It looks like Apple is trying to trailblaze a trend: bare minimum upgrades paired with the maximum price they can ask for!
The latest in this egregious lineup is the new iPad Mini, with a crazy starting price of ₹82,900 which goes up to ₹1,18,900. A maxi price for a mini device—nobody does it better than Apple.
To put this in perspective, the last iPad Mini started at ₹49,900 in India, which was recently readjusted to ₹69,900.
Speaking of the updates, they are the usual incremental ones: more powerful processor performance with the A20 Pro chip, 4.5 times better AI capabilities (so they say), improved graphics, significantly improved camera, and better connectivity. It’s also water and dust resistant, and thinner than the previous version (somebody stop the Ozempic epidemic).
Apple has also added an 8.5-inch Super Retina XDR OLED display, upgraded from the previous model’s 8.3-inch LCD. However, the refresh rate still remains at 60Hz which is surprising because pretty much every other tablet (even considerably cheaper ones) are using 120Hz or above. It looks like it’s only Apple that is keeping the 60Hz display tradition alive with iPhone 17e and now the new iPad Mini.
Apple seems to have taken the name Mini too seriously, so much so that they have even stuck to keeping the upgrades mini in this one. It’d have been great if they also did that with the pricing… but oh well, who are we kidding!
The press release by Apple begins with the headline: “Apple gives iPad mini its biggest update ever” and I think they were just talking about the cost because there’s not really anything substantial here. The camera is great, sure, but most people already have phones with better cameras, so it doesn’t really come up as a hero feature or anything. The colour options have also been halved from 4 to only 2: Starlight and Midnight.
The same upgrades, had they appeared with a reasonable increment in price, would have made a lot more sense than they are doing now. Furthermore, the model is priced at $699 (₹66,410 ) in the U.S. which neatly puts this product in a “ pretty bad deal” category.
I don’t see existing owners of the previous-generation iPad mini having a concrete reason to upgrade (unless they really value the OLED screen or water resistance). As for new users who may potentially be considering this device, I just want to ask: Why?
Pre-orders begin from October 28, 2026; sales begin from November 6, 2026.
