Apple’s supply chain suggests the transition may not be quite as exciting as some had hoped.
A new report from yeux1122, who often shares leaks on South Korea’s Naver blog, backs up other reports the next iPad mini will include an OLED screen, but adds that it will be using a 60 Hz version rather than the 120 Hz “ProMotion” display of the iPad Pro and iPhone 17 lineup.
While this source has a mixed track record, the report isn’t outside the realm of possibility. Apple coined the term “ProMotion” when it debuted a 120 Hz display on its second-generation iPad Pro models in 2017 — a few months before OLED even came to the iPhone. In those days, every iPad used an LCD display, but ProMotion remained the exclusive domain of the flagship iPad Pro.
Further, while Apple finally brought OLED to the iPhone X in 2017, it would be another four years before a 120 Hz ProMotion display arrived with the iPhone 13 Pro — and four more years before the OLED screens on non-Pro iPhones made the leap to 120 Hz refresh rates.
The iPad’s Journey to OLED
By all accounts, Apple has been actively working to transition nearly all of its iPads to OLED technology since late 2023. That was about six months before the ultra-thin M4 iPad Pro arrived with its advanced Tandem OLED display, but while that prediction was right on the money, we’re still waiting to see how the others unfold.
The late 2023 supply chain report from South Korea’s ET News had shared a timeline that included the iPad Pro in 2024, but also predicted a new iPad mini with a larger 8.7-inch OLED screen (though current 2026 reports have dialed that back to 8.4 inches) and a new 10.9-inch iPad Air with OLED in 2026. That would be followed by a new 12.9-inch iPad Air with OLED in 2027.
However, it’s notable that even back then, the supply chain reports claimed only the iPad Pro would get a Low-Temperature Polycrystalline Oxide (LTPO) displays, while the iPad Air and iPad mini would be equipped with single-stack Low-Temperature Polycrystalline Silicon (LTPS) displays — technology similar to what was used for the 60 Hz OLED screens on Apple’s iPhone 12 through iPhone 16 models.
At this point, the iPad Air prediction seems a bit quaint. It came at a time when a 13-inch iPad Air didn’t yet exist, as it didn’t debut until a few months later in an M2 iPad Air alongside the M4 iPad Pro. However, Apple has also since kept the 11-inch and 13-inch iPad Air models in lockstep as it’s moved them up to the M3 and M4 chips. Granted, those have been minimal “spec bump” upgrades that offered little more than the new silicon inside, but the notion of a split iPad Air release still seems odd.
Of course, since we’re now just over halfway through 2026 and Apple already released its M4 iPad Air lineup in March, it’s a safe bet we aren’t going to see any new models of that until 2027, so that earlier iPad Air prediction may have been half-right. Although later analyst predictions suggested it might not even come until 2028, the most recent reports are still pegging it for next year’s M5 iPad Air.
That leaves the iPad mini as the only remaining possibility for an OLED tablet update this year (we’re also still awaiting an “iPad 12,” but there’s no way that’s going OLED anytime soon).
In October, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman suggested the iPad mini was next in line for OLED, partly because the smaller screen made it less challenging, but also because it tends to stick around longer than most of Apple’s other iPads — and it’s already overdue for an update.
The current iPad mini was released in late 2024, a few weeks after the iPhone 16 lineup. It featured a binned version of the A17 Pro chip from the iPhone 15 Pro models, allowing Apple to reuse surplus chips to keep costs down while still delivering on Apple Intelligence features. Since then we’ve seen two updates to the iPad Air. Apple also has to be running short on binned A17 Pro chips, and isn’t likely thrilled about firing up its fabrication lines.
It’s anyone’s guess what chip Apple will put in the iPad mini. A few months ago, we would have guessed the A18 Pro as the next logical move, but that supply has been claimed by Apple’s new MacBook Neo, which may complicate things a bit.
Apple has reportedly spun the A18 Pro lines back up due to high demand for its new budget laptop, but at this point, it wouldn’t be out of the question for the iPad mini to pack in an A19 Pro. After all, the 2024 model used the chip from the 2023 iPhone Pro, so it makes sense for a late 2026 model to use the 2025 iPhone 17 Pro chip, rather than the two-year-old silicon from the iPhone 16 Pro.
[The information provided in this article has NOT been confirmed by Apple and may be speculation. Provided details may not be factual. Take all rumors, tech or otherwise, with a grain of salt.]
