Apple launches OLED iPad mini, but 60Hz display draws criticism

The 8.5-inch OLED display, available with a nano-texture option, offers higher contrast and more than twice the peak brightness of the previous-generation iPad mini, Apple said. The device uses an A20 Pro chip with Neural Accelerators in each GPU core and a dual 16-core Neural Engine. It also adds water and dust resistance, a 12MP Center Stage front camera on the landscape edge, an Acoustic Display for audio, faster wireless and cellular connectivity, and fast-charge support.

Commenters quickly noted that Apple’s announcement did not mention refresh rate, concluding that the tablet remains at 60Hz rather than moving to a ProMotion variable rate of 1Hz to 120Hz. “700 bucks and no 120hz display?” one commenter wrote, according to 9to5Mac. Another said: “I was someone interested in adding a mini but at 60hz, 128gb, no Face ID I can’t justify the already inflated price tag.” A third comment read: “60Hz in 2026. Apple should be ashamed.”

The 9to5Mac report said its sister site 9to5Google noted that the closest Android competitor, the Redmagic Astra 2, has a 185Hz refresh rate. 9to5Google wrote that Apple is “still refusing to give the iPad Mini a 120Hz refresh rate with this latest model,” while the Astra 2 has a 185Hz refresh rate.

The 9to5Mac article acknowledged that Apple knows the iPad mini market better than outsiders. It said the iPad mini has historically been primarily a business device, used by restaurant waitstaff to relay orders, mobile payment terminals, and warehouse inventory systems, applications that would not benefit from a faster refresh rate. For consumers, some commenters said they could not tell the difference or that the feature mainly matters for gaming. With business buyers forming a majority, Apple has likely concluded that most customers do not care, the article said.

But the article argued that those who care about refresh rate care a lot. It said 120Hz is now standard on many cheaper devices, making a substantial unit-cost difference unlikely, and that Apple should have done the right thing even if only a minority of buyers would appreciate it.