The iPad mini Is On Track for October — But We May Have to Wait for the Rest
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Earlier this week, a supply chain report shed some possible light on Apple’s plans for its first OLED iPad mini, and now Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman is putting a more solid timeline on when we can expect that — and the rest of Apple’s next iPad models — to arrive.
According to Gurman’s report, this will be the “biggest overhaul to the iPad mini in half a decade,” driven by its transition to an OLED panel.
The updated model, code-named J510, will feature an OLED screen for the first time, according to people with knowledge of the matter. That technology — short for organic light-emitting diode — provides the kind of higher-quality visuals found on the iPhone since 2017 and the iPad Pro since 2024.
Mark Gurman
Although Gurman confirms what everyone’s been thinking — that the OLED iPad mini will arrive this fall — he sadly doesn’t provide any insight into the specific type of OLED that will be used in Apple’s smallest tablet.
There’s been a somewhat optimistic view from some corners that Apple would bring a full 120 Hz ProMotion screen to the iPad mini, but that’s not aligned with most of the supply chain rumors we’ve been hearing over the years.
As far back as late 2023, when South Korea’s ET News reported of Apple’s plans to bring OLED to several iPad models, it conspicuously noted only the iPad Pro would get the more advanced Low-Temperature Polycrystalline Oxide (LTPO) displays used for ProMotion — a prediction that came true six months later in the M4 iPad Pro.
However, the iPad mini and iPad Air were reportedly destined to receive only single-stack Low-Temperature Polycrystalline Silicon (LTPS) displays. While these can technically support higher refresh rates, they consume more power and aren’t fast enough to handle the variable refresh rates that are the hallmark of Apple’s “ProMotion” technology. Instead, they traditionally step between fixed refresh rates.
More significantly, Apple has never offered an LTPS display with a faster refresh rate in any of its devices. Instead, LTPS was used primarily for the 60 Hz OLED screens of the iPhone 12 to iPhone 16 era, before Apple finally brought ProMotion to the iPhone 17 last year.
That upgrade has given some folks hope for a ProMotion display on the iPad mini. However, even the iPhone 17e still uses a 60 Hz LTPS display, so there’s no reason to believe the similarly-priced iPad mini will do any better — especially in today’s economy where Apple is already struggling with material costs.
Besides, the iPad mini isn’t competing in the vibrant smartphone market. With nearly every Android manufacturer leaving 60 Hz displays in the dustbin, Apple was already being pilloried for not getting with the times. The iPhone 17’s 120 Hz ProMotion display was undoubtedly a concession to that market pressure.
What About the Base iPad?
Unfortunately, Gurman has a bit of bad news about the rest of the iPad family.
The entry-level iPad was last refreshed a few months after the iPad mini, but in some ways that A16-powered model feels older, as it’s the only iPad that lacks Apple Intelligence support. So, it feels almost as overdue for a refresh, but it turns out it isn’t on the schedule until next year, Gurman’s sources tell him.
Don’t expect a major design overhaul for this one either — it’s going to be one of the usual processor bumps, with the only real question being which processor it’s going to get. Something AI-capable seems like a given, as there’s nowhere else to go from the current A16, but whether that’s an A17 Pro, or some variation of the A18 remains to be seen.
The same goes for the other end of the spectrum. Apple’s decision to release an M5 iPad Pro last fall was not the start of a new annual release schedule; if anything, it solidified the 18-month cycle that’s been more common among Apple’s tablets. The next iPad Pro — likely packing in an M6 chip — will continue that with a spring 2027 release, alongside the next 11-inch and 13-inch iPad Air models.
None of these are expected to come with any design changes. While some reports say the iPad Air will go OLED next, others have pegged it at 2028. Gurman’s report says nothing on the subject, so it remains an open question at this point.
Earlier this week, Gurman also shared that Apple plans to release new versions of the Apple Pencil around the same time, but offers little insight into what features those will include beyond a more easily-replaceable battery.
[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.]
