New iPad Mini 8 to Get iPhone 18 Pro's Blazingly Fast Chip

Apple's upcoming next-generation iPad mini will feature the A20 Pro chip, according to leaked code spotted by MacRumors last week.

The current iPad mini was released in October 2024 and uses the A17 Pro chip that debuted in the iPhone 15 Pro. By moving straight to the A20 Pro, as the leak indicates, the new model is skipping both the A18 Pro and A19 Pro generations.

The A20 Pro debuted in the iPhone 18 Pro models earlier this month as Apple's first 2nm smartphone chip. It features a 6-core CPU that Apple says is up to 20 percent faster than the A19 Pro, and a redesigned GPU that is up to 40 percent faster.

The processor's 32-core Neural Engine offers twice the compute of its predecessor, and Apple calls the A20 Pro "the ultimate chip" for running advanced on-device AI models.

The iPad mini's exact chip configuration was not revealed in the leak. That's important to keep in mind, since Apple previously used a "binned" (or cut-down) version of the A17 Pro in the current iPad mini, with a 5-core GPU instead of the 6-core GPU found in the iPhone 15 Pro. A similar cut this time could mean a 6-core GPU and reduced graphics gains than the chip that powers new iPhone 18 Pro models.

Neither did the latest leak reveal the new iPad mini's memory, but if it has 12GB like both iPhone 18 Pro devices, that would let it run Apple's most advanced on-device Apple Intelligence model. The current iPad mini has 8GB of RAM.

The MacRumors leak also confirmed that the front camera will move to the landscape edge, making the iPad mini the last iPad to do so. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman expects the new iPad mini with OLED display to launch by the end of October. That could mean a late fall event, or a press release. Apple also has more products in the pipeline, so we could well see the former. Stay tuned to MacRumors for all the details.