Rumors of a new iPad mini have been floating around for months, and now it seems Apple itself has let the cat out of the bag. As spotted by MacRumors, a mystery Smart Folio for the iPad mini has popped up on Apple’s French regulatory website, and it carries an A3632 model number that no existing or older iPad mini case uses.
The page doesn’t reveal any iPad mini specs, but Apple wouldn’t design a fresh Smart Folio for nothing, so the next iPad mini will likely look different.
The new folio uses less recycled material, dropping from a 9% minimum to just 3%. It also uses a lot more rare earth elements, with a minimum of 6,610 milligrams against 3,947 milligrams in the older folio.
That big jump could mean Apple has reworked the magnets that keep the cover attached to the iPad. If that’s true, your current Smart Folio may not work with the new iPad mini, so you might want to hold off on buying a new case.
The rumor mill has been busy with this one. The headline upgrade is an OLED display replacing the current LCD panel, so you can expect inkier blacks, punchier contrast, and more vivid colors. There’s also talk of a slightly larger screen, a front camera relocated to the landscape edge, and a redesigned speaker setup that could help keep water out.
The new iPad mini is also tipped to get a faster chip, giving you more muscle for games, apps, and Apple Intelligence features. If the rumors are right, it could launch on October 27 or 28, with an OLED MacBook Pro joining the party.
If you’ve been itching to upgrade your iPad mini, you might only have to wait a couple of weeks. Just keep your wallet ready, because with Apple raising prices lately, the new model could cost more than the one it replaces.
Apple has just launched its latest iPad mini with a notable set of upgrades, including an OLED screen, improved speakers, and a more resilient build. It also gets a new chip, and the whole package costs $200 more than its predecessor. But if you look closely at Apple’s online store, you’ll realize that $699 isn’t enough to get you the most powerful version of the A20 Pro chip inside this tablet. In fact, even if you pay $800 for the 256GB model, you still won’t get the beefiest variant. Only when you jump to the 512GB trim, which costs an absurd $999, do you get the most powerful flavor of the A20 Pro.
The $999 model gets more than extra storage
Ahead of its October 28 “Pro and Tell” event, Apple has refreshed the iPad mini with an OLED display (the first for the mini line), the company’s latest in-house, Pro-grade chipset, and something else that made me read twice: an Acoustic Display design.
The iPad mini (8th generation) starts at $699 for Wi-Fi and $849 for cellular variants. Pre-orders start October 28, 2026, and general sales begin November 6, 2026.
Apple has sent out invites for an event on October 28 in Los Angeles, and if the rumor mill is right, it's going to be a big one for Mac fans.
The MacBook Pro could get its biggest overhaul in years