The next iPad mini will receive the much-needed screen upgrade

The iPad mini (2024) has just hit the market, but news about the next version is already starting to leak. The latest rumor is good news for everyone except those who just bought the latest model. According to display expert Ross Young, the upcoming iPad mini from Apple will feature an OLED screen. Like previous versions, the current iPad mini has an 8.3-inch LCD screen.

OLED display, a technology already available on the iPad Pro (2024) and latest iPhone models, offers increased brightness, deeper blacks, and better power efficiency than LCD screens.

The transition to OLED in iPad mini models is definitely a long-term plan for Apple. However, it may take some time before we see another update to the iPad mini lineup. The smallest tablet device from Apple used to be updated annually, similar to most other iPad models. However, after the 2015 release, updates became less frequent. A new model did not appear until 2019, followed by another in 2021. The iPad mini (2024) was released three years after the previous release. This does not necessarily mean that Apple will wait another three years before updating the product again, although it is entirely possible that the company may wait at least this long.

The iPad Air (2024) also features an LCD screen instead of OLED. It is possible that Apple will upgrade the next iPad Air to an OLED screen before updating the iPad mini. Instead, Apple may launch OLED versions of both tablets at the same time in 2025 or 2026, although the latest release for 2024 makes a new iPad mini in the next year unlikely. The tenth-generation iPad also includes an LCD screen, not OLED, although the basic iPad is likely to be the last iPad to get OLED screen technology.

Early reviews of the iPad mini (2024) were mixed. On one hand, Digital Trends and other sources praised the tablet for its new A17 Pro chip, which adds Apple Intelligence compatibility and enhanced storage options. On the other hand, the tablet retains many of the exact specifications of the previous model, which is disappointing considering the length of time between releases.