Originally published on ColdCaseTech.
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Then vs. Now (Open case, no verdict yet, due November 6): Then: Apple announced an iPad mini with an 8.5-inch OLED display and an A20 chip, starting at $699, with wide availability on November 6 (Engadget). Now: Preorders for the iPad mini have opened ahead of wide availability on November 6, and no source yet reports whether it reached stores on that date.
Apple announced an iPad mini with an 8.5-inch OLED display this week, priced from $699, with preorders open ahead of wide availability on November 6 (Engadget). The tablet was the first of several Apple announcements in the week of the company's "Pro and Tell" event in Los Angeles (Engadget).
Promised vs. Status Now
| Item | Promised | Status now | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Display | 8.5-inch OLED, nano-texture coating available | Announced | Engadget |
| Chip | A20 | Announced | Engadget |
| Price | Starts at $699 | Preorders open | Engadget |
| Availability | Wide availability on November 6 | Date still ahead | Engadget |
Timeline
- 2026-10-27: Apple announced an M6-powered iMac and an M6-powered 14-inch MacBook Pro, according to Engadget's account of the previous day (Engadget).
- 2026-10-28: Engadget opened a liveblog of Apple's "Pro and Tell" event in Los Angeles (Engadget).
- 2026-11-06: Wide availability of the iPad mini is scheduled (Engadget).
Details (as Reported)
Engadget described the iPad mini as upgraded to an 8.5-inch OLED display, available with a nano-texture coating (Engadget). Inside is an A20 chip, the same system on a chip that debuted earlier this year alongside the iPhone 18 Pro (Engadget). Pricing starts at $699, with preorders opening ahead of wide availability on November 6 (Engadget).
Apple's other announcements that week included an iMac with an M6 processor, which Engadget described as a big improvement over the M4-powered 2024 models (Engadget). Starting at $1,499, the iMac was set to open for preorder later that day (Engadget). The M6 first arrived on the Mac mini and Mac Studio weeks earlier (Engadget).
The M6 upgrade for the MacBook Pro applies only to the 14-inch model, which starts at $1,999 with 16GB of unified memory and a 1TB SSD, while the 16-inch version is powered by either an M5 Pro or an M5 Max chip (Engadget).
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What Is Not Yet Confirmed
- Engadget reported that a MacBook with a touch-sensitive display, referred to as the "MacBook Ultra", was expected at the "Pro and Tell" event, and noted the name itself was not certain (Engadget).
- Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reported that Apple has discussed charging $2,899 for a 14-inch touchscreen MacBook Pro with an M5 Pro chip, according to his sources (9to5Mac).
- The same report states that preorders for the touchscreen models would open on October 28, with availability potentially beginning as early as November 6 (9to5Mac).
Sources
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